Contributed by Dmytro Sokhach
Dmytro Sokhach is an entrepreneur and the 6-Figure Flipper Club member. Founded Admix Global (web agency) that builds websites, makes them profitable, and sells them as business.
Google search interest in cryptocurrency has seen massive growth over the last five years, with interest peaking in 2018 and gradually fluctuating over the years.
This tells us a couple of things, (1) people want to know more about crypto, and (2) that you can leverage search engines to boost your blockchain organization.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can be a powerful tool to generate organic traffic to your website at a very minimal cost (especially compared to running constant ads).
Let’s talk about some ways you can use SEO for your cryptocurrency website.
What Is SEO and How Will It Help Your Blockchain Organization?
First, let’s do a quick rundown of what SEO is and how it can benefit your cryptocurrency org.
Search Engine Optimization uses specific techniques to increase your website traffic by making your pages rank higher on Google Search.
Overall, SEO is a subset of digital marketing, especially when we bear in mind that its ultimate goal is to have more users see your content. In fact, according to a Hubspot report, around 60% of marketers agree that inbound practices like SEO and blogging are their best source of high-quality leads.
SEO is especially useful for niches like blockchain technology because there’s so much content you could write about—although that content highly depends on the nature of your website and organization.
Blockchain SEO can help your website by:
- Increasing click-through-rates (CTR);
- Increasing website conversions;
- Generating more organic traffic;
- Improving site authority;
- Refining user experience.
So, how do you optimize for search engines in a way that actually works?
Know the Difference Between On-page and Off-page SEO
SEO strategies can be broadly categorized into on-page and off-page SEO. Both are essential and complement each other, so consider the two—not just focus on one area.
Some may also categorize SEO into on-page, off-page, and technical SEO. However, many aspects of technical SEO still fall under on-page SEO, so for simplicity purposes, let’s categorize them into two.
On-page SEO
On-page SEO loosely pertains to all areas you can control within the webpage. This includes:
- Content
- Website structure
- Header Tags
- Metadata
- Title Tags
- Loading Speed
- Alt Text
- URL
Among other webpage-centric factors.
Off-page SEO
On the other hand, off-page SEO—as the name implies—has everything to do with SEO strategies that aren’t website-focused. Off-page SEO includes:
- Backlinking
- Guest Blogging
- Social Media Marketing
- Influencer Partnerships
- Local word of mouth
Building backlinks or “backlinking” is the practice of having other sites link to your website to improve credibility. These links tell search engines that your content is worth ranking because many other sources point to it, thereby vouching for your site’s quality—but more of this in a later section.
The other items on the list aren’t link-related, per se. However, they still function under the general umbrella of having different sites, companies, or people, advertise your site as trustworthy.
Focus on High-Quality Content
Using crypto SEO is one thing, but if you don’t have the quality content to back up your techniques, you’ll never truly optimize your blockchain website. High-quality content should be:
- Well-written with no grammatical errors;
- Informational with limited to no fluff;
- Concise and straight to the point; and
- Able to fulfill user’s intent.
The last one is crucial for creating quality crypto content. It doesn’t matter how good your content is; if it doesn’t match what users are looking for regarding crypto and blockchain, all your efforts will go down the drain.
Search queries can be broken down into three main categories.
- Informational: Informational queries are explorative in nature, and a user with this intent wants to know more about a particular topic or how to perform a certain action.
- Navigational: This type of search query occurs when the user already knows what they’re looking for and is simply utilizing the search bar to find the brand or service they need.
- Transactional: A user with transactional search intent is further down the sales funnel than the other two. This user is ready to make a transaction (i.e., make a purchase), and they’re simply searching for where and how they can execute the said transaction.
Know Your Keywords
Keywords are the lifeblood of on-page SEO and are one of the most significant factors to consider when you want to rank content. But using keywords isn’t as easy as slapping keywords onto an article and calling it a day (keyword stuffing is an absolute no).
Here’s how you can build a solid crypto keyword strategy:
Content Strategy
Developing a sound content strategy is an excellent first step to optimizing crypto content. You first want to determine the angle you want to take to draw more users to your site. Is it by publishing roundups of the best crypto wallets? Is it by writing how-to guides for blockchain transactions? The answer is ultimately up to you.
One possibility is creating a “cryptocurrency news aggregator” section, where users can access a variety of crypto news sources in one place. Alternatively, you might consider publishing roundups of the best crypto wallets or writing how-to guides for blockchain transactions. The answer is ultimately up to you.
However, most websites typically take an educational approach and write relevant articles about cryptocurrency and blockchain.
