SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is still important in 2018 and cannot be ignored by companies. PR and paid media have become more expensive, making SEO a more cost-effective option. Companies often turn to SEO after exhausting their budgets on paid channels. Investing in SEO can lead to significant returns and should be a priority for companies in 2018. When starting with SEO, the focus should depend on the type of company. E-commerce companies should prioritize having a well-structured website that can handle scalability. Media companies should analyze what has worked for them in the past. Companies that are doing SEO well are utilizing cross-linking and maximizing the value of their content. Amazon stands out in e-commerce by structuring their website to ensure every product is discovered by search engines. Paying for links in SEO can lead to penalties from Google. Any SEO strategy should prioritize user experience and not be solely focused on ranking for search engines. Meta keywords are no longer useful in SEO. Keywords play a crucial role in ranking on platforms like YouTube and the App Store. User-generated reviews may lead to higher rankings and more traffic. Creating content that is closely related to the services offered is crucial. Images play a crucial role in SEO, particularly for user experience. Link building is now focused on quality and relevance. Results from SEO efforts can take a long time to see, especially for new websites. Mobile optimization for SEO is crucial. Ranking in SEO requires understanding the user and their queries. International SEO is about making websites relevant for a global audience. Translation in SEO involves creating language-specific directories and hiring local translators. International search is crucial for businesses looking to expand globally. The impact of GDPR on SEO includes clear definition and linking of privacy policies on websites. When hiring someone to do SEO, look for someone who is creative, curious, and analytical. When your organic SEO disappears, focus on user experience and high-quality content. Metrics for hiring an SEO professional include the growth and traffic generated by the SEO efforts. Tools for SEO are essential for tracking keywords and links, as well as analyzing site structure and optimizing SEO. Getting started in SEO is a creative pursuit that requires hands-on experience.
Does SEO matter in 2018?
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is still important in 2018 and cannot be ignored by companies.
- PR and paid media have become more expensive, making SEO a more cost-effective option.
- Companies often turn to SEO after exhausting their budgets on paid channels.
- Investing in SEO can lead to significant returns and should be a priority for companies in 2018.
Where should a company start with SEO?
When starting with SEO, the focus should depend on the type of company.
Key points:
- E-commerce companies should prioritize having a well-structured website that can handle scalability.
- Consider the architecture before choosing an e-commerce platform.
- Good architecture allows for proper product descriptions and optimization against competitors.
- Media companies should analyze what has worked for them in the past.
- Use Google Search Console to see what is working and combine that data with analytics to build more content and conversion elements.
Who’s doing SEO well?
Companies that are doing SEO well are utilizing cross-linking and maximizing the value of their content.
- Media companies effectively cross-link their articles to make them relevant to searchers, even if they are not newsworthy anymore.
- Amazon stands out in e-commerce by structuring their website to ensure every product is discovered by search engines.
- Using the right keywords, customers can easily find the products they are looking for.
Why is Amazon doing SEO well?
- Amazon's SEO success is attributed to their well-built site structure that allows search engines to easily crawl and rank all pages.
- The company's cross-linking strategy ensures that even obscure products or pages can be found and ranked by search engines.
- Other companies should consider implementing a taxonomy and creating a clear path for every page to be discovered and ranked.
How should you crosslink?
Crosslinking within a website can be done effectively by using plugins or internal systems for media content and e-commerce. Randomizing URLs and adding random content or products can help Google discover crosslinks. Paying for links on other websites is not recommended.
Paying for links
- Paying for links in SEO can lead to penalties from Google.
- Some people still engage in this practice through business development relationships.
- However, it is not advisable to pay for links.
SEO don’t dos
The most profound aspect of the text is that any SEO strategy should prioritize user experience and not be solely focused on ranking for search engines.
- Hiding text at the bottom of the page is advised against.
- Creating content that one wouldn't be proud of is discouraged.
- SEO strategies should prioritize user experience.
- Legitimate reasons for hidden text should be accompanied by an explanation.
