Welcome to Part Two of our SEO tips and tricks! To kick off the second half, we’re going to continue to provide you with tips on how to boost your SEO for this year.
Keywords, Keywords, Keywords
Keywords aren’t as important as they used to be, simply because Google has gotten smarter in interpreting meanings of said keywords. In the past, you had to write the same keyword several times in your content (including the meta description) for your article to pop up on the rankings, but that’s no longer the case. You can definitely use relevant and similar keywords nowadays in your works, because search engines are be able to scout out words that relate to your intent of the article.
It’s also important to keep in mind that 75 percent of search queries are between three and five words long, so you should write headlines with the knowledge in mind. One or two word queries, like “candy,” is going to bring about a plethora of websites that may not have anything to do with what the user is looking for. However, “ideal candy for Halloween” will narrow the search, more than likely pulling up pages that will satisfy the user.
Images Should to Be Unique
Nowadays, it’s easy to pull most images from a Google search. Thousands (maybe millions) of sites refer to stock images, but it’s best to keep in mind that using original images (i.e. from your camera, phone, or computer) for your content is always best for your site.
Social Marketing is Essential
Yes, Social Media is as big as ever, and it dominates the Internet. It’s important to keep in mind that your content needs to be shared and delivered through various Social Media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more. According to SEONick, 76 percent of marketers use Social Media to boost SEO. So your Facebook posts and Tweets are playing a big role in ranking your content highly on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).
Videos
Videos have been the future for quite awhile now. A lot of content, including news, reviews, and more, are found in videos. People have taken a liking to them, meaning that embedding videos into your content is going to earn you some brownie points on the SERPs. According to Marketing Land, 62 percent of all Google searches are videos. In fact, according to Quick Sprout, videos are over 50 times more likely to appear on the first page of search results. Keep in mind that the number of views on your video will be taken to account when ranking, so make sure to upload some unique, relevant, and engaging video content.
Voice Search
Voice search is incredibly important nowadays, since more users are relying on Siri, Cortana, or OK Google for their information. Voice search simply proves to be safer and more efficient for those on the go, and, like Social Media, is dominating the west But what is voice search often used for? According to Google Study, voice search is mostly used for directions, whether it be for recipes or driving. So when you’re developing content and writing those headlines, you should consider optimizing for voice search. You can find out how at Perfect Pitch Concepts.
Local SEO
Finally, Local SEO is as important as anything else in this day and age. It’s a trend that just keeps… growing, believe it or not. When you want to be ranked by Google, location becomes important, as your content will show for the audience relative to your subject. So make sure to have location-specific keywords whenever you can, i.e. your business’s address, etc.
To summarize, it’s important to keep in mind the following if you’d like to gain the upperhand in SEO:
- Write original and relevant content that will wow your audience.
- Optimize your content for mobile devices, as more people are relying on them nowadays.
- Write larger content, averaging between 1,200 and 1,500 words.
- Keywords aren’t as important nowadays, but ensure that your content remains your intent.
- Since social media is so prevalent nowadays, spread your content!
- Uploading and embedding videos will certainly boost your SEO.
- Voice search is quite important, especially when most voice search results relate to directions.
- And finally, users are exploring local content ever more, so it’s best to include your location and anything relevant to your location in the content.
With these tips, you should definitely be getting ahead of the SEO game, at least in the year 2016.
