While it's hard to give SEO a short-ride elevator description, here’s a great one from GGC’s in-house SEO expert –  

The process of gaining visibility and traffic in search results wherever people search.  

And while it might seem simple – stuffing keywords to get a high Google search ranking, successful SEO is actually a complex strategy to be able to accomplish being “wherever people search.” Because while Suzy in California is searching on YouTube, your neighbor searches on Google, your sister relies on PPC ads for her search, and your cousin searches TikTok while on her phone. 

SEO doesn’t have to be complicated when you have the right team 

Now search marketing starts to look like one of those conspiracy theories on basement walls with pieces of string going from one newspaper clipping to another. Because to get wherever people are searching, you'll have to spread across multiple intersecting tactics.  

Can one piece of content work across multiple digital platforms? Probably not. You'll have to create a strategy that intersects many different search platforms, and here's where to start – an SEO team.  

Why more than one person?  

• An SEO expert will recommend the keywords that are trending on all search engines, but this can take three months to take effect 

• The social media expert knows the trending keywords that make PPC rise to the top of rankings and increase visibility 

• Website designers and web developers fix broken links and improve load speed for quick results 

• Content creators implement keywords into blogs, press releases, and other content 

• Video creators make engaging videos  

That's your team, led by your starring superhero, the SEO expert. The SEO expert directs attention to keywords, loading issues, and opportunities.  

Now, let's look at types of SEO and who in the team is responsible for each of them.  

Core SEO: 

• On-page SEO: links, metadata, keywords – SEO expert and content creators 
• Off-page SEO: backlinks, PR, social signals – SEO expert; PR, social media and content creators 
• Technical SEO: site speed, indexing, accessibility, security – SEO expert, web dev/design 

Evolving SEO: 

• Local SEO: listings, reviews, metadata – SEO expert and social media 
• Image SEO: keywords, alt text, compression, quality – SEO expert, web dev/design, social media and content creators 
• Video SEO: quality, backlinks, metadata - SEO expert, web dev/design, social media and content creators 

And who tells the SEO expert the direction for a company? That's the company’s marketing manager or marketing director. The marketing manager will know the organization's growth strategy and relay to the SEO expert which products or services the company is promoting, its goals for lead generation, who the competitors are, and which industries to target.  

It All Goes Back to Google 

With 8.5 billion searches processed daily, you have to play by Google's rules, which increasingly demand high-quality content and authority. This is important: you must have high-quality content. Content is no longer about stuffing keywords and repeating the same sentence in different word order. Google has gotten smarter and can recognize when you are not serving up quality. There are more than 200 factors in Google's search algorithm, and you're not going to fool it.  

Let's talk about "authority" because 91% of pages never get organic traffic from Google. If you are wondering why your website isn't rising in Google rankings even though you are adding content, this could be why – your content is not "worthy" of being served up, and Google doesn't think you have the authority to serve it up.  

You can use several different tools, such as SEMrush or MOZ, to find your authority score, and if you find it's low, you will want to raise it. Some ways are improving your backlinks, optimizing your website structure, improving internal links, and creating content from an author with killer credentials.  

Here are some tips on your content creation: 

Blogs. Not your amateur blog stuffed with keywords and on the same subject every month. Your blog should be keyword + goal driven, but never slavish to the keywords. We're talking about high-quality content written by an expert. Do not ignore this tip because: 

• B2B (business-to-business) marketers receive 67% more leads if they have a blog.  
• Blogs posts with images in them are viewed 94% more than those without
• Companies with a blog receive 97% more links to their site.

Content freshness. Have a great blog from 2017? Refresh it with updated information and republish it. Or, if you have a “best of product XYZ of 2021”, then refresh it with an updated version and a new insight. 

Content EAT (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness)  

• What are your sources? (link out)​ 
• Who are you? (on-page credentials, visibility)​ 
• Why should I care? (outlinks to credentials/visibility)​ 
• Author engagement (sharing the article, responding to comments) 

Use expert written content. We've all been amazed by what AI content creation can do, but Google isn't fooled. Not only is it not original, quality content, but it's also against Google's Webmaster Guidelines.  

