It’s only the second quarter of 2016 and there’s still a lot of time to make up for the SEO mistakes that may have set you back during the first quarter. This article teaches you how to.
So many changes in the SEO industry were brought about last year that it’s not a surprise if many businesses today are still trying to catch up. On top of the many updates that Google already has, 2016 has dumped upon us RankBrain, Panda, Mobilegeddon, and AMP which are all considered major updates.
These changes are nothing new to what Google really wants but they reiterate what all of us need to be doing with our online marketing efforts.
To make sure your site is moving forward and that you are not making any mistakes that may lead to more harm for your website, our Sydney SEO specialists are providing you with 7 SEO tricks that help you stay ahead in 2016.
1. Create video content
Google now includes video as a part of the blended results. If your user is looking for a video for a search term that happens to be in your niche, you want your video and your site to be on top of the list.
A video is a great way to keep your audience engaged. Look at YouTube. It has brought about many stars and personalities that we now look at as influencers. All because they consistently provide content to their users.
You can take advantage of this platform too by creating videos that are not only relevant to your niche but also provides value to your users. Upload them on YouTube and don’t forget to optimise by using focus keywords in the title, description box, and tags.
It is predicted that more marketers and businesses will embrace the video trend this year so it only makes sense to include this strategy in your campaign too.
2. Optimise your mobile site
We already know that Google prioritises sites that are mobile-friendly but things are about to get even tighter with the new AMP update that has just been released.
The AMP project was launched by Google in an effort to provide users with faster load time by taking apart unnecessary components of a site and retaining only the important ones, mainly the content.
If you go to your mobile browser and type in a topical term such as “EU Referendum” into Google, the AMP pages are displayed in the carousel at the top of the page. This carousel is purely dedicated for AMP pages only and each page will be marked with an AMP sign.
Google puts emphasis on the importance of faster loading mobile web pages which means the rest will have to comply, including you. Make sure that your site is AMP optimised.
3. Ensure local visibility
Your best customers are the ones that are nearest to you. Local SEO has only become stronger over the years taking local visibility as one of Google’s ranking factors. Make yourself easily found by audiences in and near your area by including local SEO in your campaign.
Look for local directories and list your business information such as your business name, address, contact number, and business hours. You also want to include your target location as part of your focus keyword. Next, get reviews from your clients. Sites that are locally optimised and has the most reviews tend to get the top ranking.
4. Consistently post content on social media
Having a profile on the most prominent social media platforms is not enough; you have to consistently post content that your audiences will love. When people like your content, they’re likely to engage through comments, likes, or tweets. This is good if you want to increase brand awareness and social engagement.
The role of content to social engagement will just become even more crucial as more and more people look for relevant content. And when they find it, it keeps them talking which is good for your business.
It is predicted that social media content will become a more relevant ranking factor not just on Google but also on other big search engines like Bing and Yahoo. You can begin today by curating content that can be interesting, funny, insightful, or informative to your readers. Post consistently and watch as your audience grows.
5. Optimise your content for voice search
Voice search is becoming popular. Aside from the fact that popularity voice searches such as Cortana, Google Now, and Siri, are on the rise, it’s also more convenient to get the information you need simply by speaking your query.
A majority of our mobile devices today already incorporate the voice search function; and in today’s busy world, this is good since not everyone has the time to type in the keywords in a search query.
Whether you’re taking a bath, cooking, exercising, or watching TV, you can get the information you’re looking for simply by asking. Let your customers enjoy convenience like this by getting your content optimised for voice search. Make sure to use long-tail keywords that are most likely to be spoken by users if they were to look for your business.
6. Create a mobile app for your site
Creating a mobile app already belongs in the higher hierarchy of how far businesses would go when it comes to optimising their site. But considering how high mobile usage is today, it only makes sense to have an app of your own that existing customers can use to transact with you.
The “stickiness” factor is also what makes mobile apps an attractive venture. Think about it. A customer who downloads your app is someone who is already sold on your products and services. Otherwise, they would not take the extra step of downloading it at the app store if they didn’t find it useful.
Mobile apps are predicted to become even bigger over the next years with the possibility of overtaking desktop and mobile websites. You can begin making yours today. Take the opportunity to be the first one to have an app in your niche. Optimise it and it should show up on the top results for mobile app visibility.
7. Aggregate your content
If your site is heavy on content and your readers rely on you for helpful information in your niche, then you might want to try out content aggregation. Content aggregation is the act of organising content that is based on a common topic that revolves around one or more related keywords.
This does not require any writing skill but it is highly dependent on research skills. You need to be able to gather information and interconnect them with each other and make sure that all sources are reliable.
Your audiences will love you for putting together real-time, expanded, original content for them. Content aggregation is not meant to be a part of your content marketing campaign but we still recommend including it in your strategy as a way of becoming the go-to source for relevant news in your industry.
So to sum it all up, these are the things that you need to do in 2016 in order to stay on top:
- Delve into video format content
- AMP optimise your site
- Intensify local SEO efforts
- Regularly post informative and entertaining content on social media
- Optimise your content for voice search
- Have your own brand mobile app
- Put together content relevant in your industry
Some of the points we discussed above might already exist in your current SEO campaign but we reiterate them more here based on the changes that Google have brought upon the SEO industry last year.
We recommend exploring some of the steps you haven’t tried yet and see what it does for your business. If not, there are many other tactics to apply, but so far the ones outlined are a current priority in the SEO world.
What do you think of these strategies? What are your thoughts on the direction Google is taking (mobile, local, social media) as far as ranking signal is concerned? Let your thoughts be known in the comment section!
