Whatever strategies you implement, and through whichever channel or medium you employ them, the end result has got to be that one thing – driving organic traffic to your website.

For this reason, it is essential to know how to drive targeted visitors to your website in Nigeria. In this post you will get to know 7 fail-safe tactics that you should employ to attract target website visitors whilst utilising the endless pool of resources available online to your advantage.

1. Optimising your website content to comply with search engine parameters

Search engine optimization is a focal factor to the success of your website in securing a healthy amount of traffic that yields positive results for your service. Efficient optimization of search engine parameters include using relevant keywords, making useful and descriptive titles, providing relevant visual content, creating concise metatags, link building etc.

There are many factors that you can work on to make your content unique and appealing to your target website visitors. Some of which are creating engaging subheadings and submitting your URL to search engines. See this post on top SEO tips that ranks your business higher in Nigeria.

2. Making use of Paid Advertising

Paid advertising is one of the most effective and efficient ways to draw in target audiences that are looking for the services and products you offer. Paid advertising campaigns require realistic and sustainable investment to attract traffic to your webpage directly from your ads.

When your services cannot attain organic reach, paid advertising can get your ad on the first page of a search result page that is relevant to your ad, thus increasing chances of getting at least a lead. Google AdWords and Facebook Ads are great examples of paid advertising that can get you immediate sales if well setup. The good think about Paid advertising is that you can decide to only pay if a certain objective is achieved, or when someone actually click on your ad.

3. Utilizing Social Media Platforms to reach target audiences

Social media platforms offer some of the best options for reaching out to specific target audiences, and making sure your business reaches those visitors to whom your service is useful and relevant to.

Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ are a few social media platforms that filter the needs and preferences of users to bring to them relevant posts. Similarly, social sharing tools like StumbleUpon, Digg and Reddit bring relevant traffic and help to create a bigger audience pool for your ads. If you need a social media marketer to create your social media pages, and/or manage your business pages for you, TopYouGo Digital Agency can help engage your audience, nurture your leads, and convert your leads to sales. Find our more

4. Forum Posting

Relevant online forums offer great niche-specific media for your service to get noticed by potential audiences. Posting short, helpful and attractive content and using a marketable forum signature to get recognized is very helpful. A forum signature should be a visual representation of your service in a small image. Examples of such forums in Nigeria are Nairaland.com, Naijapals.com, EarlyFace.com, and NaijaBestForum.com.

5. Blog Posting and Blogging

Blogging about your services and any relevant content can generate a lot of traffic into your webpage and also account for unique visitors to your webpage who find your blog interesting and want to know more about your service. Therefore, it is important to provide unique and engaging contents on your blogs. A good content marketing service will help you to put together an article that your audience will find very useful and shareable. Some top blogs in Nigeria are Bellanaija.com, naij.com, vanguardngr.com and punchng.com.

6. Conducting Webinars

Webinars are online live seminars where companies can initiate live interactive sessions with potential audiences, clients, business partners and professionals. Webinars will not only help you procure expert opinions on how to drive targeted visitors to your website, but also create important connections with your target audience

7. Question/Answer Platforms

Question/answer platforms offer a great way to draw in traffic by providing relevant support or assistance with topics that concern your service. Try to keep answers short, useful and unique. It is also important to cite your webpage as a reference, provide social media links, and remember not to spam the post in an effort to attract website visitors.

If you need further assistance on bespoke digital marketing strategies or require help on implementing the tips provided here, do contact us and one of our experts will be in contact.

However, the updates actually make it easier for many businesses in Nigeria to get to the top of the search engine results pages (SERPs) by adopting very straightforward SEO practices and avoiding those deemed by the mighty Google as ‘black hat’.

