Article Marketing
While link-building is still an integral part of an SEO campaign, scoring quick links through “blog networks” and low quality article sites is exactly the kind of method Google is targeting with their Panda algorithm update. Rather than targeting opportunities for easy and quick links, the best use of time is through building relationships with bloggers and websites, and writing guest blog posts for them. In the process, we add valuable content to their website, while increasing the brand’s exposure to their readers.
Thin Website Content
In the past, websites potentially had the ability to rank for different keywords simply by creating a separate web page for each keyword they were targeting. All they had to do was “spin”, or reword the content slightly, and insert the right keywords into the copy. Today, website content needs to be written for the audience, yet still optimized for the search engines to ensure accessibility and indexability. Plus great content can help your brand, drive sales and increase the opportunity for great links.
Unnecessary focus on rankings
At SEO.com, we provide clients round the clock access to their rankings anytime they choose through our integrated reporting system. We believe in this level of transparency, because businesses choose to invest their time and money with us, and we want to prove our value. But since ranking reports don’t adequately communicate the true value of an SEO campaign, we instead focus on driving relevant traffic to the website, capturing those visitors and turning them into leads or sales. SEO in 2013 should be comprised of strategies to meet our clients’ goals, not simply moving keywords.
Putting all the Eggs in Googe Basket
Websites with high quality, engaging content have the ability to capture a high percentage of visitors arriving from Google’s search engine, but it should not be the only source of traffic. Sustainable SEO strategies should include driving traffic from a number of sources, including social media, webinars, direct traffic, video, news sites and more.
Not tracking Goal
It’s relatively easy to just set a campaign on auto pilot and just “build links”, but it’s vitally important to track the outcomes of these initiatives through website analytics. If the goal is to increase the number of leads coming in to the website, specific strategies to increase traffic to the website should be implemented and measured in order to prove value. If a certain method isn’t working, analytics will bring this to attention, and the strategy can be adjusted.
Don’t be fooled by promises of quick rankings. SEO in 2013 is a long term investment in the future, and while the dramatic performance of a website can be achieved within the first few months of a campaign, a holistic approach to SEO will ensure the sustainability of the website through any algorithm change the search engines decide to make.