As SEO rules, regulations and best practices continue to evolve, reviewing your SEO strategy is increasingly important to ensure success.
Recently, industry leaders Rand Fishkin, CEO of SEOmoz and Dharmesh Shah, CTO of Hubspot, teamed up to deliver an hour-long webinar detailing the “State of SEO and Internet Marketing.” Fishkin and Shah presented fascinating data, including a snapshot of the results from SEOmoz’s recent study on the SEO industry, as well as their personal insights on effective SEO.
Here are some of the key lessons learned from these two industry leaders to incorporate into your current 2013 SEO strategy:
First, remember why you optimize in the first place.
Both Fishkin and Shah emphasized the importance of the user experience. It’s easy for SEO marketers to get tangled up in algorithms and analytics, forgetting that search engine optimization is ultimately designed to create benefits for those using search engines. Google rewards businesses for the actual value they provide, so increasing site speed, investing in quality content and giving users a unique experience are all essential to ensuring your strategy begins with the right end in mind.
Next, a solid social component is critical. According to eMarketer, the impact of social media to drive web business is expected to surpass that of SEO in 2013. And even more importantly, link growth has been found to follow social growth (See Dan Zarrella’s data on the correlations between social sharing and inbound links), meaning the more people talk about you, the more likely the links are to come.
Additionally, take a good look at Google+. More than 65% of SEO businesses surveyed by SEOmoz have created a business profile on Google+ this year. The web is a visual medium and the power of Google+ lies in its visual impact. Don’t be surprised at the higher search results you start to see with a photo attached.
Give incentives to share your content. Don’t just beg bloggers to post a press release. Fishkin gave an example when SEOmoz created an infographic comparison of Twitter followers for three influencers. The influencers didn’t ask SEOmoz to make this, it was just a fun and free resource. Fishkin shared with his followers (making sure his tweet included handles for the influencers in the comparison) and sure enough, one of the influencers saw the graphic, thought it was interesting, and retweeted the link to his followers. The moral of the story here is that the more you are able to creatively involve influencers in what you’re doing, the more you can showcase your expertise, rather than just tell them about it. And chances are, the more likely they will be to spread the word.
Finally, don’t blow off the basics. Despite sweeping changes, several of the core components of SEO have remained steady. If these are missing, no amount of search magic will boost your rankings. Even SEO experts need to step back every once and while and look at the basics. Take advantage of aids like Google’s Webmaster tool and discover how search engines see your site.
To view Fishkin and Shah’s entire presentation, visit: http://www.hubspot.com/state-of-seo-and-internet-marketing/
What are some important components of your current SEO strategy?