SEO Practices that Stand the Test of Time
Posted by Yvette | Under Online Marketing, SEM 101 Tuesday Feb 16, 2010
We all know that search engine optimization is not a one-time event like coming up with your company name or selecting the first location for your storefront. Nevertheless, there are a few things you can do to ensure that some of your hard SEO work is not lost tomorrow. That’s right, there are a few things you can do today that are almost guaranteed to pay off regardless of what shifts and turns occur in the SEO world tomorrow.
Take the time to ensure that your website is well designed, and highly efficient. Your website should include a good amount of internal linking. People should be able to find good content on your site without drilling down through countless pages. Keep things easily accessible and you’ll keep your audience. Utilize your keywords effectively and strategically not just in your on-page text but also in your tags, URLs, etc. Include sitemaps, both XML and HTML. Sitemaps help visitors and search engines navigate their way through your content.
Even in SEO, content is king. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the technical side of SEO, but at the end of the day if you’ve developed a website that stands out in your industry, then you really are halfway home. Your content needs to be a dynamic wellspring of good, quality information.
You must provide real value. This is something that we talk about a lot here at SurchSquad and that’s because it’s critical. Today’s consumers are savvy. If you’re content is a rehashing of everything else that’s already out there, your readers will know it. So, think outside of the box. Offer up industry news and information that your competitors are keeping under wraps.
Remember, many of the people who search the web are actually in the research phase. That means that a good number of the people who stumble upon your site are simply looking for answers. A website with your photo and phone number is not going to cut it anymore.
Viral is the new word of mouth. Make sure that your content is easy to share. What if someone reads something on your website that completely solves a problem their friend is having? A person is much more likely to forward a blog or video link than an entire FAQ listing. Or even worse, if they have to read through 20 paragraphs to get to “the good stuff” they will probably find an easier way to send the information to friends, like getting it off someone else’s website.
Get the word out. Regular marketing of your website is critical. However, there are some marketing techniques that you can do today for a continued pay off tomorrow. The first is to build a community. If you do the work today to get a strong following for your website and your Facebook page, then every update and every blog is free mass marketing. If you’re not email marketing, then get going! Everyone’s doing it, it’s cheap, and it doesn’t annoy your client base. Plus, if you aren’t doing it, you can be sure that your competitors are. Take the time to build a quality email list and then use it to deliver high quality content. You’ll get more and more people signing up for your newsletter without even trying.
Is SEO an ongoing job? Yes. However, that doesn’t mean that the hard work you do today will be worthless tomorrow.
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