SEO PERSONALIZED FOR 2017

seo-12415962017 is set to bring a more personalized experience to the user of web searches and web content.  SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is important to help users connect with the products, services, and sites that they desire.  The main objective of SEO should be to help users find answers to their questions and connect consumers to businesses that can fulfill their needs.  The content experience is going to get better than ever.

MARKETING TO THE END USER

Recent improvements to data modeling will refine, further than ever before, the experience for the user – that person trying to find just exactly what it is they want at that particular moment.  Successful marketing is also a win-win for the marketer, as a high volume of traffic could find its way to their website.  It is, and always has been, really about quality content.  Trustworthy, honest, truthful content that will help users discover whatever it is they are looking for.  Search engines can help point them in the direction; content specifically designed with quality SEO in mind can further refine user’s searches to only those websites that will provide value to them.

STRUCTURED DATA

free-image-for-your-seo-blog-or-web-marketing-website-1636061Organization of pertinent data is also important and structured data is touted as becoming an even more significant factor in 2017.  Structured data reaches into every field and every application.

What is a rich snippet?  It is the markup of structured data that website owners can add to their existing HTML.  Rich snippets are vital, yet small, bits of information that will allow your page to do better in search results.

What is a structured data markup?  This refers to structured data being directly added to a page’s HTML.

Why is structured data important to SEO?  The organization of content that structured data represents is able to be understood better by the search engine’s crawling a web page.

More emphasis will be placed on optimization (i.e., value) of the content as opposed to prioritizing for keywords.  It’s customer-first priority all the way in 2017!

 

Is SEO Still An Important Concept?

glasses-1421589In 2014, in a LinkedIn article about the most talked about skills for the best jobs available, number 5 was said to be the knowledge of how to use SEO and paid search (based on recruiter searches).  Why are there so many articles that negatively discuss whether SEO is dead or alive?  While we all know the phrase “Content is King,” that doesn’t mean that SEO is dead or even in a coma.  Plenty of uses still exist for SEO and opportunities abound where SEO can be quite an advantage.

SEO – ALIVE FOREVER!

Well, at least for the foreseeable future.  Why?  Because what companies and businesses care about most – driving oodles of traffic to their web site and then converting those travelers to loyal and devoted customers for life – can be greatly enhanced by utilizing SEO.  While shifts have occurred to the strategies and tactics of SEO with regard to how search engines see those efforts and apply them to the analysis of page ranking, the skills of writing with SEO remain necessary and desired.

GET CONTENT SEEN

With more writers and written text in the form of blogs, articles, web pages, landing pages, etc., how in the world are you going to get your little blog and, thereby, your company noticed?  You need to think up more creative and constructive ways to get your content seen.  What do you need to do that?  A terrific writer who knows how to address the philosophy of your company’s product line or service.  SEO knowledge incorporated into a text, whether it is organic or paid, is still the best way to get your business noticed.

SEO AND GREAT CONTENT

Your business needs great content; that’s a fact.  When you combine naturally flowing and authentic content with the dynamics of SEO optimization, you have a vibrant end result that will do everything within its power to get your business noticed, traffic driven to your web site, and sales conversions almost a given.

Employ high quality content and SEO techniques to get your business and web site acknowledged through waterfall of noise that is your competition.  Drive your targeted audience right where you want them.

 

 

How Content Marketing Can Help Your SEO Efforts

seo-1241596It has been said that you can’t have one without also having the other: content marketing and SEO.  Why is that exactly?  Utilizing successful SEO tactics and techniques, content needs to be of high quality and provide value to the reader while also, and by natural inclusion, skillfully connect the reader to the business with words employed to strike at the core of the product or service the business offers.  The goal, of course, is to entice the purchaser that whatever the company is selling is absolutely essential for the reader to have.

High Quality Content

Content that is of high quality and value to the reader is the most sought-after arrangement in the global world of marketing today.  It is important to search engines, most notably Google who has, in the past, offered many updates to how web sites are scored and ranked in search results.  Google’s Panda, Penguin, and Hummingbird algorithm updates strive to make high quality text the winner every time in search-based results that want to be organic.  After several years of “keyword stuffed” fluff and filler articles, the current mainstream endeavors to provide the highest value content to the consumer.

