If you’re like most business owners in the digital age, then you probably measure you’re website’s effectiveness by the number of customers that it delivers to your doorstep. The more daily foot traffic that mentions seeing you online, the more time you invest on creating a great web-based user experience. And that’s great IF your website is creating fresh leads on a regular basis.
On the other hand, the #1 reason why business owners neglect their online presence is because they are not receiving an influx of customers from it, and then they illogically assume that it is because people are not looking online for that type of product/service. We all know that’s inaccurate though since people use their smartphones for everything these days. Just look around you…people are likely visiting your competitor’s websites while they’re inside your store shopping.
If you’re not sure if you’re one of our local Spartanburg faithful that’s neglecting their website presence, then here are five things you should be doing routinely-
Posting Fresh Content
Every time you post new content to your website, it’s like sending a distress beacon to Google that says, “Hey, look at me…I care about my customers.” And in turn, the search engines will begin to visit your website more often to ensure that your readers can always access the most recent content from the search engines. The beautiful thing is that fresh content doesn’t have to be elaborate articles either- it can be new product descriptions or new services/items, video and photographs, or even updates to existing pages.
Changing Your Homepage
Likewise, changing up your homepage even a little bit can have profound effects on your customers. That’s why all the big businesses switch up their homepage graphics frequently; it keeps the site feeling new and fresh without changing the actual navigation. So even if it’s just adding some new photos to your slider or adding a few banners, these changes really do matter in the grand scheme of things.
Social Media Updates
Whenever a consumer visits you on social media, the very first thing they do is look at the last thing posted by your company. And if the date is several months old, then that tells them that you’re not very interested in communicating with them. The crazy part is that you can post anything on social media to keep those engagement levels high- it can be anything from store branding to photographs to news content and local information.
Using Outdated Contact Forms
If a customer has to look at your website for more than three seconds to find your email address, phone number, store location or hours of operation, then you are seriously neglecting your website. In fact, this is the number one reason why consumers leave a website shortly after visiting it for the first time; they simply do not have the patience to hunt down information that you should display on every page. So if you’re guilty of this, fix it immediately.
Offering Very Little Core Content
Likewise, there is absolutely no excuse for not having great descriptions of what your business does, what products/services are available and why consumers should trust in you. This is the core of any great website, yet all of us come across horrible domains every single day that can’t answer even basic questions. Since this type of content also highly influences how well your website ranks, it is absolutely critical for your long term success.
When it comes to writing SEO content for the search engines, Google and the other search providers have spoken loud and clear on the subject for over a decade now. Forget about the keywords. Stop aiming for certain word counts. Just deliver high-quality content and you will be rewarded with better rankings.
So that brings us to the big question- what is high quality content in the eyes of the search engines?
Learn to Quickly Grab People’s Attention
If you follow by blog regularly, then you know that I was on vacation in Panama City Beach last week. On our last night there, I was sitting on a beach chair just a few feet from the Gulf of Mexico, watching the tide roll in and thinking how much the eight hour drive home was going to stink the following morning. But then out of nowhere, I hear this blood-curdling scream coming from the upper floors of the resort, and I think I was on my feet and sprinting across the deep sand before my mind even processed what was happening.
Did that grab your attention and make you want to know what happened?
Of course it did; that’s what great content does for our readers. Blogging and SEO content are not about the words on the page at all or the lesson you’re trying to teach; it’s about giving your readers something to cling onto and enjoy. That’s why I start almost every single one of my blog posts with a personal story- that lets you get to know me a little bit and understand how I see the world around me.
So I suppose you want to know what happened at the beach the other night- don’t worry, I wasn’t going to leave you hanging. A guy jumped off of the top floor of the resort I was staying at and literally nose-dived straight towards the beach beneath him. And all I can think of is that he’s definitely dead (or about to be), but maybe I can run fast enough to catch him if I ran harder than I ever had before in my entire life.
But then the craziest thing happened. A small hang gliding parachute opened up and this lunatic glided down to the sand and landed about 30 yards away. It turned out that he was a base jumper and did stuff like that almost every night the winds were minimal, and a group of us stood around him like we were talking to Steven Tyler or Dwayne Johnson. I must have told the guy a half-dozen times that he was certifiably crazy, and he just smiled as he packed up his chute and asked all of us to watch out for security guards.
