Here we are at the end of another year! It always seems like everyone this time of year is taking inventory of the past years’ successes, failures and just flat out “didn’t get tos” and making their goals and new rules for the next year. The world of Internet Marketing is no different…
There have been a lot of changes over the past year or so on the Search Engine Optimization front! Some of the old methods to gain better rankings for specific keywords and increase conversion rates have lost their effectiveness thanks to some algorithm updates known as Panda and Penguin. Search engines are now looking at the overall integrity of a site and judging its worthiness to be returned in related queries by a user according to different elements that include social engagement cues, unique and fresh content and participation in social media outlets. This has detracted from the weight that ‘old school’ optimization techniques once held. Tons of webmasters started receiving regular emails from Google via Google Webmaster Tools warning them against excessive and unnatural looking link profiles, over optimization on site, keyword stuffed metadata and the like.
Our team here at Volume 9 has been working hard to adapt to these changes and put together effective client strategies to get the most out of our search engine optimization efforts to keep sites in the clear. Here is a list of 6 trends for the coming year:
1. Quality vs. Quantity
It’s become increasingly important for sites to consistently produce unique content with depth as opposed to just churning out content for the sake of content. High quality writers who can write with a specific persona target are increasingly valuable as we move into 2013.
2. Personas
The use of personas or a brand’s voice is particularly important moving into the new year. It’s not enough to just put out good, frequent content. It needs a specific target and voice to stand apart from the crowd and more efficiently deliver a brand’s message.
3. Engagement Factors
It makes sense that in the today’s social media obsessed world that search engines would be taking their cues from the links that people pass around to each other. If you post a link to an article you find interesting, it means that you think your friends will too. This is reflecting in the SERPS and shifting the focus for articles and blog posts from getting in all the keyword targets ( created for search engines ) to making the pieces higher quality and more engaging to readers ( created for people ).
4. Social Media for Branding
While it’s been known for a while that social media presence can boost a site’s visibility and better reach a customer base, it’s becoming clear that it’s now a firm building block in the successful SEO foundation. With the cues search engines are taking from engagement rates regarding content, it should be a no brainer that sites benefit from using these platforms to share new product info, invite feedback and communicate with both existing and potential consumers.
5. Conversion Trumps Keyword Ranking
Hand in hand with a more consumer friendly way of returning relevant search engine results, conversions are key. Google is basically pounding us over the head to make us move away from being so obsessed with individual keyword rankings to instead focus on converting traffic. Which seems logical. The goal of most sites on the internet, after all, is to make money. Right?
The experts at Volume 9 are eager to help you make the most of 2013! It’s never been more important to not only have an effective SEO strategy, but also to bring in a quality team to help execute it. We look forward to hearing how we can help you have a prosperous year!