The Importance of SEO

While the practicing of stuffing as many keywords as possible into text (blogs, articles, etc.) has long been seen for what it is, that is not to say that keywords are not still useful; they are.  Keywords play a fundamental role in optimizing your web page to help drive relevant traffic to your site, as well as on-page optimization which helps determine page rank.

The Hummingbird Algorithm

This release from Google addressed page rank requirements beyond the use of keywords.  While it is true that greater emphasis is now placed on conversational and organic searches, the practice of targeting keywords is still seen as beneficial.  While keywords should not be the sole focus of a content marketing strategy, they should necessarily be blended with titles, URLs, internal links, meta tags, etc.

Successful marketing efforts will incorporate the use of SEO keywords and optimization, along with high quality content text.  This integrated effort is more likely to capture the attention of your target audience.

 

 

The Importance of Copywriters

laptop-keyboard-1515695Just how important are copywriters?  Forgive us this momentary pause in bias, but, we do happen to believe copywriters are EXTREMELY important to any and every business.  Even more important than SEO specialists who say they can turn every web site click into money in your pocket?  Yes, without a doubt.  While copywriters do often write with SEO strategies in mind, it’s the structured, meaningful content of the writing itself that is going to grab each consumer by the ankles and not let go until they have scoured your web site for exactly whatever it is they are looking for.

PANDAS AND PENGUINS

These days, SEO content necessarily relies more on quality content than merely stuffing a certain amount of keywords into a bunch of otherwise roughly worded text and expecting customers to engage.  Quality content is what great copywriting is about.  Quality content is what a great blog should have been about all along.  Google realized that and, with its Panda and Penguin updates to word algorithms, has decided to bring back higher quality to the text it categorizes for the consumer’s benefit.

GOOGLE WATCHES THE STATS

Google can tell how well a web site’s text works in compelling site visitors to click on links, thereby interacting with the business.  Through analyzing the time spent on the site, the page depth, and the bounce rate, Google can tell how well the text manages to do what it desires to do – produce a call to action from the consumer.  Copywriters who have experience with highlighting SEO in just the right way and are adept at being creative can get great results from a web site’s traffic.

BACKLINKS

Are backlinks helpful?  The answer is yes, when used naturally.  Are you getting the idea here?  Meaningful content.  Quality content.  Valuable content.  Honesty and Integrity with the written word.  Naturally used SEO words, phrases, and backlinks.  All these words/terms equate to the kind of organic backlinking that Google wants to see; it’s what Google is looking for; and it is what Google will reward with higher rankings in their search results.

Copywriters are in charge of directing quality content, along with a healthy dose of creative expression in understandable terms for the greater good of your business, to potential consumers.  Put a copywriter to work for you today.

 

 

You, Google, and Your Clients

writingThe entire point of your website is to attract customers to your business, right? Unfortunately, you can’t simply put your site online and expect to have customers. You have to meet the needs of the search engines too or potential clients may never find your site. How can you juggle the needs of your customers along with the needs of search engines? It’s actually easier than you think.
Put the needs of your customers first. The most important thing to remember is that your customers have to come first. Not everyone is going to discover your site with the help of a search engine, and those that do will be looking for solid content. If it reads like keyword bait, it might as well be. Customers are savvier than ever about search engine marketing, and they want to feel like you’re talking to them, not Google. If ever there’s a choice to be made about customers vs. search engines, go with customers every time.
Think in keywords. You want people on your site. It’s the entire point of having a site. The term “keywords” doesn’t have to come with a negative connotation. Instead, you can simply think about what words your customers use to search for your services and products, then mention those terms a few times in appropriate places. The key here is to use them naturally, and a good copywriter can help work them seamlessly into the text.
Break the copy up. Studies suggest people read differently online than they do offline. They like chunks of information. Bullets, sub heads, lists, bold print, clear sections – all of these should fit into your copy. Interestingly enough, that makes it easier for the search engines to tell exactly what your page is about too.
Link to other parts of your site. People love links. They like to click on them, open them in new tabs, and move to the next logical part of your site. Search engines love sites that are easy to navigate.Carefully, clearly link the various parts of your site together, and you’ll get better feedback from your customers and clearer search engine rankings.
The needs of the search engine and the needs of your customers don’t have to be quite so diverse. Search engines are continually refining algorithms to help meet the needs of searchers instead of those being searched, so SEO in the future could easily reflect the needs of customers and search engines alike.