The Unconventional Guide to Aligning SEO with Your Business Goals

Let’s start with how to NOT align SEO with your business goals.

1. Obsessing over Domain Authority
2. Rigidly adhering to ‘ideal’ content length recommendations
3. Using search volume as the only prioritization mechanism for your SEO strategy

Domain Authority (DA). It’s the metric that launched a thousand link-building campaigns and caused countless SEO professionals to lose sleep. But here’s the kicker: it doesn’t matter nearly as much as you think it does.

Why? Because DA is not a Google ranking factor. It’s a third-party metric created by Moz, and while it can be a useful comparative tool, it’s not the be-all and end-all of SEO success. In fact, obsessing over DA can lead you down a rabbit hole of misguided strategies and wasted resources.

Think about it: would you rather have a sky-high DA and crickets chirping on your website, or a modest DA and a steady stream of qualified leads and conversions? The answer should be obvious.

Instead of fixating on DA, focus on metrics that actually matter to your business:

• Organic traffic growth for high-intent keywords
• Conversion rates from organic search
• Revenue attributed to SEO efforts
• Customer lifetime value from organic traffic

These are the numbers that will make your CFO sit up and take notice, not some arbitrary score assigned by a third-party tool.

The Content Length Conundrum: Why One Size Definitely Doesn’t Fit All

Now let’s bust another myth: the idea that there’s an ‘ideal’ content length for SEO success. You’ve probably heard that you need to write 2,000-word blog posts to rank well. But guess what? That’s about as accurate as claiming that all shoes should be size 10.

The truth is, the best content length is the one that fully addresses the user’s needs without unnecessary fluff. Sometimes that might be 500 words. Other times it might be 5,000. The key is to focus on comprehensively answering user queries and serving user intent, regardless of word count.

Here’s a radical idea: instead of aiming for a specific word count, try the following:

• Create content that serves user intent, even if it’s “too short” or “too long” by conventional standards
• Use a mix of content formats (text, video, infographics) to cater to different user preferences
• Focus on quality and relevance over arbitrary targets
• Test different content lengths and analyze their performance

Remember, Google’s aim is to provide the best answer to a user’s query. If you can do that in 300 words, why bloat it to 2,000?

The Low-Volume Keyword Gold Mine: Why Less Can Be More

Here’s a secret that many SEO ‘gurus’ won’t tell you: sometimes, the keywords with the lowest search volume are the most valuable. It sounds counterintuitive, but it’s true.

Why? Because low-volume keywords often indicate high purchase intent. They’re specific, targeted, and used by people who know exactly what they’re looking for. And the best part? They’re usually less competitive, making them easier to rank for.

Consider these examples:

• “shoes” (high volume, low intent) vs. “red Nike running shoes size 10” (low volume, high intent)
• “marketing advice” (high volume, low intent) vs. “B2B SaaS content marketing strategy” (low volume, high intent)

Which do you think is more likely to lead to a conversion?

When developing your keyword strategy, don’t ignore these low-volume gems. They might not bring floods of traffic, but the traffic they do bring is often far more valuable.

The Strategic Approach: Aligning SEO with Your Business Goals

Now that we’ve debunked some common myths, let’s talk about how to actually align your SEO efforts with your business goals. Because at the end of the day, that’s what really matters.

Step 1: Define Your Business Objectives

Before you even think about keywords or backlinks, you need to clearly define what you’re trying to achieve as a business. Common objectives might include:

• Increasing revenue
• Expanding market share
• Launching new products or services
• Improving customer satisfaction
• Enhancing brand reputation

Your SEO strategy should be built around these objectives, not the other way around.

Step 2: Super cliche, but setting SMART SEO goals can help

Once you’ve defined your business objectives, it’s time to set specific SEO goals that support them. Use the SMART framework:

• Specific: Clearly define what you want to achieve
• Measurable: Establish concrete metrics to track progress
• Achievable: Set realistic targets based on your resources and capabilities
• Relevant: Ensure goals directly support your business objectives
• Time-bound: Set deadlines for achieving your goals

For example, if your business objective is to increase revenue from a new product line, your SMART SEO goal might be: “Increase organic traffic to new product pages by 50% in the next quarter, with a focus on conversion-oriented keywords.”

