How To Make an Inclusive SEO Strategy for Your Business

A potential customer brimming with excitement discovers your business online with your SEO strategy. But without it, they're met with a wall – content that doesn't resonate, imagery that feels exclusionary, or a clunky design on their mobile device. 

Familiar with this? That's the scenario your business can run into if you don't use inclusive SEO in your strategy. But what is it? And how can it help your business and your clients? 

SEO should not only be effective, but inclusive.  Now, are you ready to unlock the full potential of your online presence and reach a wider audience?  Discover how crafting an inclusive SEO can transform your business!

What’s Inside?

• What is An Inclusive SEO Strategy? 
• What is DEI in Inclusive SEO Strategy?
• How To Make an Inclusive SEO Strategy
• Plan Your SEO Strategy With Us! 

What is An Inclusive SEO Strategy? 

An inclusive SEO strategy ensures you optimise your website and content to be discoverable and usable for a diverse range of users. It goes beyond traditional SEO strategy by considering the needs of people from various backgrounds and abilities. 

We've known that regular SEO focuses on ranking high in search results. But when you make it inclusive, you create content that resonates with a broad audience and reaches a wider range of potential customers.

Why Is SEO Strategy Important?

A comprehensive SEO plan does so much for your business, but what are those? We listed down the benefits of making your SEO strategy inclusive for everyone. 

Reaches a Wider Audience

By using inclusive language and catering to diverse needs in your SEO plan, you open your website up to a much larger pool of potential customers who might have otherwise been excluded.

Improves Brand Reputation

Demonstrating a commitment to inclusion through your SEO strategy portrays your brand positively. It shows that you value diversity and welcome everyone.

Boosts User Engagement

Content written with inclusivity in mind is more likely to resonate with a wider audience. People are more likely to stay engaged and explore your website if they feel seen and acknowledged.

Enhances Accessibility

SEO and accessibility go hand-in-hand. Many SEO best practices, like clear website structure and proper coding, also improve accessibility for users with disabilities. This ensures everyone can access your information.

Potential for Higher Rankings

While not a direct ranking factor, some believe that websites that prioritise user experience, which includes accessibility, may be looked upon more favorably by search engines.

Avoids Unintentional Bias

Inclusive SEO encourages you to critically examine your target audience and any wrong assumptions you might have made. This can help you avoid alienating potential customers.

In conclusion, inclusive SEO strategy isn't just about being politically correct, it's about smart business strategy. By creating a welcoming and accessible online space, you can reach a wider audience, improve brand perception, and ultimately achieve greater success.

What is DEI in Inclusive SEO Strategy? 

Whenever we discuss inclusive SEO, the concept of DEI appears. But what is it? And how important is this in making our inclusive SEO strategy successful? 

DEI stands for diversity, equity, and inclusion. In the context of inclusive SEO, it refers to creating a search engine optimisation strategy considerate to the needs of a diverse audience. Here's how each aspect of DEI applies to SEO. 

Diversity

A diverse SEO strategy recognises your target audience's various identities and experiences. This includes race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, religion, age, and more.

Equity

You're building an equitable business when you provide everyone with an equal opportunity to find your website through search engines. This involves removing any barriers preventing certain groups from accessing your content.

Inclusion

Inclusivity in SEO involves crafting content and designing your website that makes everyone feel welcomed and accepted. This includes using inclusive language, accessible design elements, and imagery that reflects the diversity of your audience.

By applying these DEI principles to your SEO strategy, you can ensure that your website is discoverable by a wider range of potential customers, regardless of their background. This can lead to increased brand awareness, better brand reputation, and ultimately, a more successful online presence.

How To Make an Inclusive SEO Strategy?

Inclusive SEO is easier to achieve than you've thought. Just follow these steps and your business is on its way to becoming an inclusive one. 

Conducting an Audience Audit

Conducting an audience audit is often the first step in making an inclusive SEO strategy. But let's change it up for a bit. 

A better approach to doing an audience audit for inclusive SEO is to go beyond website analytics. While website analytics provide valuable data on current visitors, these numbers might not reveal the entire audience picture. 

Look at surveys, social media engagement, and market research to understand the diversity within your target audience. It allows you to see some unique audience behaviour and features, and take note of them as you strategise your SEO. 

Comprehensive Keyword Research

An integral part of any SEO strategy is keyword research. This time, you must look for long-tail variations of your usual keywords. 

Expand your keyword research beyond primary keywords. Include low-competition keywords with long-tail variations that reflect how people from diverse backgrounds might search for your product or service. Tools like Google Keyword Planner can help with this.

Consider cultural nuances too when doing keyword research. Certain keywords might have unintended connotations in specific cultures. Research cultural variations in search terms to ensure your keywords are reaching the intended audience. It also makes you a responsible business. 

Inclusive Content Creation

As you proceed to content creation, an inclusive strategy for SEO should remain the top priority. 

First, aim to write for readability. Use clear, concise language and avoid overly technical jargon. Aim for a Flesch-Kincaid reading ease score above 70 to ensure easy comprehension for a wider audience. There are free online tools to check this score.

Incorporate multimedia as well when creating website content. Break up chunks of text with relevant videos, infographics, and audio recordings. This caters to different learning styles and can improve accessibility for users with visual impairments.

And as always, prioritise mobile-friendliness. A significant portion of web searches happen on mobile devices. Ensure your website has a responsive web design that functions well on all screen sizes. It also improves your business searchability online. 

Inclusive Website Design and Development

Website design and development should also conform with your inclusive SEO plan to ensure unified results. 

For web development, a valid and clean code is essential for search engines to properly crawl and index your website. This also improves accessibility for screen readers and assistive technologies.

Next, optimise alt texts for your website images. Include descriptive alt text for all images on your website. This helps visually impaired users understand the content of the image and is also considered by search engines.

Lastly, a clear keyboard navigation is essential. Make sure your website can be fully navigated using just a keyboard. This is crucial for users who rely on assistive technologies or have difficulty using a mouse.

Ongoing Monitoring and Improvement

But it doesn't end there as soon as you do them all. An SEO strategy, like other marketing strategies, is also an ongoing process you should check from time to time. 

Use website analytics tools to track user engagement metrics across different demographics. This can help identify areas where your website might be less inclusive for certain audience segments.

Accessibility testing tools can also help. There are online tools and browser extensions that can help you identify and fix accessibility issues on your website.

Plan Your SEO Strategy With Us! 

In today's digital landscape, exclusion is simply bad for business. An Inclusive SEO makes a big difference for your business, as you welcome all sorts of people into your gates, making them feel welcomed and accepted. 

Remember, everyone deserves to be seen, heard, and understood online. Let's work together to craft an SEO strategy that celebrates diversity and propels your business forward.  Contact our team of SEO experts today for a free consultation and see how we can strategise your SEO!