SEO is not dead. It may have changed over the years, but it’s still as important as ever. The digital marketing landscape has shifted rapidly making SEO more difficult to successfully execute, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t effective anymore – it just means you need to adapt your strategy accordingly.

Google has implemented several  algorithm updates over the course of the last few years to help weed out irrelevant or low-quality websites from its search results pages. This means you need to work harder and have more technical expertise to generate better content with higher quality links pointing back at their website to rank on page one of a Google search result page.

You may be thinking exactly what is SEO? How is SEO evolving? and why would I need to use SEO as a business owner? In this blog, we will reveal all this and much more!

What Is SEO?

SEO stands for search engine optimization. SEO is a marketing discipline focused on growing visibility in organic search results – i.e., unpaid results as opposed to ads – and, ultimately driving traffic from the ‘free’ search engines such as Google, Bing or Yahoo!

SEO helps businesses attract new customers through building high-quality websites that target specific keywords with content that is both relevant, engaging and value added for users. There are many components of SEO that’s why it’s important to seek expert help rather than wasting many hours trying to figure it out yourself. Below we will cover some of the most important factors SEO experts take into consideration when ranking a website on the first page of search results.

Link building

Building quality links pointing back to your website is one of the most important SEO strategies. More links mean more visibility on Google, which will subsequently increase traffic and drive revenue growth organically. when you have more links, you have a higher domain authority and Google trusts your website more. When it comes to link building, there are no one-size fits all strategy.

The type of backlinks that you need for your site may depend on the industry and niche you are in as well as other factors such as brand awareness or content quality distribution across different social media channels which drive traffic from those sources respectively. Guest blogging with influencers in your niche and collaborations with well know digital PR companies are both great options to get your SEO strategy off the ground.

Page speed

SEO experts consider page speed as a major SEO ranking factor. This means that SEO professionals need to focus on website performance optimization and delivering fast-loading web pages in order to increase online conversions. The faster your site loads, the more chance you have at capturing customers attention which will help grow revenue through sales or leads. With some much information being online is so important to ensure a fast but smooth experience for your potential customers.

Mobile-friendliness

SEO experts need to focus on SEO for mobile as more and more people are using their smartphones or tablets to search the web which means it’s important that your website works across all devices, otherwise you will be missing out on a huge portion of potential customers.

In March of this year, Google released an update to its mobile search algorithm which now places a greater emphasis on the mobile friendliness of websites as a ranking signal. Over 60% of all Google search traffic comes from mobile devices, so it’s important to make sure your website is optimized for these users. This can be achieved by using responsive design, ensuring all images and videos are properly formatted for mobiles and conducting deep SEO audits to identify any potential issues.

A secure website

In 2017, Google announced that it would flag sites without SSL certificates as unsecure. Even as far back as 2014, the search giant  announced that it would be a ranking factor in its search results. What does this mean for SEOs? It means that if your website is not secured with an SSL certificate, you could see a decrease in web traffic from Google as a result. An SSL certificate encrypts the data transferred between your website and its visitors, so if your website is not SSL-ready SEO experts may see a decrease in organic traffic.

Dwell time

When it comes to search engine optimization the amount of time customers spend on your website is a key metric that you should track. The longer customers stay on your site, the more engaged they are with your content which will result in a higher chance of a conversion. There are many ways to keep customers engaged on your websites, such as using engaging visuals, videos or interactive content.

Keywords

I’m sure you have heard the term “keywords”, but what are they? It is essential to include keywords in your SEO strategy as these words or phrases provide valuable information to search engines about the content on your site. Without them, search engines wouldn’t know which web pages are relevant for specific searches and would be unable to determine where sites should rank in results.

Search engine algorithms use keyword data to build traffic estimates for SEO professionals. SEO experts should include keywords throughout their website content, the common misconception is that you stuff as many keywords as possible on one page however, this can actually hurt your SEO performance as it comes across as spam. Instead, focus on using keywords naturally throughout your site copy.

One way to succeed with keywords is to do quality research before you include them on your website, you are looking for keywords that have a good monthly search volume and low competition.

Domain age

It is no secret that Google takes website age into account when ranking websites. The older your site, the more likely you are to rank higher in search engine results pages. This is because Google trusts older websites more as they have been around longer, and they have less chance of being dangerous.

Crawlability

Crawability is another factor that Google takes into account when ranking websites. This term refers to how easy it is for search engine crawlers to access and index the pages on your website. If your website is not crawlable, you will likely see a decrease in web traffic from Google as a result. To ensure your website is crawlable, SEO experts should make sure all website pages are linked together and that the robots.txt file is properly configured.

Ensuring your website is technically sound can be a technical job, SEO professionals can use a site crawler to help them identify any potential issues. This is a lot less painful than you having to figure it out manually.

How Is Content Marketing Important For SEO?

Creating great content is one of the most important SEO factors that has remained consistent over the years. Quality content not only attracts new visitors but also encourages them to stay longer on your website, leading to increased dwell time and lower bounce rates. Content must be well-written, engaging and valuable for your audience. SEO professionals can work with their in-house team or hire a content writer to help them create SEO-friendly copy that is also shareable across social media platforms.