Things that are no longer useful in SEO
Meta keywords are no longer useful in SEO. Search engines can now understand spoken words and languages other than English, eliminating the need for meta keywords. Marketers often abused meta keywords by spamming irrelevant words.
Keywords
Keywords play a crucial role in ranking on platforms like YouTube and the App Store. They help YouTube understand the content of a video and the App Store uses them to rank apps. Prioritizing content creation and avoiding non-text elements like images or videos is important for SEO, as search engines struggle to understand and rank such content. Having more keywords on a webpage can improve search traffic, but filling the page with irrelevant keywords is a waste of time. Reviews are a good way to incorporate relevant keywords in e-commerce.
- Keywords are important for ranking on YouTube and the App Store
- Prioritize content creation and avoid non-text elements for better SEO
- Having more relevant keywords on a webpage can improve search traffic
- Filling the page with irrelevant keywords is a waste of time
- Reviews are a good way to incorporate relevant keywords in e-commerce.
Reviews
User-generated reviews may not be high quality, but it is important to test their impact on SEO. Having reviews on a website may lead to higher rankings and more traffic. Google may prioritize user-generated content. Generating content can drive traffic for non-e-commerce consumer companies. Start with a workflow and provide an example of a company selling a product.
Content
Creating content that is closely related to the services offered is crucial. It should address immediate problems and provide best practices and maintenance tips. By building a comprehensive site with various avenues of content, businesses can establish themselves as experts. Using Google Search Console helps identify specific terms and queries potential customers are searching for.
To optimize content for search engines, use tools like Google Keyword Planner and Ahrefs to find relevant keywords and ideas. Tracking content performance with tools like Google Analytics is important. Analyzing traffic, conversions, and keywords helps optimize content for better results. Having raw text on the page aids easier parsing by search engines.
Images
Images play a crucial role in SEO, particularly for user experience. Optimizing images can enhance visibility on search engines like Google Images. Here are the key points discussed in the summaries:
- Naming image files with relevant keywords and using alt tags can improve rankings.
- Pinterest has successfully utilized SEO around images, but Google prefers not to have search within search.
- There are no specific technical aspects regarding image resolution that impact SEO.
- Adding alt text, titles, and captions to images can improve their relevance.
- Being proactive in generating paid traffic and sharing content on social media platforms can help with distribution.
- Getting others to link to your content and utilizing directories can aid in generating discovery and links.
- Link building is also important in SEO.
Link building
Link building is now focused on quality and relevance, with Google's algorithm using links to make pages more valuable and relevant. Creating interesting content that people want to share is an effective way to build links.
Key points:
- Link building used to be about quantity, but now it's about quality and relevance.
- Google's algorithm looks at links to make pages more valuable and relevant.
- Creating interesting content that people want to share is an effective link building strategy.
- An example of a successful link building campaign was a survey about restroom cleanliness in Singapore.
- Infographics, blog posts, and PR efforts can help obtain links from various media sites.
- Organic traffic and PR-mindedness are recommended for link building.
- Blogging on other sites can be an effective strategy, as long as it's not spammy.
- A valuable link was accidentally obtained through a blog post on Stanford's website.
- Creating good content that is valuable and not spammy is important for link building.
- Guest posting on personal blogs and creating content about influential individuals can lead to natural link building opportunities.
- Testing ideas and giving sufficient time to see if they are effective is necessary.
How much time to give SEO?
- Results from SEO efforts can take a long time to see, especially for new websites.
- Established websites with existing traffic can see results in a matter of weeks.
- Mobile optimization is an important factor in SEO strategies.
Mobile
Mobile optimization for SEO is crucial, as mobile usage is increasing. However, certain tasks are still better suited for desktop. Consider the smaller screen size and the tendency of mobile users to click on the top three search results. The challenge lies in ranking higher in search results on mobile devices.
Ranking
Ranking in SEO is crucial and requires understanding the user and their queries. Focus on specific specialties rather than broad terms. Mobile optimization and being among the top results on desktop are important. Consider untapped opportunities and clear intent when expanding internationally.
