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The Fundamental Approach to SEO in 2017

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What is SEO?

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is defined by author David Booth, as the “process of making improvements on and off your website in order to gain more exposure in search engine results. More exposure in search engine results will ultimately lead to more visitors finding you for the right reasons, and visiting your website”.  SEO is essentially making your website the best it can be for your site visitors and search engines.

There are hundreds of contributing factors to Google algorithms (Google’s ranking formula that each search engine uses to determine the relevancy of their findings). As a result, SEO is an ongoing, adaptive process that involves a lot of work, a lot of patience, but produces great reward and long-term, sustainable value. With significant shifts over the past year alone, its important to have a good SEO strategy that is effective and adapts quickly to industry changes. Google keeps getting smarter, and technology continues to grow. This article provides you with the SEO fundamentals and a ton of useful resources to get you on the right track to an effective strategy in 2017.

What are the SEO Fundamentals for 2017?

With Google, Yahoo and BING being the most popular of search engines, SEO should entail every ongoing effort to improve your website’s placement (as it appears in search results). These efforts include:

  • Keyword Research: Finding words and phrases relevant to your business in search
  • On-page & Organic SEO: Good website content structure, title-tagging, URL rewriting, image ALT tags and various strategies
  • Technical SEO: mobile-friendly websites, proper html markup, schema markup and site-speed
  • Off-page & Local SEO: Link building, social media, directory submissions & online citations
  • Content marketing: Market-relative content that is valuable and tailored to the needs of your audience that increases engagement and attracts more shares and links

Keyword Research

Are keywords still relevant in 2017? This has been a common question among marketers and business owners seeking SEO. While much has changed over the years, the principle behind keywording in an SEO strategy remains relatively the same. Groups of words and phrases (search queries people will use to find info on your page) are still useful in helping prospects find your business. With keyword research and a competitive analysis, you can compile a list of effective keywords and phrases for your content strategy, while winnowing words not needed. Here are a few recommendations to get you started:

  • Using keyword research tools such as SEMrush, Google keyword Planner and Keyword.io to find keywords that are relevant to your market and not super-competitive.
  • Analyze your website and keyword performance using Google analytics. The importance of Google whipping up your web pages in search engine results when a user types in keywords related to your business and what you offer, is very obvious. However, rankings constantly fluctuate and are geo-targeted, personalized and will vary for different forms of your keywords. Through Google web analytics, many tools are available to track the performance of your site, measure search engine traffic and the behavior of your audience. You can find out what keywords are already generating traffic and sales and set goals to building additional content that improves the overall performance on your website and increases relative traffic and conversion rates. You can setup an analytics account by starting here »
  • Focus on long tail keywords. Long tail keywords and key phrases are more specific and generally longer than more commonly searched keywords. While long tail keywords generate less traffic, they usually have a higher conversion value being more specific to a users search

In short keywords are relevant, but as Google becomes smarter and more sophisticated, the focus should be shifted to keywords relative to topics that are tailored to users engagement and experience. Understanding your audience, their needs and interests is an important part of good keyword research and SEO strategy.

On-Page SEO

On-page SEO optimizes your websites individual pages by implementing best practice in an effort to rank higher and earn more relevant traffic in search engines. On-page SEO includes both website content as well any HTML source code. Consider the following list of items in your on-page evaluation and strategy:

  • Content optimization: In the world of SEO, there’s a phrase that states that “Content Is King”… to gain advantage in a competitive marketplace, you have to go beyond the products and services by offering informative, interesting website content that speaks to your audience.  Your website should provide answers to questions commonly asked by your target market.
  • Website accessibility and architecture: Your website’s architecture and how pages are linked together tells people, as well as search engines, what’s important and what isn’t. Lots of factors are determined when building a website with architecture that is friendly to users and to Google search engines. Consider your value propositions when structuring links to main categories and sub-categories of content within your website’s architecture.
  • On-site best practice includes URLs that are friendly to Google search and include keywords (without keyword bombing your URL), keyword phrase-to-page mapping, HTML Tagging such as title tags, meta descriptions, proper usage of header tags, anchor texts and ALT tags for images.
  • Internal link building strategy: Link building within your core content structure is essential for accessibility and allows users  (and search engines) to navigate easily on your website, it also helps search engines establish hierarchy of content, and helps spread ‘link juice’ for ranking power for your website.

Technical SEO

  • A mobile-friendly website: With the explosion of mobile technology, Google released a mobile-first index in 2017 which creates and ranks search listings based on the mobile version of website content shown to desktop users. Google is using the mobile version of the web as their primary search engine index. It’s obviously imperative having a mobile-responsive website in 2017
  • Proper content structure: Avoid errors within your markup and use structured data that is compliant to Google. Implement correct header (h1, h2, h3…) tags within your content structure. Identify duplicate content and crawl errors where Google is finding 404 pages. Also ensure that any resources search engines need to render your pages are not being blocked. One of the best resources for identifying these errors is Google Search Console. I recommend setting up an account if you don’t have one.
  • Schema markup is useful with helping search engines return more informative results for users, and is recommended. Schema is a type of microdata that helps search engines to parse and interpret data, making it an essential tool for your SEO strategy.
  • Website speed and quick loading time: Your website needs to load quickly across all devices.  According to Searchmetrics, the top-ranking pages loaded in an average of 1.16 seconds for desktops and 1.10 seconds for mobile. Pingdom is a reliable tool I like to use for testing site speed. Your website speed can be improved in a number of ways; image compression or serving your website’s static content across a content delivery network (CDN). A CDN (I like to use MaxCDN) essentially distributes site content based on the users geo-location which results in fast loading time.