Make your Web Content Authoritative
In case you haven’t heard yet, Google launched another core algorithm update on June 17th that appears to highly favor news sites that frequently post fresh content on trending topics. And since a lot of my readers tend to come here to learn about the latest happenings with the search engines, I didn’t write an entire blog post about it because I couldn’t say anything that is not already posted on other websites.
Why does that matter?
Think about it for a moment. Let’s say you do a search for “How to Base Jump from the Top of a Hotel?” You’ll see a few awesome videos there and then several news reports that discuss people cheating death, but there’s nothing anywhere to be found about how these world-class thrill junkies actually prepare for base jumping or manage to walk away unscathed. And the reason why is simple- it’s against the law, so the people doing this on a regular basis are not about to talk about it online.
Here’s one of a group base-jumping off the Freedom Tower in New York City-
So as we work our way through the search results, every article is exactly the same-
It opens with the core facts/details
It shows a few photos or video
It mentions that these people are insane
It says that this is a highly illegal activity
What you don’t see, however, is an answer to our questions- how do these guys do it? How often do they jump? What goes into the planning for such an incredible act? And to be a true authority, these types of questions have to be answered for your readers. If you’re only willing to give enough time to deliver what everybody else out there is writing though, then you get a search result like the one above- lots of content but nothing that really stands out to the search engines.
That means the site with the #1 ranking today for that search could be at #37 tomorrow, while someone unranked could jump to #3. It’s a pure guessing game when there’s no authoritive content to seize the top spot. So when you write for your audience, always make sure that you’re giving them more than the average blogger out there. That’s what makes you stand out.
Forget About Keywords and SEO
You’ve probably heard me say fairly often that I am the top SEO expert in the Carolinas, yet I tell each of my clients that 80-90% of all modern SEO comes from delivering great content. That may sound a little confusing at first, but it means that things like keywords, meta descriptions and backlinks are nowhere near as important as they were in the past.
Instead, Google is going to look at your content and search for the “people factors”, which are things like how many visitors you have each day, how many pages they visit, which links they click on and how long your visitors manage to stick around. So as long as you get your keyword in the title and once or twice within the blog itself, then you are literally a SEO rock star in 2015 if the content is getting attention from people.
And since your job is to impress people, your blogs should also be packed with people-friendly things like bullet points, topic-related photos, video elements and other things to make your content just a little bit more interesting.
The reason why is that most of your visitors are looking for something very specific in their searches, and they’re only going to dedicate an average of 3-5 seconds per website to determine if they’ve found some good info or not. So when they see that a page is nicely formatted with lots of visual elements, they are much more likely to keep reading. That’s all you really need to know about modern SEO.
Focus on Relationships, Not Sales
One final point on writing great SEO content is to keep the focus away from sales the vast majority of the time. That’s because when the search engines see a bunch of internal links that point to pages with very little content (like your contact us or sales pages), it gives the search provider an additional measurement on the quality of your content. After all, if you insert the same link on every single blog post yet very few people seem to click it, then it’s telling Google that you’re not linking to important pages.
So only try to sell in your blogs when there is a clear reason for the consumer to buy…or at least take a closer look.
The same can be said about affiliate ads, but for a completely different reason. Nothing frustrates your readers more than seeing a page packed with ads, and many people will hit that backspace button almost instantly since they associate lots of ads with bad content. That means even if your writing is superb, you can still end up with fairly high bounce rates.
With that said, you will notice that I have one AdSense banner just below the categories to the right of this page. It is likely showing you a re-targeting ad from another site that you’ve visited recently, and Google pays me just over two dollars per click to have it there. Since this site receives between 5,000 and 10,000 visitors per month, it may seem smart to have it everywhere on my site…but that’s simply bad business no matter how you look at it.
Why?
Even if I had an awesome month and cleared $500 from that single ad, that pales in comparison to what I could gain with one big corporate client reaching out to me. So I’m not going to risk offending anyone by trying to over-monetize a very minor part of my income, and I could probably do a lot better with a lead capture or a giveaway in place of where that ad sits now. So be sure to make your content about building actual relationships and let your products sell themselves by the increased visibility.
Let’s pretend for a moment that I am your ideal customer.
And when I say ideal, I’m not talking about someone that wants to speak to your sales staff or register for a product demonstration. I mean that I’m THE customer; the one whale of a client you’ve been hoping to land for years that will change the entire scope of your business and its bottom line.
