If an SEO strategy is to be effective, it needs to include a significant number of different strands and within each of them, there will be specific actions, tactics, and techniques.

In practice, the strategy of any single SEO campaign will differ from others depending on the individual who is planning and implementing it.

However, no matter what the nuances are between different SEO campaigns, there are still some basic principles which should be employed in all of them if they are to be successful. Here are three which should certainly be included.

Ensure Your Website Has All The Basics Right

If you are building a house, it will only stay standing if the foundations are solid, and that same principle applies to your website in terms of SEO. You can employ all the tactics you like, but if the basic elements of on-site SEO are not in place, they will be for nothing.

This includes ensuring metadata is correct and optimised for every page, and not just the home page. It also means checking that nothing is going to hinder the load speeds, and that all the security protocols are in place.

Remember, Not Everyone Finds You Via Google

Google may be the most powerful search engine online, but it is not the only one. People online could search for the keywords your website is targeting on any one of hundreds of other search platforms.

YouTube, for example, ranks videos differently than Google might rank a page, so you want to ensure that any videos you have on YouTube are optimised accordingly.

You should also research other potential search engines out with the usual suspects to see if there is an opportunity for you to be ranked on them.

What Is Your Audience Searching For, And How?

One of worst pieces of business advice ever given is ‘Build it and they will come’. It basically means make something and someone is bound to buy it. That is a recipe for failure. A better strategy is to first find out what people want and then create it.

This principle applies to what people are searching for. Do some research at the online locations where your audience is likely to be. Assess what they are searching for, what questions are they asking, and whether they are using voice or text search predominately. You can then adjust your SEO, marketing, or product creation to accommodate all of these.