Off-page SEO

Off-page SEO essentially describes it all. It refers to all activities such as link building and other external signals used to increase ranking and the visibility of your business in search engine results. Consider these key items when building an off-page strategy for SEO:

  • Link Building Strategy: If content is king, then consider link building in an SEO strategy to be queen. Link building is essentially the backbone of how search engines work. By developing comprehensive high-quality content in multiple forms, you can develop high-quality links that are relevant to your business, making you the authoritative go-to-source for your targeted audience. There are many ways to develop inbound links – for example, guest blogging still remains an effective strategy. Be certain that your content is of high-quality, and that it’s shared among reputable resources that are seen as authoritative among users and Google search engines. Here are 20 SEO link building tips for 2017
  • Social media marketing: Social media has become a great avenue for inbound traffic (drawing users to your website), and is a great way to reach and engage people by becoming participants in relevant communities and conversations. A good social media campaign can help to promote you, recommend you to others and play a key role in your inbound marketing strategy.
  • Directory submissions and online citation: Localizing your business is a great way to improving online visibility. By submitting your business to reputable local directories such as Googly My Business (GMB), Yahoo, Yelp, etc. it will help establish presence. Citations (defined as mentions of your business name, address and other criteria) are key components to ranking algorithms, and helps to validate your business as part of a local community.

Content Marketing

While I’ve previously mentioned content as part of on-page SEO, it’s important to emphasize creative content as an extremely valuable component to SEO. Without content,  SEOs would have nothing to optimize for search engines. The key to effective content marketing is to develop valuable, and in most cases FREE comprehensive content that meets the needs of users. Content types can come in various formats that enhance your overall strategy: blog posts, short-form or long-form articles, photos and visual galleries, videos and more. Who your site searchers are, and what they’re trying to accomplish should help determine what format(s) your business uses to better reach your target audience and their influencers. When properly distributed within a good strategy, content marketing can gain traction through social shares, links and an increase in search rankings.

Conclusion

Hopefully this information is resourceful to you and helps to narrow the focus on what an SEO strategy can look like. Learn more about SEO and get started on our basic plan, or feel free to contact us for additional resources and information.

SEO: Why You Should Care

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Have you ever questioned the value of search engine optimization? Or maybe you understand the importance, but don’t know where to get started? In today’s digital-driven world, search engine optimization (SEO) is not something to ignore if you want a thriving, successful business.

Studies have proven that search engine optimization (SEO) is a vitally important part of your online success, producing a greater ROI than traditional forms of marketing for start-up and for well established firms.

What is SEO?

Wikipedia describes SEO as the process of affecting the visibility of a website or a web page in a web search engine’s unpaid results — often referred to as “natural,” “organic,” or “earned” results. In short, a good SEO strategy can make your company visible online, allowing your services and products to appear in search results for terms and search queries directly related to your business.

Why invest in SEO for your business?

 Forbes states that investing in SEO is more important now than ever.

  • Cost-effective. An SEO plan can be scaled to work within any marketing budget, and is a bedrock for your online presence — producing longterm results.
  • Organic traffic increase. SEO boosts organic traffic to your website; it’s a great lead generator that allows you to market to consumers seeking products and/or services that are specific to your business.
  • Improved usability and user experience. SEO goes beyond search engines — Google demands for quality-driven content, and SEO opens the door for enhanced usability and user experience.
  • Trust and credibility. Users trust search engines, and when your business ranks well it provides more credibility to your company in the consumers eyes.
  • Web data analytics. With the use of Google web analytics, unmatched insights are learned about your customers, the performance of your website is tracked and consistently optimized for improved engagement with your online market. The results of your SEO efforts are measurable.
  • Quality content. No matter how good your SEO is, you’ll never get the results you’re after without good, compelling, market-relative content that’s easily accessible to your online audience. SEO demands a healthy content profile.
  • Social media marketing. Social media is intertwined with SEO and plays a valuable role in ranking. Social media campaigns are a part of what is referred to as ‘inbound marketing’, where attention to your customers are brought through social media, and directs organic traffic back to your website.
  • Online reputation management (ORM). SEO includes off-page, quality-driven link building and online reviews that help build authority within the web, and directs users back to your website. Think of these resources as online referrals which promote and build local presence to improve overall search positioning, trust and ranking for your business.
  • Competitive advantage. If you are not doing it, your competitors are. SEO can gain great advantage with outranking your competition and establishing longterm success.