If you want to be successful, it’s crucial that both Google and other users are engaged with quality content focused on their needs! Making sure the content is beneficial will also help drive rankings higher up into SERPs when they decide what pages deserve placement there. all searches should include high quality written text, which is based around that particular concern which can then prompt them down some informative yet entertaining rabbit holes about topics that they are searching for.

In addition to increasing traffic, content marketing could increase your sales as well. If you work on creating quality articles that are related in nature to what the customers are searching for and post them regularly throughout their research process, then this strategy will likely pay off as you are providing massive value for free. Your site should start popping up more often which provides an opportunity for new visitors who may be potential buyers of whatever it is you offer or want to promote from other sites such as social media pages where they’ve shared links back at yours!

If you are looking at incorporating a content marketing strategy that includes the power of search engine optimization we recommend blog writing. A blog is a web page that is updated regularly with new content, such as new information on the subject, videos, images, and infographics also are a great idea to include. Blogs are also the best way to organically include keywords and phrases that are relevant to your target audience.

Don’t forget to think about the structure of your website when creating more content. Creating (or keeping) a clear site with easy-to follow navigation helps search engines like Google and others navigate through their pages easily. It also makes it easier for users as well, so this is very important from an SEO point of view!

How exactly does SEO work?

To simply the whole subject of SEO can be separated into these two sections that are both equally as important:

On page SEO

SEO that happens on the page itself, for example where you place a keyword, what content is on the page and how many times it’s used.

Off page SEO

SEO that happens off of your websites such as social media mentions or backlinks from other websites to yours.

When it comes to learning how SEO actually works, on page SEO is the best place to start. This is because it’s something that you as a website owner has direct control over and can change immediately. You don’t need any backlinks or social media mentions in order for on page SEO to work, you just need to know what to do!

To be an SEO master you have to understand how search engines like Google rank websites. This is difficult as the Google algorithm is one of the most closely guarded secrets in business, releasing it would greatly diminish company value. More importantly though, if this secret were revealed to the public domain, then anyone could exploit its power for their own benefit at users expense – generating unhelpful search results which are worse than what already exists online today from various sources like Bing or Yahoo!

The Google search algorithm is a complex and ever-changing process but through years of using google, we know that it takes into account the quality of your content in relation to what people are searching for. Factors like relevance can make or break you when it comes time to rank pages higher than others on SERPs (search engine results page). This is why it’s a great idea to work with an SEO expert as they are always updated with the latest SEO practices and know the best ways to get your website seen.

Why Is SEO Still So Crucial for Everyone With A Business?

SEO builds brand trust – When done correctly, SEO can help to improve your website’s trustworthiness in the eyes of search engines. This is an important factor for improving click-through rates (CTRs) and reducing the chances of users bouncing off your page before even reading it.

SEO Helps Increase Traffic

By increasing traffic to your website through higher rankings and branded search terms, SEO helps to convert more users into customers. This is extremely beneficial as it costs nothing to stay ranked at the top of Google and this could produce sales for your business at no cost for many years to come!

Provide great customer experiences

In this digital world we live in, SEO has become a key factor in providing great customer experiences. A lot of SEO focuses on ensuring that your website is as user-friendly as possible, from the navigation to how content is displayed – this means you can spend more time focusing on creating high quality products and services. I like to think of good search engine optimization as going to a restaurant if you walk into the restaurant for the first time, but it smells and looks dirty, you are going to walk right back out. The same concept goes for your website – if it doesn’t look or feel trustworthy, users will leave without a second thought.

SEO is cheap compared to other forms of marketing

When you compare SEO to other forms of digital marketing, SEO is hands down the cheapest. A good SEO campaign can be started off with a small investment and as your website starts to rank higher, the cost per click (CPC) for your target keywords will slowly decrease. Whereas other forms of marketing such as Google AdWords can become very expensive very quickly if not managed correctly.

SEO is a long-term investment

Unlike other forms of marketing, SEO is a long-term investment that can take months or even years to see results from. However, when done correctly this type of marketing can be very effective in driving traffic and leads to your website producing new customers in perpetuity.

If you are not first your last

70% of all clicks, come from page one therefore if you are not concentrating on maximizing SEO for your business then you are losing out on a lot of potential business.

It’s easy to track

Thanks to free analytic sites such as google analytics and google search console it is really easy to see how SEO is affecting your website. You can compare time on page and bounce rate with just a few clicks of the mouse which lets you know if SEO efforts are actually working or not along with what product or service customers are actually engaging with.

SEO is the best way to get in front of your target audience

SEO allows you to target people who are already interested in what you have to offer. Unlike other forms of marketing such as cold calling or TV advertising, SEO targets people who are already looking for your product or service – which means a lower cost per acquisition (CPA) and a higher chance of a conversion. It is very clear if someone searches for ‘plumber in London’ they are looking for a plumber, so it is important to have your website ranking as high as possible for this term.