There’s no secret to good SEO, although it does require some de-mystifying and mastering. Here we give you some top SEO tips that actually ranks your business higher in Nigeria. These tips will further help to maximise your chances of hitting the top spot when potential customers and clients are making searches relating to your business. Here are the tips:

Don’t Overthink your SEO

Google wants its users to have a better search experience, and for that reason, it matches search enquiries to web pages that provide the most recent information with the most relevance to the searches being made. So if you avoid thinking about the complexities of SEO and focus your own effort on providing a good experience for visitors to your website, you’re more likely to be successful. Once you know your business, and you have identified the keywords that describes your business, which are the same or similar keywords your visitors will be searching for online, the rest becomes easier.

Keep Content Fresh, Compelling and Relevant

When people are searching online for goods or services or just information on a field of interest, they want to get the most accurate, relevant and up-to-date results. If you regularly update and refresh your web content, your results will be favoured by the search engine. Your prospects don’t want to have their time wasted by reading something that is not specific to their enquiry. So once you have engaged interest, you want to stimulate it further. Find out more about how to keep your contents fresh and well-linked for maximum SEO impact – click here.

Make Sure your Website is Mobile-Friendly

Most people use their mobile devices to make their online searches and so you have to make sure you deliver a good user experience no matter what device your visitor is using. It is important to optimise your website so it displays neatly on a small screen as well as a large screen, and it’s easy to navigate and packed with functionality. Having a quick website load time is the key, if you don’t want visitors to lose interest while trying to access information. You can use software like Website Auditor to crawl your site regularly and identify any technical flaws. Please note that search engines like Google favours businesses using responsive website design with higher search engine result page ranking over their competitors using non-responsive website design.

Building Relationships are more important than Links

Link-building has always been considered an essential part of good SEO, but not any more however. Now it’s more important to build your credibility within your sphere of enterprise by creating relationships with non-competing concerns. Credibility is built when others perceive your brand as an authority or influencer and as a consequence, they link to your website. For example, if you have a gym you can create a relationship with a health supplement provider and develop two-way SEO advantages that way. Build connections that add value to your client or customer base and you will naturally attract more traffic to your online content.

Pay Close Attention to your Keyword Use

Don’t stuff your website with too many relative keywords and expect to see your business ranking anywhere on the first page of SERPs. This is now broadly considered the ultimate act in black hat SEO and can result in penalties which would definitely damage your online visibility.

The importance of keyword research cannot be overemphasized – be specific and moderate in the use of keywords. You’ll know that there are endless variants on the words relating to your products, goods or services and so you can still get away with a liberal smattering but the important thing is to keep them in context.

In other words, your content has to make sense and should be well written to attract positive attention from Google searches. Mentioning where your workshop or offices are based too often is known as ‘Location stuffing’, which is also a cardinal sin in SEO. However, you can still mention your location and any other localities near you as long as you do it so that it reads well and makes grammatical sense.

Research your Customers and Create Keywords that Relate

The most important aspect of SEO is to know what questions your target market is going to be asking the oracle, that is Google. You want to get into the demographic of your audience and relate to them in the terminology they’re familiar with so that it engenders good communication and increase sales.

Consider the fact that they will be typing questions in the search engine box and if your website contains the answer to those specific questions, it will naturally rank higher in the results. Remember that you’re an expert in your field and your customers and potential customers want to pick your brains. If you become a trusted source of information, your name will be foremost in the minds of your audience when it comes to buying.

Use Meta Descriptions to attract more Traffic

This is an area that’s often neglected by marketers when it comes to SEO. Each page on your website can be described very succinctly in a short sentence which is then ‘tagged’ to the page to encourage click-through to your website on SERPs.

You can see when you search with Google yourself that some of the results have your search terms highlighted in the heading, and some have a short but sweet description. That is how using Meta data displays if you use them correctly.

Conclusion

There is no secret to achieving SEO success if you are passionate about your business and just want to tell the world about it. If you’re just trying to get as much online attention as you can have without having anything to deliver to the user, you’ll be cutting off your nose to spite your face.

The current Google search algorithm has zero-tolerance for spammy SEO and is determined to stamp it out in favour of websites that represent value to those using its search engine.

By following the above tip, and keeping your website specific and of great use to interested visitors, you really can’t go wrong.

