Not so many moons ago, marketing a business online was all about the keywords. Keyword quantity and frequency were the factors that determined which websites would sit at the top of the search engine result pages (SERPs). Marketers simply looked for keywords with high search traffic and low competition, loaded them into web pages to give their site a huge SEO boost.
Before nofollow links, marketers were all over blogs and directories and posting comments to build backlinks for SEO. This actually worked pretty well, once upon a time.
Search engine marketing was easy. Keywords were the be all and end all, everyone knew the rules and there was a lot less competition.
But time has moved on, the digital landscape has changed and search engines have become much more sophisticated. Over recent years we all began to spend more time online, searching for information, sharing content and connecting with each other.
Google noticed this and decided to develop algorithms to reflect human behaviour and interactions (to understand the context and intent of searches) in order to return more meaningful search results.
Subsequent algorithms began to evaluate content based on engagement signals such as social sharing, low bounce rates, the quality of back links and most recently mobile-friendliness. Google et al continue to release updates to nullify ‘black-hat’ SEO techniques.
So, whilst good keyword research is absolutely vital (you need to know what terms people are using to search for your service or product) there are other activities that are equally key: analytics, content creation and social media marketing.
Search engines exist to help people find what they’re looking for online and the more relevant their SERPs, the more people will use them. The more people use them, the greater advertising revenues they will generate. It stands to reason that search engines will continue to refine their evaluation systems, so it’s essential that webmasters and marketers take note and keep up to speed as best they can.
If search engines exist to help people find what they’re looking for, you need to ensure that search engines can easily find you. To a great extent, this is achieved through engaging your visitors and creating quality experiences that people search for, like and share.
If you need any help or advice on this subject or any aspect of marketing your business, please pick up the phone and call us or drop us a line and we’ll get straight back to you.