Content strategy is constantly evolving, so don’t be afraid to pivot if you feel like another strategy can work better.
Search Volume and Competition
Part of finding the right keywords is understanding the balance between volume and competition.
As tempting as it is to rank for the most popular keywords, competing against massive corporations with million-dollar content budgets isn’t always possible. These high-volume, difficult keywords may be useful for a couple of foundational crypto articles, but they probably shouldn’t be your main focus as a beginner.
As you start your SEO journey, you can try low-volume keywords that are much easier to rank for and work your way from there. As you build a better reputation (at least according to search bots), you may even be able to rank for difficult keywords.
Another critical point to consider is using “long tail keywords,” which are short phrases that are usually more specific than a typical keyword, such as the following:
- How to get started with cryptocurrency?
- Is cryptocurrency a scam?
- Are there taxes on cryptocurrency in New York?
- Is blockchain decentralized currency?
These specific phrases are usually more valuable and generate higher conversion rates because these users know precisely what they’re looking for.
Capitalize on Link Building
Moving out of on-page SEO, let’s discuss what makes link-building crucial for your blockchain org.
The best (and easiest) way to think of backlinks in the context of SEO is to consider them as “votes” of confidence. Each time another website links to your pages, they cast a vote in your favor, showing that your content is valuable and useful.
In 2019, most SEO experts would consider external links as one of their top three strategies for search engine optimization—telling us how valuable the practice is even for experts.
However, it is also worth noting that backlinks aren’t infallible. Sites with 1,000 links can beat out websites with 100k+ links, so don’t let backlinks be the end all be all of your SEO strategies.
Still, link building remains an essential aspect of SEO, especially when acquired naturally. You can get backlinks by:
- Creating high-quality content (people will naturally recommend high-quality pieces)
- Partnerships
- Guest posts
- Finding broken links and pitching your content to sites
- Write ultimate guides with plenty of link-worthy content
Learn more: Outreach & Backlinking Best Practices Applicable in 2023
This list is only scraping the tip of the iceberg. There are plenty of other ways to build backlinks; the key is to connect with other sites that may be looking for good cryptocurrency-related content to link to.
Optimize for Mobile Devices
Mobile devices account for almost 60% of all web traffic worldwide. This means that a significant chunk of your viewers will also be using their mobile phones to check your content.
If your site isn’t optimized for mobile and feels clunky on the phone, readers are more likely to leave your site without taking action. This then signals search engines that your content is no good and should be recommended less in the future.
SEO isn’t just about written words; it also has a lot to do with design. Make sure you’re working with a quality web designer or developer to help you create a mobile-friendly crypto platform for your users.
As a tangent, you may also want to look into the mobile-first design, an approach where designers optimize for mobile devices first before other breakpoints.
Note that your site still has to be optimized for all sizes—not just mobile. We simply wanted to highlight mobile design as it’s something many sights overlook to their disadvantage.
Focus on User Experience
Yet another aspect of off-page SEO is user experience. 88% of online users are unlikely to come back after having a bad experience on a website—after all, first impressions do matter!
On average, users spend about 54 seconds on each webpage. While this number might seem high, the data was taken across all industries and will not necessarily apply to your blockchain org.
But there is an important lesson here: regardless of industry, people value their time. They want pages that load fast and have all the info they need within a few seconds of browsing. To provide a stellar user experience to your users, your site has to have the following characteristics:
- Readability: There shouldn’t be walls of text on your site. Make sure to break them down into manageable chunks of one to three sentences per paragraph.
- Photos or videos to break the text: Sprinkling in a couple of photos here and there is a good idea to break the monotony of reading text.
- Fast loading speeds: Nobody wants to wait five seconds for a single page to load. Ideally, your page should load in two to three seconds. Whether we like it or not, Internet users have gotten used to lightning-fast loading speed as a standard—and if you don’t fit the mold, they’re more likely to click away.
- Convenient links: Your site should link to relevant content in accessible areas. For instance, if your site has a Contact Us page as a CTA, users shouldn’t have to dig through three pages to find it—it should be available just a scroll away.
Conclusion
Sure, it may take some time (or maybe a lot of it), but investing in quality content that fulfills your user’s intent is a great way to:
- Give your blockchain organization more exposure;
- Gather opportunities to convert users into customers;
- And become an invaluable source to your crypto audience.
Navigating SEO in the crypto industry can be challenging—you’re competing against big names with big plans, and it almost feels impossible to rank amidst all the big brands. But by having a healthy balance of on-page and off-page SEO strategies, we’re confident you can rank your site to the top.
