Are you curious what the most important SEO trends are? Read on to find out.
The world of SEO, much like a song on the radio or the leaves in the fall, is something that is ever-changing and ever-evolving as we make continued advancements in the way we access and use the internet.
If you have gotten complacent in your SEO efforts or haven’t taken a moment to familiarize yourself with what has changed over the past few years, the following three trends are a great place to start in broadening your horizons on the current SEO landscape.
Content Marketing VS SEO
SEO thought leaders, expert marketers and website owners have long fought over what the blanket term SEO incorporates and subsequently, does not. In the past, you might have been told that SEO covers all things content, social, on-site and link earning. In 2015, the definition is getting a little bit easier.
Content marketing is beginning to show signs of being the primary driver of search rankings. But wait! What about social?! What about link-earning campaigns?!
A well thought out and executed content marketing campaign organically integrates all of these efforts.
Creating content that provides real value and promotes share-ability should be the key element to a well-structured SEO campaign. If you are putting your best foot forward here, the rest should follow naturally.
As content marketing drives rankings, SEO will acclimatize to the more technical, back-end and on-page elements of search engine optimization.
This means the nitty-gritty of title-tag best practices, meta-descriptions, proper keyword density and any associated indexing issues.
What’s the take-away? Online entities that fail to properly leverage content marketing and on page SEO will simply pale to those who are rolling full steam ahead with both.
The Emergence of “White-Hat” Link-Building Firms
Gone (let’s be clear, very gone) are the days of spammy directory links, self-promoting forum comments and generic blog posts. Google has wisened up and has been heavily penalizing these tactics through several iterations of Penguin and Panda updates. (Read up on all of Google’s algorithm updates here)
If you are looking to outsource your link-earning efforts it should be done through careful consideration and evaluation. When you hand over the reins to an outside link building firm you are putting your reputation with Google and other search engines on the line. Being penalized for toxic back links can completely eliminate you from the SERPS leaving your organic traffic crippled.
A number of well-respected white-hat link building firms have emerged in that last couple of years that understand this and earn links the right way. These companies often sell their services through packages based time worked, not links earned.
When link-building firms place emphasis on quality and not quantity, real value is obtained.
User Experience Trumps Personal Taste
When a user makes the decision to click a link, they do so based on intent. When a website fails to deliver what the user has expected, it becomes devalued, the user immediately bounces off the page and you, the website owner, are back at square one.
What does this bounce decision usually come down to? A number of things contribute to a bounce:
- Poorly designed UI
- Content that is not properly optimized or badly written
- Unintuitive navigation
While placing your money keyword at the top of every page may influence rankings to some degree, does it provide the best user experience?
Take a critical look at your website. Don a pair of fresh eyes and look at it through the lens of an outsider. Is it delivering what it promises?
When it comes to navigation, remember, the easier it is for user to navigate your page the easier it will be for a search engine spider to crawl. Increased crawl rate and indexing are integral to good rankings.
Have anything further to share? Perhaps you have some insights into what has been working for you in the SEO world? Let us know over on our Facebook page.