Step 3: Develop a Customer-Centric Keyword Strategy

Now it’s time to identify the keywords that will help you achieve your goals. But remember, it’s not about volume – it’s about intent and relevance. Here’s how to approach it:

• Identify high-value keywords that reflect user intent and match your offerings
• Focus on long-tail keywords that indicate high purchase intent
• Analyze competitor keyword strategies to identify opportunities
• Consider local SEO if you have physical locations or serve specific geographic areas

Don’t be afraid to target those low-volume, high-intent keywords we talked about earlier. They might just be your secret weapon.

Step 4: Create Content That Serves Your Audience (Not Your Word Count)

With your keyword strategy in place, it’s time to create content. But remember, quality trumps quantity every time. Here’s how to approach content creation:

• Focus on comprehensively answering user queries
• Create content that serves user intent, regardless of length
• Use a mix of content formats to cater to different user preferences
• Prioritize quality and relevance over arbitrary word count targets

And here’s a pro tip: don’t just create content for the sake of SEO. Create content that’s genuinely useful, interesting, or entertaining. That’s what will keep people coming back – and sharing your content with others.

Step 5: Optimize Your Technical SEO

While content is crucial, don’t neglect the technical aspects of SEO. Ensure your website is:

• Mobile-friendly and responsive
• Fast-loading (aim for under 2 seconds page load time)
• Secure (using HTTPS)
• Easy to navigate with a clear site structure
• Properly indexed by search engines

Remember, the best content in the world won’t help you if Google can’t crawl your site effectively.

Step 6: Build Quality Backlinks (But Don’t Obsess Over Them)

Backlinks are still important, but quality trumps quantity. Focus on:

• Seeking backlinks from authoritative sites in your industry
• Creating linkable assets that showcase your expertise
• Engaging in digital PR to earn mentions from relevant publications
• Regularly auditing your backlink profile and disavowing toxic links

And remember, a few high-quality, relevant backlinks are worth far more than dozens of low-quality ones.

Step 7: Measure, Analyze, and Adapt

SEO is not a “set it and forget it” strategy. You need to continuously measure your performance, analyze the results, and adapt your approach. Here’s how:

• Set up proper tracking in Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and Bing Search Console
• Monitor KPIs such as organic traffic, conversions, and revenue
• Analyze user behavior and engagement metrics
• Regularly review and adjust your strategy based on data-driven insights

Don’t be afraid to abandon tactics that aren’t working, even if they’re considered “best practices.” What matters is what works for your business.

Step 8: Integrate SEO with Your Broader Marketing Strategy

SEO doesn’t exist in a vacuum. For maximum impact, integrate your SEO efforts with other marketing channels:

• Align SEO and content marketing strategies
• Use social media to amplify your SEO content
• Coordinate SEO and PPC efforts for comprehensive search coverage
• Ensure consistency in messaging across all channels

This holistic approach will not only improve your SEO results but will also create a more cohesive and effective overall marketing strategy.

The Future of SEO: It’s All About Value

As we look to the future, one thing is clear: SEO will continue to evolve. But amidst all the algorithm updates and shifting best practices, one principle will remain constant: the need to provide value.

Google’s ultimate goal is to provide the best possible answer to a user’s query. If you focus on doing the same – on truly serving your audience and meeting their needs – you’ll be well-positioned for SEO success, regardless of what changes come down the pike.

So forget about gaming the system. Forget about chasing arbitrary metrics or following one-size-fits-all advice. Instead, focus on understanding your audience, meeting their needs, and aligning your SEO efforts with your broader business goals.

Do that, and you won’t just improve your search rankings – you’ll build a stronger, more successful business. And isn’t that what it’s all about?