In recent years, the rules for effective SEO strategies have been shifting very rapidly. Many experts and industry gurus has offered tips on the current scenario of SEO and how we can use it to maximize the investment in SEO in the year 2016. Even marketers are grousing up their investments in Search Engine Marketing Strategies, but to leverage those investments, they are required to spend ample time and effort for learning the new rules for SEO. As experts say, the days of driving traffic to your website by stuffing headlines with keywords are long gone and the current SEO strategy revolves around another huge marketing focus – and that is experience.
Historically, the recommendations around SEO have been majorly focused on keywords and, the reality is that – day by day search engines are getting much smarter. Today content creators are having a lot less control over how their pages are showing up and what words they’re showing up for. According to a recent report published on an August 2015 study on the future of SEO by Moz Inc., a Seattle-based SEO consulting company, the most important factors for SEO effect next year will be mobile-friendliness, which will increase in impact by 88%; analysis of a page’s perceived value (up 81%); usage data such as dwell time (up 67%); and readability and design (up 67%). SEO factors that the study reported will decrease in impact are the effectiveness of paid links (down 55%) and the influence of anchor text (down 49%). Let’s see a few tips on how to use SEO to enhance your SEO investments:
1. Intention and Engagement will be everything:
According to Cyrus Shepard, director of audience development at Moz – Now, you don’t need to figure out exact keywords to get a relevant and tailored search result. He also added – “In the old days, it was all about getting clicks. But now search engines are analyzing how people are engaging with your website? Are they going back and clicking on results, they are looking for? Or are they finding the answers they’re looking for when they’re on your website? Now, SEO is all about post-click activity. Now you don’t have to only get the clicks, but you have to satisfy user’s intent and get maximum engagement.
2. Keywords aren’t the be-all and end-all.
Earlier content developers were asked to include keywords in ‘title’ and ‘description’. But now it’s becoming less important. But now search giant Google is more focused on interpreting meaning. Earlier a well-versed SEO article requires keyword repetition 3-4 times in an article. For example – an article related to best restaurant, we used to stuff keyword some specific keywords like ‘best restaurants,’ three or four times to rank it better. However, these days it’s still helpful to include ‘best restaurants,’ but the similar meaning words are becoming much more significant. So, in this case, you can talk about exceptional dining experiences, and search engines will pick up on it.Earlier, we need to add the key keyword in the body copy or in the Meta description. Now that’s all gone. As the search engines are getting smarter and smarter, they have started thinking about other words and synonyms that you are expected to add in that article. And, that will signify that this is an influential article on the topic. Say, if you are writing an article about the Apple Watch, you will add keywords like ‘Apple,’ ‘iPhone,’ ‘Watch,’, iWatch, ‘apps’, apple developers and ‘time. ‘And, if these keywords are in the body copy, it will send signals to the search engines that this is a pretty appropriate and good article for the topic.
One recent survey found that – 75% of the search queries are between 3-5 words long, so you should craft headlines accordingly. Even, the search engines are figuring out that if users search for one word keyword, or any one- or two-word query, then they won’t get the appropriate results. To get the quality results, they need to write three-, four- or five-word queries. And, being a well-versed content creator, you need to think about this optimization.
3. More Focused on User Experience
According to recent analysis – “Google, currently, is making 500 algorithm changes a year. And, each and every changes are focused on ensuring that when a user searches on Google, he should get the appropriate and tailored results on the first few pages – and, that proves that they’ve got a great experience. Now, it’s not, ‘How can I manipulate the engine or trick Google, Bing or Yahoo?’ Now, it’s how you can ensure that your content is the best possible and informational content on the Internet for the keywords that you care about.
Hence, original content is becoming more prominent. The more original content you will produce – whether it’s an image, a long write-up or video – or anything you can add that is organized and users love to read and share it—thus enhancing user experience.This year search giant Google is more focused on information and uniqueness and ensuring that whatever comes after the number is logical and useful. Today industry gurus and geeks are recommending to craft an editorial calendar to appeal to your customers. And, that’s going to be the most imperative thing that a marketer can do for crafting a well-versed SEO in 2016. Being a proficient content developer, you should create an original content for your targeted audience. And, if you curate content or pick a paragraph from any another article or website, don’t forget to give them full credit and add a provenance. You can add a paragraph or two from any existing article or site in your own voice by adding some sample lines like: ‘Here’s why I think it’s relevant and apt.
Sahil Gupta
With roll up the sleeves, dive in and get the job done approach, it was year in the year 2010 when Sahil started Parangat Technologies. Emphasizing on a healthy work culture and technology driven company, he has successfully created a workplace where people love to work and live. He is a software engineer and a passionate blockchain enthusiast.