It’s time to get SMART. This means creating SEO goals that are:
Specific – goals that are well-defined and understood
Measurable – goals that can be assessed and examined with clear metrics
Achievable – goals that are within the reach of your company
Relevant – goals that are linked to your field and your operations
Timely – goals that you can achieve within a set period
It’s not enough simply to have an objective. Your objectives need to meet all the above criteria; otherwise, it’s too easy to lose track. But how do you define and then hit your SMART objectives? Let’s take a look.
Get to Know Your Audience
Before you can start setting goals, you need to recognise who you are connecting with and what they want to achieve when they engage with your content.
Make Sure Your Channels Are Relevant
Getting content exposure on Twitter isn’t much use if your target audience is not using the platform. When you get to know your audience, learn more about which channels they are active on so you can hit that all-important R for ‘Relevance.’
Consider Generative AI Tools Carefully
Generative AI can reduce the labour involved in creating SEO content, helping you to hit those ‘Achievable’ and ‘Timely’ criteria. Just make sure that you check and assess all content to make sure it is valuable to the reader.
Utilise Reporting and Distribution Tools
Automated tools can also provide valuable analytic information that helps you gauge the success of your content. They can also increase your scope with automated distribution, so consider adding these capabilities to your content production tool kit.
Hone Your Messaging
How are you going to deliver your message? Some topics will be well suited to list-based articles, while others may require infographics, images, and even videos.
Get Those Metrics Right
If your goals are measurable, that means you are using key metrics to assess them. Make sure you’re tracking the right metrics — think about what you want your audience to do, then select the appropriate methods and scales to record this.
Embed SEO into Content Strategies
It’s tempting to write a piece of content and worry about SEO later. Avoid this trap — put SEO best practices at the heart of your content writing and production strategies to maximise impact.
Give the Right Support to Your Team
You can’t expect your content creation experts to become SEO wizards overnight. Make sure you are giving these creators the support they need to get the job done, particularly regarding technical SEO.
Consider Where You Can Do Things Differently
In most markets and industries, the content marketing landscape is pretty crowded. This is where you can make your expertise shine, covering topics from a different angle and offering unique perspectives when you produce content.
Deploy Paid and Organic Tactics Together
Use PPC advertising to gain traffic on competitive keywords or to gain timely results for new products and promotions. We’ve dedicated an article to paid and organic search deployed together, so be sure to check that out.
Meet Google’s Standards
Google expects all content to display Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness as part of the search engine’s EAT guidelines. Some forms of content — basically, anything that impacts the finances, health, security, or general well-being of the reader — will be classed as Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) content and will be held to even higher standards under these EAT guidelines. Google also applies its Core Web Vitals that measure page loading speed, stability, and other technical factors. Make sure you’re hitting all of these standards for maximum effect.
Manage Content Carefully
Use a powerful content management system to keep on top of the pieces you have published. If Google shifts its algorithmic goalposts in the future — and, trust us, it will — you need to be able to update your content quickly.
Define Key Objectives for Each Piece
What do you want your users to do after they read your content? Encourage this activity with regular calls to action, driving users towards conversion, subscription, or another action to help you grow your revenue.
Smash Your SMART Targets
Ready to define and hit those crucial objectives in your content strategy? Reach out to Impressive, schedule your consultation, and get a Free Marketing Plan.
