5 Proven SEO Strategies for Exceptional Customer Service

When you hear Search Engine Optimization (SEO), you automatically think about digital marketing — and rightfully so. But what you can apply to the content you’re producing to attract customers, you can also use as a tool to nurture your existing customers. The clients you already have are 50% more likely to say yes to trying out a new product or service and 31% are more likely to spend more on your brand.

This statistic alone should prompt you to dive deeper into SEO and allow it to help you boost revenue without having to search for new leads. And since 65% of customers become loyal to companies that provide a satisfactory customer experience, it’s in your best interest to offer them exactly that.

With empathy remaining the critical ingredient to excellent customer service, you might want to put it to use when implementing some of the SEO strategies we’re discussing below. By optimizing your website and making it user-friendly, you’re making it easier for Google to show searchers relevant information and position yourself as a brand that cares. It’s a mutually beneficial move.

1. Keep tabs on what your customers are saying about your company

People talk. Apart from leaving reviews for you to make sense of, they also go to the internet to share their purchasing experiences with others. Twitter, Reddit, and Quora are some of the most popular platforms for your customers to let off some steam or rave about you if they remain content with the customer experience.

Here’s where SEO comes in. You can find out what you can improve by creating Google Alerts for the keyword your customers use the most when talking about your brand. Once you have subscribed, you’ll start getting emails in your inbox as soon as someone mentions that keyword. This way, you’ll be able to respond quickly and avoid losing customers.

2. Update FAQ with all the information your customers could need

Contrary to popular belief, customers would much rather find answers to their questions on their own. This means that your job is to optimize the knowledge base you offer so that they don’t have to use Google for any further explanations. To do this, you should figure out what your customers are searching for and update your FAQ section with the relevant information.

To simplify this process, consider setting up Site Search in Google Analytics. It makes it easy to track your customers’ queries and whether or not your website had the information they were seeking to make them stick around. Writing a thorough FAQ section that would answer all of their questions should then be a piece of cake.

3. Don’t forget to reap the benefits of Google Featured Snippets

Aside from answering questions about your product or service, it’s also vital that you do your research and find what else people are thinking about that pertains to your industry. Collect the keywords, work out how you can group them, and provide people with responses to their most-searched questions. Leave it to Google to do the rest.

In the screenshot above, you can see that the search engine took a few sentences from the most relevant page that answered the question the user had and highlighted them in a small box. This practice isn’t just helpful to your customers — it also drives organic traffic to your website and attracts prospective customers.

4. Create white papers, host webinars, and shoot how-to videos to educate your customers

You don’t necessarily need to create a new and better product for your customers to perceive it as having more value. Creating additional content with relevant keywords to give your customers more insights into how they can benefit from using your product achieves the same goal. We’re talking about step-by-step guides, how-to videos, and white papers that shed light on all the perks your customers are getting by purchasing this product from you.

You can also host webinars and send the recordings to your email subscribers list if you’re up for it. Or, if you prefer to impart wisdom via audio, consider creating a podcast instead. Mobile applications with hands-on guides can do the trick too.

5. Research trends and adopt them before your competitors do

It can be tricky trying to keep up with the latest trends. But this differentiating factor can be what helps you propel forward if you use it correctly. Google Trends and Twitter Trends are the most common web pages for identifying what’s currently hot. Research the keyword that’s optimized for SEO, you’ll get a clear idea about how many times people searched for it within any time period.

When there’s a spike, this indicates that people are actively searching for that term. Include the term in your FAQ section, in the text on your landing page, or even in the caption of your posts on social media. Your customers will thank you for the additional effort later.

SEO has the power to guide your customers in the direction of your company

Poor customer service has become a pet peeve for many. Worse, it’s often the reason why a customer might be tempted to stop doing business with a company. And, if you’re planning on thriving in today’s overly competitive market, you can’t afford to lose a customer to your competitor.

When sprinkling SEO into the mix, you’re almost bulletproofing your reputation as a brand that cares. Your prospects start seeing you as a company that would go the extra mile to ensure that every question gets answered and every demand gets met. Satisfied customers will then not shy away from talking about you to their friends and family. The result — loyal clientele and new leads that have a high likelihood of converting.

You don’t have to jump headfirst into all of the strategies we’ve elaborated on in this article. Pick one or two that align with your company the best and hone it until it becomes your secret sauce to delivering exceptional customer service. It will be enough to retain the old customer and make new customers want to stay.

Mikkel Andreassen

Mikkel is passionate about customer experience in every color of the beautiful customer engagement spectrum. He loves building great connections with his customers, which often lead to meaningful friendships that last a lifetime and inspire his work. Driven by the genuine belief that CX is the pivotal force that drives a successful business, he is currently at the helm of Dixa’s customer experience strategy. You can find him on LinkedIn.