3 simple ways to update your SEO Strategy
Just a few years back, SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) was very easy – all you really had to do was pick a keyword and repeat it over and over again, regardless of how mad you drove your website visitors as they drowned in a nonsensical mass of content.
Thankfully, SEO has come a long way in a short time, with audiences rejecting spammy marketing techniques and Google conducting up to 800+ changes to its search algorithm every year to ensure that users are retrieving only relevant content.
Organic search remains the very best form of FREE advertising available but it’s vital to bring your SEO strategy into the present day to make it work effectively.
Here are three very basic methods to update your SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) strategy today:
1. Be local.
With the rollout of Google’s Pigeon algorithm last year, local SEO has taken centre ground, connecting web search and map search more cohesively than ever before.
As a first measure, you must ensure that Google has your up-to-date business details in order for your customers and clients to easily locate and contact you.
Local directory listings also need to play a fundamental role in your SEO strategy because Pigeon is providing higher visibility for review websites such as TripAdvisor, Yelp and OpenTable. That means working with directories to build positive feedback on your services and ensuring that all external links are directing to the right places – in other words, any dead links require 301 redirects immediately.
2. Use YouTube.
YouTube (coincidentally owned by Google) is the second most used search engine in the world, and as many marketers find video content daunting, the race for higher page rankings is less competitive.
If you’re not yet producing video content for lack of equipment and material, the chances are, you’re overlooking the whole film set directly in front of you: your workplace.
Many SMEs are now producing brilliant video content using nothing more than a digital camera, their office as a backdrop and their staff as the subjects. Whether you work in recruitment, property or marketing, simple two-minute educational pieces presented by key members of your team are unique, engaging and sharable – all of which are assets that Google is looking for.
To incorporate video content into your SEO strategy, include keywords in titles and video descriptions, regularly publish fresh, engaging content that will generate comments, likes, shares and increase your number of subscribers, and provide embed codes for viewers to link back to your content on their own websites.
As with all SEO practices, it’s about the long game, so create interesting videos for your audience as opposed to what you think Google will like. Once the views rack up, Google will take notice and rank you higher.
3. Make SEO a company-wide initiative.
SEO is the key to FREE exposure for your business, thus every department must understand their power to make an impact on your search engine ranking. Make sure you train all users of your website the important of using search engine friendly content. We at Branding bay can of course help by providing training with this!
There is nothing worse than a member of staff updating your website blog with good content that is not being found on Google!