- Understand the user and their queries for effective ranking
- Focus on specific specialties rather than broad terms
- Mobile optimization and top results on desktop are important
- Consider untapped opportunities and clear intent for international SEO
International SEO
International SEO is about making websites relevant for a global audience. Key points include partnering with a company that enables shipping to other countries, working with a payment provider that accepts different currencies, and creating localized pages in different languages. However, international SEO may not be relevant for most companies.
Translation
The most profound aspect of translation in SEO is to create language-specific directories within your website and hire local translators for important content.
- Use a two or three letter naming convention for each language directory
- Machine translation can be used for non-crucial content
- Link translated content through website navigation
- Use a language selector as an HTML link for better indexing by search engines
- Local search engines like Baidu are important for specific regions
International search
International search is crucial for businesses looking to expand globally. Here are the key points to consider:
- Different search engines dominate in specific countries: Baidu in China, Naver in Korea, and Bing in other regions.
- To rank on Baidu, Chinese hosting is necessary due to censorship concerns.
- Google has gained significant influence in Korea through partnerships with local companies.
- Optimizing for Google is sufficient for China, but Naver requires a different approach.
- SEO plays a vital role in the context of GDP.
GDPR
The impact of GDPR on SEO includes:
- Clear definition and linking of privacy policies on websites
- Increased cross-linking throughout websites, improving navigation
- Decrease in paid budgets, leading to a shift towards organic SEO efforts
- SEO benefiting from the reduction of paid advertising
- SEO practices remaining unaffected by GDPR
- SEO continuing to be a valuable channel despite GDPR's impact on privacy policies and paid advertising.
Hiring someone to do SEO
- When hiring someone to do SEO, look for someone who is creative, curious, and analytical
- They should be able to develop hypotheses and measure past performance
- Evaluating applicants can be challenging, but looking for entrepreneurial experience and asking creative and analytical questions during interviews can help
- Assess their natural curiosity and creativity
What to do when you organic SEO disappears
When your organic SEO disappears, there are several steps you can take to recover and improve your website's traffic:
- Shift your focus from keyword rankings to prioritizing user experience.
- Remove low-quality content and replace it with high-quality, valuable content.
- Rebuild your website with a focus on providing a positive user experience.
- Monitor your progress and set metrics for success.
- Consider filing a reconsideration request if you have been hit by an algorithmic penalty.
- Evaluate the suitability of the person handling SEO for your company.
- Measure the effectiveness of your SEO strategy and make adjustments as needed.
Metrics for an SEO hire
Metrics for hiring an SEO professional:
- The candidate should be able to develop a strategy for growing SEO traffic within 90 days.
- The primary metric to measure is the growth and traffic generated by the SEO efforts.
- Goals can be set based on the company's situation, such as 100 to 200 percent growth for startups or 10 to 20 percent for established companies.
- Measuring rankings is not recommended as they can change and do not align with SEO efforts.
- Tools like Ahrefs and Google Analytics can be used for tracking and analyzing SEO performance.
Tools for SEO
Tools for SEO are essential for tracking keywords and links, as well as analyzing site structure and optimizing SEO. Key points include:
- Tracking keywords can be done with age rests, but it is recommended to use tools like HRF scan and Google Search Console.
- Tools like Screaming Frog SEO Spider and Xenu Link Sleuth are useful for crawling a site and gathering SEO metadata.
- These tools can also be used to crawl competitors' sites, but caution is advised to avoid detection.
- Overall, these tools are valuable for understanding site structure and optimizing SEO.
Getting started in SEO
Getting started in SEO is a creative pursuit that requires hands-on experience. Here are the key points to consider:
- There are no specific courses for SEO, it is learned through practice.
- Start by creating content related to a topic you are passionate about, like a personal blog.
- Learn from the process and decide if SEO is something you enjoy.
- If you want to learn more, reach out to the speaker through LinkedIn.