Can I Do SEO On My Own?

Technically yes, however as a business owner, hiring SEO professionals can save you a lot of time and money. SEO is complicated and there are simply too many factors at play for it to be something that you should ever try to do on your own.

SEO requires continuous monitoring and tweaking to ensure you are getting the most out of your investment, something that is difficult to do if you’re not familiar with all the latest SEO trends and changes. When it comes to SEO, don’t try to go at it alone – hire an SEO professional who can help you get the most out of your investment, whilst driving quality traffic to your website.

Six Reasons SEO is Not Dead

1) Google isn’t going anywhere

Google is one of the biggest companies in the entire world and SEO is still one of the best ways to get in front of your target audience on the platform, whether you are trying to rank for regional search terms or international ones. Yes, there is more competition than 10 years ago to get ranked on page one, but guess what? More people than ever are using google to find what they are looking for.

2) SEO is more technical than ever

This means that if you are not up to date with all the latest SEO changes, then you will struggle to rank your website. SEO is no longer about stuffing keywords into your content – it’s now about creating high-quality, engaging content that people want to read or watch. With SEO being more technical this ensure that charlatans struggle to rank their client’s website due to the fact that they are not taking all the latest SEO trends into account. An example of this is the recent Google Medic update which targeted websites that were using black-hat SEO tactics.

3) People are spending more money on SEO than ever before

SEO is going to be an integral part of your marketing strategy. You can’t really get ahead without it. With the right planning, you’ll have no problem competing against big companies who are using this tool as well!

It’s not just small businesses that need SEO either – even bigger brands know how valuable having a top-notch search engine ranking website will help them make more money from their customers than they ever dreamed possible. This is being reflected in the amount of money people are spending on SEO – it’s now more important than ever to have a good SEO strategy in place.

4) It’s very clear businesses are still benefiting from SEO

SEO is still alive and well. It’s one of the most reliable methods that small-to-medium businesses have available to them because SEO can help with everything from ranking on popular searches like “cake decorating tips” or even getting your company listed in local directory listings!

A lot of people say they don’t believe there could ever be such a thing as ‘dead’ when it comes down to SEO, why would anyone rely so heavily upon something if clients wouldn’t continue hiring companies who provide this service if it wasn’t still bringing massive amounts of benefit to their business?

5) Voice is soon to be a dominant search engine

Websites that are ranking now won’t be in the future as voice search takes over. If you’re not prepared for this, your website will fall behind very quickly. SEO companies who understand how to optimize a website for voice search will be the ones who continue to dominate this market.

Just like mobile SEO was important a few years ago, voice SEO is going to be the next big thing in search engine optimization. Make sure you are ready for this game changing technology by working with an SEO company that knows how to optimize your website for this type of search… not many do!

6) SEO provides the best data for improving your website

The great thing about SEO is that it’s one of the most measurable forms of marketing – you can track everything from how many people are visiting your website as a result of your SEO efforts, to what keywords they are using to find you. This data can then be used to improve your SEO strategy and help you rank even higher than you did before! Without proper SEO data, you’ll never know what works and what doesn’t so SEO is always going to be one of the most important digital marketing strategies.

SEO isn’t dead, it’s as alive now as it ever has been! SEO companies will continue thriving because people are continuing to hire them in order for their website to rank higher on search engines like Google. SEO is a necessary part of any digital marketing plan, so don’t be left behind!

What Does The Future Of SEO Look Like?

Quality content is a very important aspect of search engine optimization for 2022 and beyond. This is because search engines are placing a greater emphasis on providing users with the most relevant and engaging content possible. If you want your website to rank high, you’re going to need to produce content that people actually want to read!

Artificial intelligence is a major trend that will continue to grow SEO in the future. This is because SEO companies will be able to use AI to better understand how people are searching for information, then create content that is more likely to rank high on search engines.

Long from blog content is crucial for SEO going forward in 2021. I noticed that blogs over 2,000 words have been ranking higher in search engine rankings than those with shorter content. As more websites follow this trend and post larger-length articles, we can expect the range between these numbers will continue expanding – maybe even reaching upwards up towards a 3,000 to 3,500 word count before it starts affecting your audience retention to much.

The data revealed by recent studies is clear: Longer Blogs are better! It’s no surprise then why so many marketers want their link building efforts concentrated around longer-form pieces that offer high quality backlinks rather than low value quickies targeted at social media channels like Twitter or Facebook. That is a thing of the past!

Final Thoughts

Be sure that you’re making search engine optimization a priority as it really is just as important now as it has ever been, if not more so! SEO can help drive traffic to your website by improving visibility in search engines for queries related to what you are offering.

I hope this complete guide has been helpful, businesses that use proper search engine optimization will continue thriving because people will continue to use search to find everyday products and services. Remember what we mentioned earlier, if you’re not first your last! Be sure to get working on the correct implementation of search engine optimization today and you’ll be sure to see results over time that will blow your mind!