So I’m your ideal customer…only I don’t know it yet because I haven’t found your website. At this very moment, I am sitting here staring at my Google Search screen and thinking about how to find you. Am I feeling lucky?
Now, you’ve probably read on some of the authority sites like Moz, HubSpot and Search Engine Land that the design elements of your website really don’t matter that much in the grand scheme of things. After all, search optimization is all about things like content, backlinks and social signals, right?
Well, let’s play this out anyway just for fun. Say that I am the Michael Jordan of your industry.
If I find your website, make a purchase and tell the masses about it, then those sweatshops over in third-world countries are going to have to make children work triple-overtime just to keep up with all the frenzied demand (sorry Nike, but you still suck for exploiting kids).
Maybe that was a bad example, but you get where I’m going with this.
So I do my quick little Google Search, stumble across your website and decide to take a look around. Let me ask you a question though; what are the first three things that I’ll see?
And just so you know, it’s not the logo or your tag line.
This was actually a trick question though, so don’t feel bad if you already got it wrong. The first three things I will see are-
How fast your homepage loads. If it loads slowly, I’m hitting the backspace button.
Your main banner image (or lack of one). If it’s ugly, I’m leaving.
A link to what I want to buy. If I don’t see it right away, then I’m gone like the wind.
Now, I probably should have explained our game of pretend just a little bit better. Because when I said that I am your ideal customer, I really didn’t mean me personally.
Instead, I meant that I am pretending to be your ideal customer since I understand their buying process from decades of web design, online marketing and search optimization experience. That lets me know exactly how he or she will react when they’re looking at your website.
And with that knowledge, I can tell you that great web design is everything in the world of online marketing. In fact, it is even one of Google’s biggest signals to your website’s overall quality- it’s called your bounce rate.
Have you ever wondered why your website’s bounce rates are so high? It’s not really a secret- people just don’t have the patience to look around on the Internet anymore.
Take my mom, for example- the woman will drive to eight different grocery stores and call a dozen more if her supermarket stops carrying one of her favorite brands, plus she will ask every single stock person, manager and bag boy she sees. Trust me; it is embarrassing to shop with my mother when Ingles doesn’t have any Pinwheel cookies on the shelves.
If she’s looking for that exact same item on a website; she looks for maybe fifteen seconds maximum…then she gets in her Chrysler to go look in the next town over. And I am afraid that my mom is a pretty average consumer. Your customers do the exact same thing every minute of the day.
So, let me ask you again- does web design really matter for search results? The answer is a resounding yes.
Here are just a few of the factors that make or break your website-
Fast loading times. If I can see the page loading, then it’s too slow
A great top banner photo (or multiple photos if you use a slider)
A crystal clear navigation. Anything I want to know should be 1 click away
A healthy mix of links- some people click text links, others only click photos
If I see a popup, I’m running like mad. People have grown to HATE popups
Numerous trust elements (about us, testimonials, photos, videos, etc.)
A nice layout with enough text for me to know what’s going on
Proper formatting. People really like paragraphs, commas and periods
At least one convincing call to action, and multiple means of contact
An address and phone number to your store. A Google Map gets bonus points
Just to be clear here, most of the things I just named have nothing to do with search engine optimization. Google really doesn’t care if these things are there or not, as long as your visitors are sticking around and visiting multiple pages. So great web design really can’t help you a whole lot- but the opposite is like posting one of those radioactive materials signs on your homepage. People simply will not stick around to see what happens.
So here’s what I need for you to do.
Open a new tab in your browser and pull up your business website. And once it’s loaded, I want you to look back at that list of bullet points one more time and make sure that you’re absolutely nailing every aspect of your core website design elements. Because if even one of them is an issue, then you are literally chasing away potential customers without even realizing it.
Again, please do not confuse web design with search optimization- they are two completely different things. SEO is by far the more important factor for you to achieve solid rankings and gain visibility. But then again, without a good looking website it’s not going to help you.
Just a few days ago, I found an unbelievable steal on a 2014 Chrysler 300 for my parents. They had been looking for a newer sedan for quite some time now and they absolutely fell in love with the 300’s tough-looking stance and superior luxury. So when I saw that a sexy black 2014 model with 40,000 miles was just reduced to $19,000 in Charlotte, I convinced them to make the hour and a half drive north to claim it as their own.
We did end up buying the vehicle and it is an amazing sporty sedan, but at the same time it also set off a series of events that left me a little puzzled. For example-
The receptionist struggled to email me additional information that the company forgot to post online.