If you have already setup Google Webmaster Tools and Google Analytics for your website, please follow the steps below. If you are yet to do this or not sure if it has been setup or not, please contact us and we will be happy to assist further.

Here are the steps on how to share Google Webmaster Tools and Google Analytics with TopYouGo Digital Marketing Agency:

1. Sign it to your Google Webmaster Tools Page here.
2. Once you have successfully signed in, find the website you want to grant access to, and click Manage Property drop down on the right, and then select Add or remove users.
3. On the Users and Property Owners page, click on Add a New User.
4. Add us as a new user using the email address supplied on the project questionnaire, and select Full permission as shown below. Click on Add button to finish the process.

What untapped ideas do you need to implement in your quest to effectively market your local business on the internet? Combining new ways of marketing with the conventional offline marketing methods in your locality should make a significant impact on your business if you do the right thing.

Here are 5 proven ways to market your local business online:

1. Create a blog: With millions of blog posts published online on a daily basis, chances are that you’re missing out on potential customers your blog could have brought you. It’s no news that people search Google for virtually everything. Statistics from ExpandedRamblings shows that the total number of Google search from the US for the month of May 2016 was about 34 billion. Assuming your business is based in a locality with a population of 70,000 and 6 other competitors doing the same business like you, you’ve definitely lost out on at least 10,000 potential customers. Through your blog, you teach people how to use your products and services, you share information on latest trends in your business and the feedback/comments on your blog help you to improve your services to them. Creating a blog that is well optimized would help your website’s search engine rankings. Your website and blog should be professionally designed, else you’re going to lose customers. Please read this article on how to use content to generate new business leads.
2. Embrace social media: Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+, LinkedIn and every other social media platforms record millions of users on a daily basis. Embracing social media opens you to a much wider audience than your blog can offer you, but you shouldn’t jump into social media marketing without a plan. Get ready to spend a couple of bucks on marketing on social media through ads. It is also pertinent to avoid making some of the following mistakes in your social media marketing campaigns:

• Having multiple profiles on a social site
• Having incomplete social profiles
• Targeting a narrow audience
• Leaving your campaign running for long
• Click-baiting and spamming
• Purchasing followers and likes
• A not-so-strong call to action
• Focusing on conversions instead of building a relationship with your followers.

While using social media, follow the social trends and create content that relates to your business using those trends.

3. Listing your business on online local directories: One of the many reasons why you should consider listing your business on online directories is the increased visibility it gives to your business when people search for services in your region. This is one of the many advantages on undergoing a local SEO. Please understand the difference between traditional SEO and local SEO, as they are both different, and so is their approach.

When people search local business directories for information, it simply means they’re almost ready to buy a product or service, and they’ll probably look at reviews on your profile on those online business directories. It’s an effective way of advertising your business for a few bucks per month if not free, whilst developing your brand image and connecting you to the right audience in search of your services. It’s also a source of traffic to your website, and the SEO benefits are great especially when the directory it is listed on ranks well on Google. The quickest way to boost local business online is through local SEO Nigeria.

4. Give out free trial offers/ offer discounts occasionally: While it may hurt to give out a product/service worth ₦10,000 for free all in the name of marketing your business, it sure does make up for itself when you start getting an influx of customers. A great way of starting free trials is to send your product to a notable figure in your locality and have them take a picture of themselves using the product. You could also organize contests on your website/blog/social media accounts and randomly select 3 winners that will review your product or service in return.

 Belle Beth Cooper sums up the importance of free trial offers in her article on HelpScout where she said: “A free trial gives prospective customers the opportunity to try your product in the context of their own data, their own business, their environment, and the way they work.” It is also important to intertwine your free trial offers with your social media campaigns. This would help attract more fans to your social media accounts while bringing in prospective customers willing to spend their money on your product or service.