Get more snippets. Snippets pull phrases to offer users instant answers to short questions. Similar to snippets is passage indexing, which pulls words to answer questions, while snippets pull phrases. Both are great… putting your results above position 1. Write specifically for a snippet position you can steal from another website. 

A snippet example from one of our customers

Here Are Your Takeaways on Google Search  

First, go for keyword volume, but don't get hung up on it. There are so many other ways that contribute to your rankings.  

Remember that there is a person researching the other end of your search. If you position your thought leadership and top-of-funnel content well, it can answer multiple questions in one click; visitors may not need to come back search after search.  

Also, remember that people have short attention spans. While you may have long, excellent content, visitors may be spending only 37 seconds on it. Make sure you have bullet points or a summary at the top to get to key points early.  

Finally, attach a thought leader to the content. Showcase that your content is from a great source to gain authority both with Google and your readers.  A great way to do this is to build the social profile of a thought leader in your organization, such as the CEO or Head of Product Design. You can also create author pages that include white papers or blogs written by the author and his or her respective qualifications.  

Why B2B Content Is So Important 

I’ve gone over where to use SEO and how to improve your rankings. If I haven't convinced you by now why you really need that SEO expert that is going to save the day, here it is.  

• B2B buyers won't reach out until they are 57% through their buyer's journey. Forget about your PowerPoint or business pitch; your website is doing that now, so make sure it's being seen and answering their questions.  

• B2B buyers will consume three to seven pieces of content before speaking with a salesperson. 
• The average user will only spend 37 seconds reading your article. 

What’s more, keyword research can be as stressful as a horror movie. For example, many of our clients compete in a very crowded marketplace where keyword ranking is difficult. Other clients serve a niche market with low-search-volume keywords. Seriously, you need an expert for this. 

Is Google All You Need to Master? 

Unfortunately, no. Google is a large part of where your audience is, but users go where they feel comfortable getting information. Remember in the beginning of this post, I wrote, "wherever people search"? Consider that nearly half of Gen Z uses TikTok and Instagram to search INSTEAD of Google. Or, consider that TikTok overtook Google as the most visited domain in the world in 2021.  

Still hesitating to go onto TikTok? Entry-level jobs are being filled by Gen Z, and 40% of them aren't searching Google. This generation is looking at humans as their real source of data, not at an additional search platform. They are using TikTok, a habit they will carry with them as they move into decision-making roles.  

As for YouTube, it's the third-largest search engine, so hopefully, video content is already part of your overall content plan.  

Here are some quick tips for mastering the SEO of these video platforms: 

• YouTube searches are impacted by titles, captions, volume hashtags, and catchy thumbnails.  
• TikTok searches are based on trends, engagement, and hashtags. These searches are impacted by file names, captions, descriptive hashtags, trending sounds, and catchy thumbnails.  
• Google Images is part of Google, but Google tends to keep it parceled separately, and it can be considered its own search engine. So, you'll want to make sure your images have their alt text, names, and captions labeled correctly.  

Who's going to help you find the best results for these additional platforms? Your SEO expert. And even better, your SEO expert will get help from their sidekick in social media, helping to uncover the right hashtags, captions, trending topics, and more. Of course, make sure you have everything in order before jumping into another search engine – the content, the strategy, and the support for consistent cadence.  

You need to stay on top of Google’s changing algorithms

So, there is your snapshot on getting to know SEO. Can you do it all yourself? Of course! As long as you're an expert in SEO, social media, web development, technical writing, and video creation. Oh, and as long as you can keep up with the changes. Google might change its algorithms, and suddenly, your rankings have disappeared.  

Get where we're going? Of course, you do. Goldstein Group Communications has the team to help you with all your SEO, design, social media, writing, and more. If you're ready to learn how to improve your B2B search rankings, contact us, and we'll create the plan perfect for you.  

An organizational chart of the SEO marketing team