The “Internet Manager” at the dealership had no idea how to add details to the company’s online ads.
The General Manager believed that stock content from the auto manufacturers would rank better in the search engines.
This dealership’s website was not responsive…despite paying over $20k a month for “website optimization.”
The sales representative could not perform a basic Google search to find the vehicle’s factory warranty information.
The dealership printed out 20+ page binders on every used vehicle on the lot…which amounted to more reading material than the average small-town library has.
Now, this was a major dealership in Charlotte that sells 100+ new and used vehicles per month. And while most of their leads originate through their website, it was almost like they were fighting against technology every step of the way. It took every bit of patience I had to refrain from pulling the sales manager aside and asking for a straight commission job on the spot.
So let me get straight to the point.
If you have the mindset like the car dealership I just mentioned, you are literally going out of your way to ignore your customers. Because like it or not, they are searching the internet daily for things to buy and they are only going to wait on you to catch up to modern times for so long. Eventually they will discover a better solution and forget about you entirely- and it makes absolutely no difference how great your products or services are.
And just to be perfectly clear, I’m not just talking about optimizing your website- this is about technology in general. For example-
If you’re not answering emails and social media messages quickly, then you’re telling your customers that they are not important.
If your website does not answer a consumer’s most important questions, then you’re saying that you don’t care if they buy from you or not.
If you have not bothered to focus on your local presence online, then you’re saying that smartphone users should go shop somewhere else.
If your website does not offer a unique value proposition, then you’re telling the world that there is nothing special about you at all.
I could go on and on here…but hopefully you get my point. Your decision to not fully optimize your online presence and embrace technology says a whole lot more about your company than you realize, and your potential customers are definitely taking notice. So stop ignoring the people that you’re working so hard to find in the first place- it’s time to get your priorities straight and make your website stand out.
In 2014, Google found that 50% of local smartphone searches led to a US customer visiting a brick and mortar store to make a purchase. Tech researcher comScore found an even bigger correlation between online searches and local business traffic by stating that almost 80% of all local mobile searches led to a purchase in-store, over the phone or online.
Since 76% of those purchases took place on the same-day as the search was conducted, the benefits of having a strong online presence are virtually undeniable. But do our small businesses across the United States realize that fact?
The Objective
In March of 2015, Upstate Synergy sent out over 800 survey invitations via email to small businesses throughout the Western Carolinas. The goal was to see how local area businesses were capitalizing on local searches and more importantly, how businesses that do not have an online presence are doing in terms of gross sales. We attempted to reach a wide variety of business sectors ranging from retail stores (gas stations, clothing stores, etc.) to professional services (law offices, auto repair, etc.) to hospitality (restaurants, hotels, etc.) and B2B providers.
Each business was asked to answer four brief questions about their sales totals in the first quarters of 2014 and 2015, plus any types of marketing that has been implemented to cause an increase/decrease in sales.
Those questions and the findings from the 241 respondents are listed below.
The Study
Question #1-Compared to the first quarter in 2014, has your annual gross sales increased, remained the same or declined for the first three months of 2015?
Of the 241 business owners/managers that responded, 28% claimed to see an increase in sales, 37% remained the same and the remaining 34% saw a decrease in sales during the first quarter of 2015. There figures are within the national averages reported in 2015 so we believe that they are accurate, although it is worth noting that the totals reported by small business owners in this survey were not independently verified.
Question #2a-If your sales have increased, what do you believe was the main factor behind that growth?
The top three answers provided were website/social media traffic (41% combined), word of mouth (32%) and in-store promotions (12%).
Question #2b-If your sales have remained the same or decreased, what do you believe was the main factor in preventing growth?
The top three answers provided were a bad economy (63%), weather/a harsh winter (20%), and staffing issues (8%). Only sixteen people total from this segment (businesses without positive growth) mentioned the lack of an internet presence, which means that only around 10% saw it as a critical issue stunting their growth.
Question #3-How much money do you dedicate towards increasing your online presence every month? Include website optimization, pay per click ads, social media marketing, etc. paid to your staff of an outside agency.
Here’s where the study gets interesting. The small businesses that answered with spending a total of $800 or more per month (9%) almost unanimously saw an increase in sales (86%). Of those who said they spend $300-799 each month (21%), over half of them fell into the increased profit category as well (60%). The businesses that did not spend any money on online advertising or optimization (70%) came out the worst by far, with only twelve total participants reporting positive growth.