“The Fireplace Blowers Online team has been working with js-interactive for years to empower our creative content and strengthen our online visibility. As a direct result of their efforts, our organic SEO is industry leading and our profits have never been better.  If you have doubted even for a second the power of SEO, give Justin Staples at js-interactive a call.  He’s a world class gentleman and will treat your business with every ounce of professionalism it deserves!”

Terry BakerOwner

What can we do for your business?

We improve your search visibility and give opportunity for your business to rank higher than your competitors. Our goal is getting your online positioning to page 1 of Google. The first step is to provide an SEO audit (analysis/report) of the current health of your online business before implementing a comprehensive SEO strategy and plan.

For more questions on how you can get started today, please feel free to contact us. Let’s discuss the long-term benefits of search engine optimization for your business.

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5 Fundamental Elements To Effective Online Marketing

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While working with a variety of business industries and personalities, one of the common similarities I have noted among most, is that small businesses are not positioning themselves or making use of the web as effectively as they should. Many factors may play a role in this; time, resources, or simply not knowing where to begin beyond building a website.

Below are preliminary steps offered to small businesses, that serve as fundamental elements to effectively marketing your business on the web. Here are our 5 steps:

1. Define Your Brand.

Beyond having a business name, logo, website or identity package … ask yourself  ‘What do I stand for?’ What’s got you doing what you’re doing, and what about it makes you unique? Who are your competitors? Why do your customers choose to work with you over your competitors? Don’t be too shy to ask your customers. These are the type of questions that really help to define your brand and develop a proposition that differentiates you from the others.

2. Don’t Sell To Your Audience…Teach

Know your audience and understand their need and the value you bring to that need. It’s been said that ‘while people love to buy stuff, they hate to feel sold’. Don’t sell … but teach. Effectively build your business online while keeping the customer needs central; focus on delivering valuable, creative content that addresses their needs.

Educational content works online; it attracts links, it brings traffic, it builds trust and it’s simply educating people about the benefits of doing business with you.

3. Creative Content & Social Media Strategy

Your ideal customers have questions and problems…you have answers and solutions. When a customer comes to you with a question … what do you tell them? Without providing the information that your target audience needs, your content becomes practically useless.  Your creative content should reveal what people need to know to make use of your site and do business with you. It should be strategic and provide value to your online customers. Below are a few small steps to developing content and effectively engaging your target audience:

  • Get inside the mind of your customers, do a research to find out what questions are commonly asked by them.  Analyze your website data to see who your customers are, and what their behavior is like when visiting your website
  • Creatively develop relative content with strong headlines that grab people’s attention and sets itself apart from the noise that’s out there. By intriguing your audience with killer headlines and content, they’re more inclined to get engaged with your business and to spread the word.
  • Be influential through your social media channels, both with customers and with influential people in your industry. Today’s internet world is becoming more social; building friendships, developing an online reputation and building content that causes people to share through social media can make you influential. As the old social media proverb states what others say about your business is more important than what you say about yourself.
  • Direct relevant traffic to your website through content you create. Through social media and other off-page channels, your content should direct relevant people to your website. Whether it’s building a fan base through social media, or building a subscriber list for your digital marketing campaigns, if you send a brilliant campaign to a bad list….it will fail. Getting relevant people to your website over time, and nurturing these prospects over time to potentially becoming a customer, is far more effective than fabricating a list of subscribers or followers which brings no value.

4. Design Matters

As humans we are wired to process the world visually. When we see an image we understand it instantly – before the language is even understood to describe it. What does your website instantly communicate to your customers? You’ve heard it being said that a first impression can be a very significant one, so if an online user visits your website…what first impression does your image provide them? Does it present the right impression?  Is your design intuitive and your information easily accessible? Or does it look like it was built by an amateur, where users having difficulty navigating through your website and accessing the content they need?  If the web can be a first impression, it’s important that it be the right one. If your first impression is bad, or unprofessional, it can say something about your business to an online shopper.

A well-designed website isn’t superficial, even the best story and the most compelling data can be jeopardized by sloppy or unprofessional design. Purposeful Design is the hook, the appeal, that initially draws users in.

5. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Ranking well with Google matters…if not to you, then to your competitors. With over 2 billion people now using the internet to acquire any sort of information, the internet is now the 1st place people go to learn more about your business. It’s with a practical understanding, that having an SEO plan in place will help site visitors find you. Many factors play a role in search engine optimization, some of which have been mentioned in previous points. Google’s ranking formula is all about quality; here is a basic list of what is best practice when it comes to SEO:

Moving forward…

  • Optimize on-page website performance to include meta data and market relative content that creatively engages your target audience
  • Create a content strategy both on-page (your website) and off-page (social media channels, direct mail and directories) that builds links and drives your audience to your website
  • Optimize technical content that is compliant to Google standards, meaning your website code and HTML markup that Google spiders love … along with all other website performance factors that determine the value and quality of your website
  • Install Google Web Data Analytics which monitors user behavior and captures data that allows your website to be measurable, calculable and consistently optimized for better performance

Final Thoughts

While there’s a bit to digest here, hopefully what I have provided serves as a good starting point for ways you could market your website effectively through the internet.  All points of course, can be elaborated on, so if you have any additional questions, please feel free to get in touch with me.

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