5. Use Videos: Most business owners are yet to leverage the benefits of using video to promote and market their local businesses online. Some of the benefits of video marketing include higher engagement since most people prefer to watch than to read as well as an increase in your social media shares. Here are a few tips if you intend to create videos:
   1. Create short videos that show how your business solves the customer’s problem. It should have a 3 part storyline; the problem, your product and how your product/service solves the problem.
   2. It should be 1 minute long and should be crisp and clear.
   3. It should have a clear and concise call to action.
   4. Use captivating and irresistible thumbnails.
   5. It should have a little bit of humor here and there.
   6. Share the heck out of your video on social media. Don’t spam, rather, you should run ad campaigns for the video.

Trying these aforementioned guaranteed methods of marketing your local business is incomplete if you don’t look at your competitors in your locality and in other regions. You need to find out what they are doing, how they are doing it and why they are doing it if you intend to be on top of the game. Try to improve on areas where they are failing, and you’ll surely draw their customers to your business with time.

One more thing – never lower your prices so much that it cuts your profits significantly all in the name of attracting customers to your business. Focus on providing quality service that no one else provides and charge just a tad lesser than what your competitor charges, then relax and watch the business grow and attract more customers than you can handle. Don’t forget to combine offline marketing methods with these online methods for even faster results.

Top Search Engines such as Google and Bing offer a means to generate targeted traffic through the use of keywords. Hence the reason why you want the best keywords matching your contents, web pages, and businesses. Keywords can be likened to titling a textbook. The title of a textbook tells what the book is all about at a first glance, and in a nutshell. When readers look for a particular book amongst other books in a library shelf, the title guides the reader in making the right choice. A wrongly titled book would attract the wrong readers, just as it is with keywords, hence the reason why keywords are so much of importance in internet marketing.

Considering the analogy used above, a keyword can be defined as a word or phrase (consisting of more than one words) that describes the content of a post, article or web page, while keyword research analysis is the process of closely examining each keywords against several factors such as keyword complexity, difficulty and density, conversion rate, search volumes and demand. Webmasters have made it possible to be able to track keywords typed into search engines by visitors, which is often available to SEO experts when performing a keyword research analysis, alongside several other keyword research tools. A common starting point for SEO keyword research is the Google Keyword Planner tool which advises on estimated keyword search volume as well as the cost of AdWords Campaign for these keywords, which is determined by the profitability and competitiveness of such keywords. Another similar tool to consider is Bing Ads Intelligence tool.

It is also worth mentioning that the number of words in your keywords will hugely determine your success. Long tail keywords (that is, keywords with more than 3 words) are unique searches which are more targeted. Long tail keywords generally provide a better conversion rate, which gives value for money. In today’s world, short tail keywords (that is, keywords with 1 to 3 words) is quietly facing out as it has a lower conversion rate and are generally less searched. A good keyword research analysis will help you to choose the most profitable and high demand keywords which can equally rank high on Search Engines easily, with the right measures put in place. It also allows you to proactively respond to market demands and provide contents, products or services that web users are actively searching for.

Without deviating too much from the initial question “what are the best practices for carrying out a keyword research and analysis in SEO marketing?”, here are some guidelines:

1. a) Know your competitors! Have a good list of relevant keywords used by your successful competitors. Start with these lists.

For the purpose of this article, let’s assume a main competitor’s keyword for a service provided is “copywriting service”. Please note that using keywords in quote provides exact match in the results provided by the search engine, but in our case, it won’t be required.

In the image below, Google search result for keyword “copywriting service” shows over 3 million results. This is huge! It will take a lot of effort and Website SEO Auditing to beat the websites in the Top 10 as seen in the image below.

1. b) If you targeting a particular niche, location or country e.g. students, children, men, women, Lagos, Nigeria, London, Qatar, Chicago, Canada etc., it’s best to add it to your keyword so you streamline the result to your interest. Local SEO comes in handy for location specific keywords.

Let’s make the keyword more targeted by adding Lagos to the keyword, that is, “copywriting service Lagos”.

From the above image, Google search result for keyword “copywriting service Lagos” shows 27,000 results, which obviously looks more promising and achievable.

1. c) What adjectives best describe your web page? If necessary, use adjectives such as cheap, good, best, buy, quality, affordable, professional, premium, free, tips, top, discount or anyone particular to your niche.