This statistic clearly shows that growth is almost impossible for small businesses without at least a basic online presence. It is important to remember that this study was conducted in the Western Carolinas where that are a lot of small communities that do not have national retailers present, which would seemingly make success without an online presence much easier to accomplish. The results do not support that conclusion at all though.
Question #4-What will be your primary marketing focus for the remainder of 2015?
This question was the most surprising part of the survey since the top answers from businesses with positive growth in 2015 almost unanimously revolved around the internet- search/website optimization (35%), social media (21%), email marketing (14%) and pay per click campaigns (14%). Direct mail (8%) was the most common offline answer provided.
Almost 97% of the businesses surveyed with flat or negative growth are planning to continue traditional forms of marketing- direct mail (31%), television ads (16%), networking (9%), billboards (5%), and radio ads (3%). Only 3% of the small businesses in this category mentioned any form of online advertising or website optimization at all, which starkly contrasts the strategies of the small businesses represented that claimed to have had positive growth.
Conclusion
The most telling statistic from this entire study is that the small businesses that optimize their online exposure are still alive and well in 2015; with many of them thriving. Unfortunately, they are also in the vast minority with less than 1/3rd of all small businesses seeing local optimization as a viable strategy. In total, 156 of the 241 small businesses surveyed have no virtually online presence at all, which ultimately gives their customers opportunities to discover new alternatives online every time they shop.
Why the huge gap in marketing mentalities between those with increasing profits and those breaking even (or worse)? We actually expected a fair portion of business owners to mention not having a website or not properly optimizing it, but only 12 of the 156 (7.6%) provided that as an answer…despite the world around us proving that search and local optimization is a really, really big deal these days. When people type in a product name (aka- toothpaste) with a location (Dallas) into the search engines (buy toothpaste in Dallas), then the chances are extremely high that they are looking to make an immediate purchase.
Yet somehow that common knowledge is not represented within this study at all.
As consumers increasingly rely on their smartphones to find local businesses to suit their needs, it could very well mean the death of all of those great mom and pop businesses that so many of us have frequented over the past 30+ years. Because while the study sample in this instance was relatively small, the trends of downward spiraling are far too large to ignore. Unless small businesses adapt to marketing in the modern world the way that consumers overwhelmingly prefer it, they will have very little chance of survival.
It’s no secret that search engine optimization has changed drastically over the years as Google continuously adapts to reward the most helpful websites with coveted first page rankings. And for the average small business owner or entrepreneur that’s on the outside looking in, it can seem like executing the perfect SEO strategy is nearly impossib
What if I told you, however, that everything you need to know about search optimization is summarized in the very first sentence on this page?
Go ahead and look again if you don’t believe me- I’ll sit here and wait while you do it.
The websites that go out of their way to help their customers the most are the ones that SHOULD rank at the tops of the search engines. That was the goal in 1991 and it’s still the goal today. The only thing that’s really changed is that Google and Bing have become much better at detecting unsavory tactics that allow websites to artificially rank, but the goal still remains exactly the same.
So as we work through this guide together, I want you to remember one universal truth that can guarantee your excellent search placement for the next fifty years- the site with the best content should always win.
That means that as long as you’re making serious efforts to bolster your customer’s online experience, you will remain in favor with the search engines and continuously see improved results. It really is that simple.
Since this is an official SEO Strategy Guide, however, then you’ll probably want a little more detail than that to work with. So let’s get down to some key points of interest for your search optimization strategy.
Core Content is Everything in SEO
Old-school search optimization depended largely on stuffing keywords, cranking out tremendous amounts of content and getting any form of backlinks to your website.
The Internet back then was like the Wild West; everything was available for the taking if you didn’t mind being called an outlaw. And that’s why quality was almost an afterthought over the past two decades, the search engines did not have a strong enough algorithm in place to properly identify what we now call spam.
I won’t lie to you- some of those tactics still perform well with the major search engines these days. You can still take a few shortcuts building backlinks and almost any form of traffic is still considered a positive signal, even if it comes from spammy sources that have no interest at all with your brand. These black hat methods are becoming harder and harder to execute properly though, and there’s one crucial thing you have to remember about being an outlaw-
Outlaws eventually end up dead or in jail. So stop trying to be an SEO outlaw, even if think you’re the quickest draw in the West.
