The constant changing of algorithms by search engines can leave you scratching your head. Regardless of size or industry, keeping up with SEO trends helps your business stay ahead of the competition. Not only is technology changing the way we search- looking at you, Alexa and Google Assistant -but search engines are continuously using different criteria to rank your website.
Here are six tips to help you improve your SEO marketing strategy.
1. Search engines beyond Google
Undoubtedly Google reigns supreme when it comes to search. This doesn’t mean you should stop there with your strategy. If you sell a product, Amazon keyword research should be on your SEO checklist. Apple’s App Store is also a place to make note of. About 90% of browsing time spent on mobile devices occurs through apps. With such high traffic being driven through the App Store, it is imperative you understand the platform’s unique, organic search algorithms.
2. Quality content over quantity
Google’s search algorithm continues to focus on content quality. While backlinks and the amount of content you offer up are still an important piece of the puzzle, Google is becoming more sophisticated in determining how relevant your website content is. Keep your on-page-SEO approach in mind. This includes user-friendly URLs, optimized images, internal structure, and linking.
3. Website speed and UX affects rankings
In 2018, Google rolled out an announcement that your website performance on mobile will directly affect your rankings. This is a topic we’ve covered before, but it’s certainly worth mentioning again. Even if your visitors find you directly, a slow website will only encourage them to bounce sooner rather than later. Ideally your website should only take two seconds to load at the most.
If you’re curious as to how your website currently performs, try out the Google PageSpeed Insights tool.
4. Voice search is real and it’s here
The use of voice search is increasing with technology like Alexa, Google Home and Siri. Typically, keywords used for voice search are shorter, more colloquial, and in the form of commands or questions. For example, “pizza restaurant” versus “where are some pizza restaurants?” Site speed also plays a role here, given results need to be returned to the user as quickly as possible.
5. Linkless mentions and backlinks
If you’re not familiar with the term, a linkless mention is when your brand is referenced without a link being attached. Linkless mentions are a growing factor within SEO marketing, partially due to the perception that these are considered more genuine. A good example would be if someone just happened to mention ForYouDesign but left out the link to our website. In a 2014 Google patent, the company even classifies these “implied links” as a subset of a type of link to be considered when ranking.
Backlinks are still a key component. The more references your website receives from another website, the better. This represents a “vote of confidence” for your website.
6. Structured data is important
Structured data is a term for organizing your website’s major content. For example, the information you normally see with your website’s meta description. The purpose of structured data is to make it easier and faster for search engines to crawl your website for the relevant data it is looking for. The more online reviews and detail about content you have, the more helpful it is to Google in classifying the information users are searching for.
It may seem like a lot to manage, but SEO is too important to ignore in 2019. If we can help out with any of the above, feel free to reach out.