The online world is always changing and how we look at SEO needs to change with it. There’s never any shame in learning as true masters are always expanding their knowledge.
Whether you’re an expert or novice, there is always value in studying new and effective optimisation strategies.
The following are some useful tips that can benefit both small businesses and large enterprises in their SEO efforts.
SEO isn’t all about ranking
Proper SEO is a much bigger exercise than just ranking on Google. Many different aspects go into making a comprehensive and successful SEO strategy.
A high ranking means nothing if you don’t have the website to back it up. If your website isn’t optimised properly many leads won’t end in sales.
If your click through rate drops so will your ranking. Optimising your website so that it is fast and user friendly is crucial when implementing any digital marketing strategy.
Website optimisation is very important for SEO. Search engines look favourably on webpages that are mobile friendly.
Google has adjusted their algorithm to prioritise mobile sites rather than their desktop counterparts. Not having a fully optimised website is detrimental to your SEO strategy.
Trust over lust
When digitally marketing your business you should be aiming to earn trust with users. In the context of SEO, businesses have two audiences; users and search engines.
Search engines rank the webpages that they like and users trust the search engine to serve them authoritative results.
Creating quality content that people trust is one of the best ways to win over search engines. SEO informs the creation and optimisation of this content.
It may be tempting to go after cheap and quick measures to generate external links. Trying to take unethical shortcuts can lead to penalties from Google and other search engines.
If search engines deem your website as untrustworthy or promoting spam they will serve harsh penalties or even outright bans.
If you focus your efforts on creating quality content you will build a sincere online reputation that will organically attract backlinks.
Take trends into consideration
As technology changes an SEO expert needs to think about how people are actually searching the web. While mobile search is dominant it has also given rise to the new trend of voice search.
People are now able to perform vocal search queries by using the voice assistants on their devices. Review your keywords and make sure that they are also optimised for natural speech.
Matching keywords to actual questions a user might ask is an easy to implement strategy that targets voice search.
A lot of traditional searches leave out words to shorten the sentence and make it easier for people to find what they’re looking for. As more platforms encourage voice searching, it is important to tailor your SEO strategy for how people search with their spoken language.
Social media and SERP’s
As part of effective SEO you should know how Google and other search engines take social media profiles into consideration for their rankings. Google doesn’t take social signals (likes, shares, tweets etc) into consideration of ranking while other search engines do.
However, that doesn’t mean social media can’t benefit SEO. Having an established social media presence can give you an edge over the market in several different ways.
Many people are more likely to visit your social media page before your actual website. This gives consumers a more personal experience with your brand on a platform they use habitually.
SERP’s are one of the most important metrics in addressing your SEO. If you can dominate the SERP with several entries from your business it takes spaces away from your competitors.
It’s good to have a presence on all relevant social media platforms to ensure you are reaching as wide an audience as possible.
SEO can be difficult to understand and implement. This is why so many businesses seek consultancy from a professional SEO agency.
The most important tip in search engine optimisation is to take your time. Major results won’t happen overnight as SEO is a process that requires constant attention and maintenance.