How to Rank Nationally in SEO
To get ranked nationally in SEO, one should embrace a different strategy from local SEO. On the other hand, the goal of local SEO is making your website visible locally through geographically optimized sites. In comparison to this, national SEO employs an approach that is more competitive and broader with regards to targeting a larger number of people and keywords that are commonly used across the board. The following are steps one can follow in order to rank nationally in search engine optimization.
Understanding the Basics of National SEO
National SEO is the process of optimizing a website so that it can appear in search results across an entire country. However, unlike local SEO, which is focused on a particular city or region, national SEO involves working with broader non-geographical keywords. The aim here is to reach more people and often such an approach might mean having to compete against many other companies for the top positions on search engines.
Key Differences Between Local and National SEO
- Keywords: Local SEO relies on location-specific keywords such as “Dallas plumber,” while national SEO utilizes more general keywords like “plumbing services.”
- Content Strategy: National SEO will require broader content that can appeal to a broad audience.
- Backlink Strategy: National SEO requires a stronger backlink profile with source websites from around the country.
Conducting Keyword Research for National SEO
The foundation of any successful SEO strategy is keyword research. To do national SEO, you will have to identify broad keywords relating to your business with high search volume.
Steps to Conduct Effective Keyword Research
Use Tools Like Google Keyword Planner: The use of Google keyword planner is highly advised, these tools make it easy for you to locate low competitive and high searched keywords.
Analyze Competitors: Check out which keywords they are being ranked for by Google and think of using similar ones.
Focus on Long-Tail Keywords: Although general terms are crucial, the use of long tail key terms like “cheap plumbing services” will enhance your ability to be ranked in specific searches and earn you more focused visits.
Important Considerations
- Search Volume: Make sure that your selected keywords have sufficient search volume to justify targeting them.
- Relevance: Your keywords need to be highly relevant to what you sell.
- Competition: Take note of the competition for each keyword. High competition keywords can be harder to rank for but can generate a lot of traffic.
Creating High-Quality, Nationally-Focused Content
National SEO relies heavily on content. If you want to rank nationally, then you need to create content that will be of interest to as many people as possible and that is related to your trade.
Types of Content to Focus On
- Blog Posts: Produce informative and inspiring blog posts that engage your target audience.
- Landing Pages: Make landing pages for individual services or products which target generic keywords.
- Case Studies: Demonstrate your success stories to establish trust and credibility.
Content Tips
- Include Broad Keywords: Keywords should naturally fit into your content without keyword stuffing.
- Answer Common Questions: Address some of the questions that your potential customers might be having. This can enable you to rank for featured snippets.
- Use Internal Linking: Include links to other relevant pages on the website to enhance its navigation and boost SEO endeavours.
Optimizing On-Page Elements for National SEO
On-page SEO refers to the process of optimizing individual pages on a website. With national SEO, however, it is important that you optimize for broader terms and conditions regarding your on page elements.
Key On-Page Elements to Optimize
Title Tags: Make sure that your title tags include the words you are targeting and describe what the page is about.
Meta Descriptions: Write meta descriptions that are clear but concise for each page, using keywords in a way that will encourage people to click on the link to visit it.
Headers (H1, H2, H3): Use headers as an outline for your content. Make them easy to scan by including important words or phrases within them when possible.
URL Structure: Keep URLs clean by removing unnecessary characters or dates from them as well as adding in relevant keywords if appropriate.
Image Alt Text: Describe images with alt text but also include any necessary keywords related specifically to those pictures too.
Building a Strong Backlink Profile
For the national SEO, it is very important to have backlinks because they show search engines that your website can be trusted and has authority. In terms of nationwide optimization, try to get as many good links as possible from different states.
Strategies for Building Backlinks
- Guest Blogging: Guest blogging is one way of getting your website noticed by the right people.
- Press Releases: Press releases offer you a chance to get backlinks and attract attention from news outlets.
- Influencer Partnerships: Influencer partnerships can help you increase your follower base as well as bring others to your site.
Considerations
- Quality Not Quantity: Concentrate on getting high quality backlinks rather than a large number of low-quality ones.
- Different Sources: Acquire backlinks from diverse sources like blogs, news sites and industry publications.
- Anchor Text: Ensure that your backlinks have natural and relevant anchor text.
Improving Technical SEO
Improving the visibility and ranking of a website during crawling and indexing is called Technical SEO. It’s crucial to make sure that your site is accessible and provides a positive user experience for national SEO.
Key Technical SEO Elements
- Website Speed: It is important that your website load fast. Employ tools like Google PageSpeed Insights to identify areas for improvement.
- Mobile Optimization: Make sure that your website is properly designed for mobile devices. This is because Google uses mobile-first indexing.
- SSL Certificate: Protect your website with an SSL certificate. Websites without SSL could be punished when it comes to search rankings.
- Sitemap: Develop and submit a sitemap to search engines so they get indexed better.
Monitoring and Adjusting Your SEO Strategy
You have to keep a close eye on your performance all the time and make changes whenever necessary if you want to rank well on a national level.
Monitoring Tools
- Google Analytics: Keep tabs on the number of traffic visiting your website, how individuals are using your site and the rate at which these visitors turn into customers.
- Google Search Console: Assess your site’s visibility in Google search and monitor impressions, click-through rates (CTR) & resolve any problems that arise.
- SEO Tools: You can use tools such as Ahrefs or SEMrush to keep an eye on your keyword rankings and backlinks.
Regular Adjustments
- Content Updates: Refresh your content often to ensure it is up to date.
- Keyword Adjustments: Get data and then reevaluate your keyword strategy.
- Link Building Efforts: Always be on the lookout to find new and more backlink opportunities for your SEO campaigns.
Conclusion
Nationwide SEO ranking is an ambitious yet satisfying task that requires an all-round plan comprising keywords, contents, on-page, backlinks and technical issues. By pursuing these steps and keeping track of the performance continually, you can increase your odds of becoming nationally visible and generating immense traffic to your site. It is important to remember that SEO is not a one-time event; hence make sure you keep modifying your strategy gradually.
Bill Yeager, Co-Owner of High Point SEO & Marketing in CT