DO create informative content to educate your customers
DO update your FAQ and core information pages
DO commit to a weekly blog about your industry
DO share your blogs on social channels to increase engagement
Do focus on a quality over quantity approach
Do update or remove poorly written pages
Do post content that leads to additional actions (read more, call, opt-in, etc.)
So when it comes to content for your website, don’t even think about taking shortcuts in 2016 and beyond. Everything you post should engage your audience and help them learn a little bit more about your brand. That means you should be getting down to the nitty-gritty and sharing precise details about anything and everything your customers have questions about, and it should be written in a way that just makes sense.
Take Mobile Seriously
Let’s talk about backlink building as a search optimization method for a moment…and I’ll start with an obligatory, “Ladies and gentlemen, please make sure your seat backs and tray tables are in their full upright position. We are about to experience some severe turbulence.”
Over the past few years, creating a solid backlink profile has become increasingly difficult. Let’s just look at what Google tells you not to do-
DO NOT guest post on websites with questionable ethics
DO NOT leave random comments with your link in it
DO NOT buy backlinks under any circumstance
DO NOT swap backlinks with other websites
DO NOT associate yourself with any spammy site
DO NOT use the same anchor text across most of your links
That’s where we reach the turbulence part of this journey, because chances are pretty darn good that you’ve violated some or all of those guidelines over the past few years. If that’s the case, then we strongly recommend that you disavow your less-than-reputable backlinks since your website is likely facing penalties because of it.
With that said, link building strategies have not changed much over the past year other than to avoid the ComLuv’s of the world that Google has clearly blacklisted. In fact, you should probably forget about any form of guest blogging where you’re permitted to insert a backlink straight to your website, unless it’s in an author bio. There are still tens of thousands of quality content sites to write for out there as well- just use a little more caution this time around.
Social media is still a powerful way to receive natural backlinks as well, and Google vastly prefers this approach since others are choosing to talk about you on their own sites. Other solid opportunities for gaining backlinks are creating highly-sharable content like infographics or case studies, utilizing directories within your niche, press releases and blogging about authorities within your industry.
One more word on backlinks before we move on. Remember that your profile does not need dozens of backlinks to every possible page in order to achieve solid overall rankings; this is the old-school formula for grey hat SEO and it is completely unnecessary. The search engines would rather see a handful of natural high authority links to your domain over thousands of weaker ones, so make sure your focus remains on quality partnerships.
Build Better Backlnks
Let’s talk about backlink building as a search optimization method for a moment…and I’ll start with an obligatory, “Ladies and gentlemen, please make sure your seat backs and tray tables are in their full upright position. We are about to experience some severe turbulence.”
Over the past few years, creating a solid backlink profile has become increasingly difficult. Let’s just look at what Google tells you not to do-
DO NOT guest post on websites with questionable ethics
DO NOT leave random comments with your link in it
DO NOT buy backlinks under any circumstance
DO NOT swap backlinks with other websites
DO NOT associate yourself with any spammy site
DO NOT use the same anchor text across most of your links
That’s where we reach the turbulence part of this journey, because chances are pretty darn good that you’ve violated some or all of those guidelines over the past few years. If that’s the case, then we strongly recommend that you disavow your less-than-reputable backlinks since your website is likely facing penalties because of it.
With that said, link building strategies have not changed much over the past year other than to avoid the ComLuv’s of the world that Google has clearly blacklisted. In fact, you should probably forget about any form of guest blogging where you’re permitted to insert a backlink straight to your website, unless it’s in an author bio. There are still tens of thousands of quality content sites to write for out there as well- just use a little more caution this time around.
Social media is still a powerful way to receive natural backlinks as well, and Google vastly prefers this approach since others are choosing to talk about you on their own sites. Other solid opportunities for gaining backlinks are creating highly-sharable content like infographics or case studies, utilizing directories within your niche, press releases and blogging about authorities within your industry.
One more word on backlinks before we move on. Remember that your profile does not need dozens of backlinks to every possible page in order to achieve solid overall rankings; this is the old-school formula for grey hat SEO and it is completely unnecessary. The search engines would rather see a handful of natural high authority links to your domain over thousands of weaker ones, so make sure your focus remains on quality partnerships.
Local Search is Massive
Here’s a statistic worth remembering- almost 80% of all mobile searches in the United States directly lead to a purchase. Since almost 73% of those purchases occur in local brick and mortar stores, local search optimization (AKA Google Maps) should definitely become one of the most important parts of your overall SEO strategy in 2017 and beyond.
