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SEO Trends for 2020

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Search Engine Optimization. SEO. Google Algorithm. Core Updates.

These are phrases we often hear when talking about websites and how they rank on search engine results pages (SERPs). Does anyone (other than the folks at Google who write the algorithms) really understand how algorithm updates are going to positively or negatively affect every individual website that exists? Probably not. Considering that Google announced they roll out about 500-600 algorithm updates each year, it would be a boisterous claim! There are, however, studies and SEO practices performed that help identify what works and what doesn’t. As 2020 soon approaches, we look into the future and what we think is important to consider for your SEO campaign.

Mobile Friendly is Our Friend

First and foremost, if you do not have a mobile friendly website, why bother? Not only does Google look for this as a ranking factor but it is important for the end user as well. In some cases, we saw 60 – 70% of all website traffic in 2019 come from a mobile device. This is crucial functionality for a website and if you don’t have it, you’re not even a player.

Website Content for You and Me

When writing content, it is important to think about the search intent of a user. What are they looking for? Are they looking for general information or looking into services related to their search query? If you are not thinking about the content from a user’s point of view, then you might consider re-thinking your content strategy. Consider the user, and not the search engine, when writing content. One terrible SEO practice is adding keyword phrases on a page for the purpose of trying to rank for that phrase. Most of the time, these phrases make no sense to the reader and have poor readability.

Shoot a Video

Video content is starting to be more effective at providing key information and helping to increase leads. The average user today would much rather watch video content than read. This is one reason why YouTube has gained in popularity over a short period of time. Videos also rank much faster than textual content. Placing your videos on a branded YouTube channel and embedding them onto your website is a big win.

Do You Even Convert, Bro?

You can drive all the traffic you want to your website, but at the end of the day, how many visitors are converting to customers? There are a few things that help consumers make choices such as reviews, case studies, and simply explaining how your company is different/better than the competition. Place strong calls-to-action and make it easy for them to contact you via contact form, email, or phone. Utilize conversion tracking on your website and link it to your Google Analytics to see where your conversions originate.

These are some very basic concepts of SEO that one could perform on their own site if they have the time and know how to operate their website’s CMS. We suggest you also keep up to date with any changes to Google’s Algorithm. There are many other more advanced SEO concepts that are best to utilize on your website. If you find yourself needing some help, we are always here!

If you or someone you know would like to discuss your digital ad strategy, please feel free to contact us or call us at 713-309-6380.  

Podcast SEO: How to Grow Your Audience with Search Engine Ranking

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You have a great podcast. You’ve spent hours coming up with topics, recording, and editing different episodes. Now, you want to publish the podcast on the Internet and you want people interested in your topics to be able to find those episodes. The question is: how?

In a recent announcement, Google stated that they are going to start including podcasts in search results. Through the Google Podcasts platform, podcast creators have a place to post their episodes directly or through an RSS feed. It is very important that creators add their podcasts to this platform so that their episodes are included in Google’s search index. Google Podcasts also has the ability to transcribe each episode which will create metadata utilized by search engines to help with the indexing process.

Just like other forms of content, podcast SEO is important. There are a few important, basic tactics to follow when adding each episode online. Following these steps will help ensure that, over time, people will be able to find your content.

Podcast Title

The title of each episode is very important. The title should contain keywords that users may search for when looking for various topics online. These keywords can be a short phrase or a longtail phrase. The title can also assist with click-through-rates. It should entice the listener to click the episode link in order to hear the content.

Podcast Transcript

The transcript function of Google Podcasts is not perfect. It is a good practice to have each episode transcribed so that the search engine can crawl the text for keywords and content. In a sense, transcribing your podcast will act similar to blog content and blogs are a great way to help with SEO.

Podcast Metadata

Metadata is what search engines use to assist in the ranking process of content. With podcasts, there are two types of metadata: description and tags. The podcast description should include keywords along with a summary of the podcast content. Search engines will be able to crawl the description to better link the episode to search terms. Tags should be utilized in order to link the episode content to search terms as well. Tags should include related keywords and phrases that users might be searching for on search engines.

Linking to Social Media

Social media can offer a big boost in both the distribution of the podcast as well as backlinks linking directly from social media posts to each episode. Every episode should be posted on social media with a link for users to click and listen. Boosting posts can also help with reaching a larger audience than just your social media followers. Post engagement campaigns are perfect for reaching this type of audience.

Following these general guidelines when publishing podcast episodes can really help improve the SEO of your podcast in the long run. Leave us a comment below if you have any additional podcast SEO tips. If you need help with podcast production, send us a message and we would be happy to help!

Google Search Algorithm: Most Important Updates You Should Know From 2018

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Google Search Algorithm: Most Important Updates You Should Know From 2018

Throughout the year, Google makes updates to its Search Engine Algorithm that ultimately helps determine the order of which websites appear on search engine results pages (SERPs) for billions of search queries. In order to avoid losing site ranking, this information is crucial for webmasters performing SEO. This week, we will share our opinion on the most important Google Search Algorithm updates in 2018.

Core Search Update

On August 1, Google released an update categorized as a “broad core algorithm update” that had a big impact on major search categories such as Health, Vehicles, Beauty & Personal Care, Hobbies & Leisure, Arts & Entertainment, and many more. This was the largest core update from Google in 2018. Many websites in the Health and Wellness categories saw large decreases in impressions and traffic as a result of this update. It seems that Google was focused on E-A-T signals (Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trust). These signals determine the level of expertise that a website appears to have, the authoritativeness that the website holds in its industry, and the trust that users appear to place upon the information they gather from the website. All of these are determined by the amount of “good” content, the validity of the content, and the way users interact with the content through key performance indicators (KPIs) such as click-through-rate (CTR).

Chrome Security Warnings Update

In July, Chrome 68 (Chrome’s newest browser version) started marking any not HTTPS sites as “not secure”. Sites that did not have secured hosting (or an SSL certificate) started to appear differently in the browser.

https://www.blog.google/products/chrome/milestone-chrome-security-marking-http-not-secure/

As you can see in the example, sites without secured hosting appeared with a “Not secure” indication next to the web address. This shows that Google wants users to know when a site is not secure. A noted unsecure site may cause users not to visit a site. It is very important that a website has an SSL certificate to “prove” to the search engine and potential visitors that they can trust the site.

Mobile Speed Update

Also in July, Google announced that mobile page speed would be a ranking factor in mobile searches. Mobile page speed relates to how fast a mobile site loads as well as how long it takes for individual web pages to load within the mobile version of the site. Websites with a slower mobile experience will therefore appear lower on mobile SERPs. The only saving grace to this update is if the site delivers highly relevant and high-quality content. Website and business owners should be aware of the speed of the mobile versions of their site and consider the implications.

If you think that your business website might be experiencing issues due to search engine updates, please feel free to reach out to us so that we can help you get it back on track for success!