Think about how else the search result can be narrowed down so as to lessen competitions? Looking at image 2 above, the top competitor added more keyword variation using “Professional”.

Google search result for keyword “professional copywriting service Lagos” shows 283,000 results which seems like a good long-tail keyword with more search results, and could easily get top ranked for both “copywriting service Lagos” and “professional copywriting service Lagos” keywords on Search engines.

1. d) What other similar words (synonyms) could your visitors possibly use in place of your keywords? In our example, “copywriting service” could also be regarded as “content writing service” by searchers online. All these variations can be used to form a long list of keywords.

Other possible long tail keywords that can be used in our example are: best copywriting service, quality copywriting service in Nigeria, etc.

2. When you form you own possible list of keywords, use Google Keyword Planner tool and/or Bing Ads Intelligence Keyword tool to check the search volume and profitability of the keywords.

3. After selecting your final keywords, put them in the right places without stuffing your web content or page with too many keywords. Your keywords should appear in your Meta Title, Meta Description, Meta keywords and severally in the body of your text, but most importantly, in the first sentence or paragraph. Best practice is to use your keywords once per 100 words of text.

Researched keywords are more effectual if the above best practices are followed. If ever in doubt, you can hire an experienced SEO analyst to perform this task for you. It is worth spending the extra quid to lay a good foundation, than playing a guessing game with your online success. Furthermore, it is worth knowing what Google thinks of the use of keywords in meta tags.

Lastly, the best keyword is the one with a lot of monthly search volumes, but yet not so competitive, and can also be easily ranked at the top of search engine result page.

Let’s take a look at the definitions and examples of both Natural SEO and Local SEO.

What is Natural SEO?

Natural or Organic SEO involves optimizing websites for certain keywords, and getting them ranked on search engines for those keywords. An example of a business that would require natural SEO is an online based business (e.g. an online retail store) which may or may not have a physical location.

Some examples of targeted keywords that could be used by online businesses for natural SEO campaign include:

• Health and safety training
• Daily deals
• Cheap flights
• Affordable women jewelries
• Furniture retailer company
• HR management software
• Self-publishing company

What is Local SEO?

Local SEO involves building relevant signals around a particular location or multiple locations, especially where the business is being carried out. Good examples of businesses in Nigeria that would require Local SEO are:

• Vet Doctor in Ikeja
• Ice Cream Shop Ugbowo Benin City
• Lekki Plumbing Company
• Cheap logo designer Lagos
• Digital Marketing Agency Ikeja
• CCTV Installation Port Harcourt
• Commercial cleaners Wuse

Now let’s look at some key differences between Natural SEO and Local SEO

• Links and Citations

A link is created when other websites are linking to your own website. Search engines like Google use the quality of these links to determine how valuable your website is before presenting it to users via their search queries. Links from high authoritative websites carry higher reputation, and can help improve your website’s reliability and trust.

On the other hand, citations are mentions of your business on citation websites or business directories referencing your business name, address, phone number and website. Citation helps to validate the existence of a business in a geographical location, thereby increasing the relevance of that business for search queries made within its geographical location. The more quality and consistent citation, the higher a business would rank on local search engine result page.

• Google Search Results Page

The search results for Natural SEO differs from that of Local SEO.

Searching on google.com.ng for keyword “digital marketing agency” shows the image below:

While searching for “digital marketing agency Ikeja” shows the image below:

The above images, clearly shows that search results for Local SEO differs from that of Natural SEO. The local SEO search results further shows the business name, address, phone number, opening times, reviews, website, and direction.

In conclusion, quality links are required in order to improve ranking for organic searches, while relevant and consistent citations are key to ranking high on local searches. If you have a local business, then you require a local SEO, and if you have a business that targets online users generally, then you require Natural SEO. If you have a physical business location and also provide your services online, just as TopYouGo Digital Marketing Agency appears in both images above, you can also optimize your business for both Natural and Local SEO.