How do you optimize for the local search engines?
Create/verify your listings with all the major search engines
Complete the certification process to show that it’s your business
Complete your profile 100% (photos, categories, descriptions, etc.)
List a local contact phone number in your profile
Repeat this process on major directories (Yellow Pages, Yelp, etc.)
Ask your best customers for honest reviews/ratings
Build backlinks from social and authority sites
Focus on your main website’s core engagement levels
Essentially, Google and Bing want to see you treat your local search profiles exactly like you would your own website, so remember that the little things really do matter in this instance. Also, make sure that each of your local search profiles uses 100% unique content for the spiders to crawl, but all of the other information should be exactly the same. In other words, do not list different addresses, phone numbers and other information that the search engines could see as a conflict, and avoid toll free numbers altogether since they signal that you’re probably not seeking local business clients.
Monetization & Lead Generation
Quick question- why are you worried about your website’s SEO in the first place? And before you answer, let me point you right back to the very first sentence on this page once again. Because the answer you’re looking for should not be, “So I can make lots of money.”
Honestly, Google could care less if you are making income through your website or not.
Their only worry is that your site’s content makes visitors happy, and it is a huge red flag for the search engine giant if they see just a few paragraphs of text and a dozen or more ads. Without even looking at anything else, they know right off the bat what your real intentions are.
DO use appealing calls to action in contact forms
DO ask users to visit your social sites
DO monetize your pages in natural, logical ways
DO offer freebies and giveaways to generate leads
DO NOT lose focus on making great content the top priority
Now, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t use ad banners and email captures on your website; just don’t do it in a way that would make people question your motives. Remember, this is not so much about the amount of advertising, but about how much actual content there is to balance it out.
So don’t be that guy who posts 12 flashing ad banners per page- not even John Chow does that anymore…and you’re no John Chow. That is, unless you are actually John Chow and you just happen to be reading my blog. If that’s the case, then I guess this last section doesn’t fully apply to you.
But for everyone that’s not named John Chow, then you may want to reconsider limiting your ad-space and focusing on your actual visitors instead.
Back-End Optimizations
Even though you probably have a web developer that handles the heavy lifting when it comes to the back-end of your website, there are several minor issues that could cause you to lose appeal to the search engines.
I won’t dwell here though, just scan through this list of miscellaneous items that could be harming your search ranking-
Slow loading times/not enough bandwidth
Poor navigational structures
Missing pages that do not properly redirect
Broken inbound and outbound backlinks
Images not properly labeled
Missing H1 (main title) tags
Lack of meta keywords & descriptions
Plugin conflicts that affect functionality
Suspicious redirects (possibly by hackers)
So if you see any of these issues, contact your system administrator and tell him that he stinks at his job. Then call me to fix the issues and we can make fun of that other guy together!
Keyword Research
You may have heard some of the experts mention that keywords are officially dead, and to some degree they are absolutely correct.
You should no longer be focused on things like keyword density or packing in as many combinations of key-phrases as you can in any given page. This is no longer a valid tactic since the search engines have made it abundantly clear that they are more focused on your visitor’s engagement levels.
At the same time, keywords certainly do still matter, so let’s go straight to our bullet points-
DO mention on at least one primary keyword on each page
DO use keyword software to find popular phrases with low competition
DO hyperlink your targeted keyword to other parts of your website
DO hyperlink your targeted keyword to authority sites within your niche
DO include your targeted keyword in the title, meta title, and description
DO NOT repeat keywords just for ranking purposes
DO NOT ever use a keyword unless it fits naturally within the text
DO NOT forget that quality and engagement are the most important factors
To prove that, let’s do a little experiment and talk about our famous SEO Keyword Spatula, which is something that I just completely made up for testing purposes. It does sound like a pretty cool product name though and since I bolded it, the search spiders will likely see it as being important. Notice that we’re not actually keyword stuffing though, since the phrase is only being used twice total.
If you take peek in AdWords, the phrase “SEO keyword spatula” has zero natural competition (as expected) but it is also somewhat related to almost 600,000 similar monthly searches containing both “SEO” and “keyword” within the phrase. And if our little experiment here works, then I should have the #1 ranking not only for the worthless phrase I just made up, but also have the opportunity for getting noticed in dozens of similar search terms that people are actively searching for.
