Search engine optimization has been around for some good time. It has been here and it has been evolving. Regardless of you being a beginner in the field or an expert, we will try to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to get at least something out of this blog post.
Search engine optimization, as commonly defined, is the dealing with various website and content factors in order to make sure that your website ranks better on search engines. The reason why you want your website to rank higher up in search engine results is because you know that nobody opens a link on the 9th page of search engine results. It is on the first page, first few links to be completely fair, that receive that most visitors. And website traffic is the first step in further branding your product or service and increase conversation rates as we shall discuss in the next sections.
If you are planning to come up with a SEO strategy in 2019, here are some questions to consider and information to note.
How much does user experience matter in SEO?
Well, user experience is everything. With advancement in SEO, proper measures are being made to make sure that websites are ranked on the basis of user experience. This means that if you are truly delivering value to your readers through your website and content, it only then you can expect further growth for your business. The whole job of search engines like Google and Bing is to make sure that websites that are the most relevant and full of quality on the web get ranked first. Search engines are keeping an eye out for people who are simply trying to trick search engines into gaining traffic. To search engines and to you as well, it is the customer’s satisfaction that should matter the most.
Is your SEO agency using black hat strategies?
You could be outsourcing the search engine optimization of your website to a SEO agency or you could be doing it yourself. However, either way, it is important to note that black hat strategies are a big no. These are SEO tactics that have sprung up as spam. Their sole purpose is to somehow trick search engines to give them better rankings.
Regardless of a black hat strategy or a strategy that will yield in the long term, you will have to make some investment. However, with a black hat strategy it is important to note that search engines are getting smarter every day. They have excellent teams and logarithms to make sure that spam content remains off the search engine rankings. One way or another, these black hat strategies will die out for you. However, if you choose to make a thoughtful investment in strategies that actually work, you shall be able to yield results that will improve brand awareness, create a loyal traffic and increase conversation rates.
If your agency promises any of the following, you need to look out if it is a black hat agency.
- Guaranteed traffic
- Guaranteed number of links
- A lot of dependency on article spinning, social bookmarking
- Promises of certain ranks in a limited time span
- When fake social media accounts are created
- A contract that ensures that links are deleted when your contract with the agency ends
What is a sitemap and why do it matters?
A sitemap is a blueprint of a website. Search engines like Google use internet bots to browse through various pages on your website. With the right tool, you should be able to create free sitemap and downloadable for your website. You can use online free sitemap generator for this purpose. Then submit it with Google so that the navigation is made easier.
Are you taking in account Bing?
It is true that Google holds the biggest market share for search engines, Bing is still a player. It has no comparison to Google but it is still a search engine where you can drive traffic from. Bing and Google use different metrics to determine search engine rankings. However, the goal with both search engines is to ultimately improve the user experience. This is why they will overlap most days. What you need to take in account is that your SEO strategy is both optimized for Bing and Google to maximize traffic inflow.
Have you signed up with Webmaster tools yet?
Webmaster tools are for website owners and managers created by search engines themselves. This means that you are working with search engines here directly. Make accounts with both Google and Bing to access their webmaster tools. Here are some of the perks of using a webmaster tool:
- You will be able to tell search engines to index your website
- Your internal links will be evaluated
- You can see the backlinks to your website
- You can fix and troubleshoot problems
- Communicate with Google’s team, known as Search Quality team, that is fully dedicated to improve user experience
- You will learn about the different keywords that are actually driving traffic to your website
Is content marketing same as SEO?
Content marketing and SEO are two different areas of internet marketing. Where search engine optimization is dedicated to receiving better search engine rankings, content marketing mainly focuses on either achieving a company’s marketing goals or it served as a method of monetizing the website. Create a consistent marketing strategy for your blog. Write at least 2- 3 blogs per week. Generate info graphics and quarterly guides that are relatively lengthy.
Where to begin creating your SEO strategy?
The first step to building a SEO strategy for the year 2019 will be to start with keyword research. However, if you have the right budget, you can run a small scale PCC campaign that will get you real life data for your website. Next, start building links. Build links that are actually coming from sources with great authority. This means that they have good domain authority. Partner with publisher blogs to generate guest content.
Create a social media presence. When websites show great social signals, it goes on to showing that the website is a brand. It is also been concluded that a lot websites drive loyal traffic from Facebook pages. Same goes for Twitter. You can work on hiring a PR agency to help better distribute the content on your website. Likewise, know the basics of SEO. Conversion optimization is an important element when developing your marketing strategy.
Good luck!