There have been some significant changes recently and key updates of SEO algorithms, which have many content marketers scratching their heads as to what is happening. For us, this has been great news because our constant testing, tweaking and sticking to the essential basic facts of brand building, SEO and website optimization have steadily produced results for clients.
Here are some necessary tactics going into the next year that will keep you maximizing the ROI of your investment in digital marketing.
First of all, understand that Content Marketing and SEO are constantly changing.
Proof: 5 years ago (maybe even 3) the majority of websites had not embraced mobile responsive and adaptive design. Now, search engines consider this as a factor of usability and an important component of ranking website search results.
Optimization rules and link building tactics that used to work and even cheat your way to page one – no longer work and may even hurt your chances of increasing your rankings. A long-term commitment to brand building combined with sticking to the basics have proven the best bet to stay on top of SERP’s (Search Engine Report Pages). But, along with that strategy SEO consultants must tweak, test and make changes in their methods to stay on top of the constant changing search processes. Google changes its algorithms frequently (up to 500-600 times per year), people are using mobile search, locals search and voice search. Voice search users are more specific and targeted on long-tail phrases and these patterns can affect your company’s bottom line if you are not prepared to meet the demands of the changing search patterns.
Remember that Change is Constant in SEO
Facebook’s declining reach in organic search has surprised many along with changes in their News Feed algorithm. Instagram started offering advertising from preferred brands to select groups of users in the US and Canada. Twitter is serving up Re-Tweets based on our interest, followers and the information gleamed within our own tweets.
Just in the last two months, the deal with Yahoo and Mozilla made some significant differences in the US Search market. Although Google is dominating the search arena by a huge margin, Yahoo gained its highest search share since 2009 and Google went down (slightly). I personally feel that Bing has the most to lose going forward in search traction, but this just shows how fluid your SEO strategy must be to stay on top of constant change.
“Say Hello to My New Little Friend” SEARCH IS A TRUSTED ADVISER
Years ago, I was with my wife when she purchased her first “smart phone” the sales lady took it out of the box, powered it up handed it over to my wife and said (with the accent of Al Pacino in the movie Scar Face): “say ello to your new liddle friend”. Cellphones have replaced us asking friends and neighbors where to get a haircut or the nearest gym or cafe’. Our trusted adviser has become search – right in our hand!
Think about your SEO as you would any client that can send you a referral.
Google’s job is to serve up the most trustworthy results to (it’s) search client. SEO, content marketing and digital branding must be developed to gain the trust of Google, just as you do to gain the trust of your clients. Having a client friendly website with the information that the searcher is looking for and fully optimized is an essential beginning. The end is building a network of trust flows in the digital world that is relevant to your client’s needs. Websites that are:
- mobile ready, that adapt and responsive to all screen sizes,
- have the proper basic on-page SEO set-up and are publishing the quality content and offering the services and products clients are searching for,
- consistently recommended by high authority bloggers, writers and social media guru’s that specialize in your topics and industry
This is the necessary mix to build brand trust with Google and have them reward your website above your competitors with top page search results!
Ready to Start Seeing Page One Results for 2015?