Does that make sense? It’s sort of a backdoor ninja approach to capturing the easy stuff and possibly getting noticed in the ultra-competitive niches as well.
You should be doing the exact same thing with all of those long-tail keywords within your niche that others are not actively targeting. And the long-term benefits of consistently searching for and using new long-tail keyphrases within your website copy can pay serious cumulative rewards.
Video Marketing is Huge
Many people are on the fence about video marketing since Google cannot actively see the content contained within your embedded multimedia players. Hopefully by now you’re not going to make me refer you back to the very first sentence again though; modern SEO is not about what Google sees.
It is about how your visitors react to the core content on your domain. And if a video captures their attention while they’re visiting you, then Google doesn’t have to understand what they’re watching. It helps you anyway.
DO use videos to explain core products and services
DO share videos on social sites
DO share other videos on your site that resonate with viewers
DO keep the majority of your videos under two minutes
DO focus on lighting and sound quality
DO NOT hesitate to shoot simple, first person videos with a smartphone
Here is another incredibly important piece of the puzzle for video though– the most influential video hosting website on the planet is owned by Google. So not only does video marketing get the benefit of its very own search stream for consumers, but Google also prioritizes YouTube videos within both the natural and the video types of searches as well. So you literally get three streams of exposure by posting one video on YouTube and embedding it into your website…and your customers will love you for it.
What does a homeless young Korean man in a singing competition have to do with SEO and video marketing? It’s almost impossible not to be moved by his amazing journey…and that is engagement at its very finest. However, if your videos happen to answer the specific questions that your website’s visitors are contemplating, then it is an extremely powerful sales technique as well.
So while video marketing is not a core SEO factor all by itself, the engagement that it creates certainly matters.
Boosting On-Page Metrics
Throughout this guide so far, we’ve talked about the term “engagement” in almost every single section. It is certainly one of those buzzwords that are tossed around frequently by experts, but it hardly ever seems to get properly defined either. So let’s define it now by search engine standards.
Customer engagement refers to any positive action that is taken by a user on a website.
Any when I say “any positive action”, that’s exactly what I mean. Think about this for a moment- the average smartphone user visits a website and qualifies it in the mind in a mere three seconds. So if you manage to tick over to that four second mark, it’s a positive.
Not a good one, mind you, but still a plus in your favor nonetheless.
And your entire job as a website owner is to create more and more of those positive experiences so the search engines know that people are finding good stuff there. This can include any combination of the following-
Visiting multiple pages
Clicking on a backlink
Filling out a contact form
Leaving a comment
Sharing on social media
Watching a video
Downloading a file/app
Users revisiting to your website
Opting in for email alerts
Giving likes, +1’s or other nods
If you look in your Google Analytics account, the search giant has been tracking these types of metrics for years now, so it only makes sense that you should keep up with these key metrics as well. Every chance you get to create additional engagement helps your website overall, so know that your on-page metrics are as important as ever in the eyes of the search engines.
If you’re wondering how to boost your on-page statistics, just try to make each page as pleasant of an experience as possible for your visitors. Here are just a few techniques to do that-
DO focus on using only top notch writers
DO keep your navigation simple
DO add lots of visual elements to your website
DO incorporate video, charts, and infographs
DO use bullet points and subtitles to break up text
DO use bold and italics to make key points stand out
DO link internally so users have easy access to more content
Focusing on the Consumer
If you haven’t realized it by now, search engine optimization is all about the consumer. The more you go out of your way to provide great information and make your visitors happy, the more Yahoo, Google and Bing will reward you with a boost in natural rankings. And even though some of the things I’ve shared so far may seem super technical and difficult to implement, I’ll tell you one more time to read the first sentence of this article- that’s close to 85% of today’s SEO right there.
As long as you’re putting forth a genuine effort to become more helpful online than all of your competition, then you will eventually outrank them…even if it’s purely by dumb luck.
So let’s recap real fast with the highlights-
Write great content.
Optimize for mobile users.
Focus on quality backlinks.
Use local to your advantage.
Don’t be that guy with too many ads.
Make sure your website loads smoothly.
Continue to focus on keywords.
Post a few videos on your site.
Use smart page layouts to increase engagement.
Always focus on pleasing your consumers.
That’s not so hard, is it?
If you have any questions about modern search optimization or want to point out a tip or two that I missed, please feel free to reach out through my contact form or leave a comment below. I’m here to help.
