What Constitutes Sound SEO Practice For Modern Brands
Modern brands in 2019 have already seen what savvy SEO looks like.
If they are operating inside the SEO space, like SEO Shark does, they are witnessing first hand how successful the project can be for their rankings, their brand awareness and cut-through with purchases and engagement.
But how much has changed since 2018 and what will the 2020 landscape look like?
In this setting it is worthwhile adhering to some key practices and principles to avoid being flustered and frustrated with the optimisation process.
Be Authentic With SEO Content Creation
If there is one practice that modern brands have to respect in the current SEO landscape it is the need to be authentic with content creation. That means no keyword stuffing, no paid link building, no exact match domains and avoiding any cynical ploy that is designed to satisfy search engines and not human beings. If the blogs, videos, images and audio interviews are geared towards real constituents, the results will look after themselves.
Balance Paid Advertising With Organic SEO
The balance between paid and organic SEO has been a delicate one over the years. In order to achieve a healthy amount of conversions and transition those general inquiries into paid customers, what is supposed to work best in 2019? There has been a growing shift towards paid adverts in the past 12 months, with search engines and social media sites looking to further monetise their platform. The best strategy that a modern enterprise can use is to work within budgetary constraints and find a balance between the two disciplines, attacking the need for visibility from both ends of the spectrum.
Conduct Extensive SEO Keyword Research
In years gone by, the ability to score traction with keyword optimisation was as simple as formulating content around a singular focus. In 2019 it is now standard practice to structure a campaign based around long-tail keywords and related phrases that extend a brand’s vocabulary. That exercise will require extensive research to be undertaken, but once users expand their vocabulary, they will showcase to the search engine that they have a stronger grasp of the topic without falling into black-hat tropes of keyword stuffing.
Remove Barriers That Slow Loading Speeds for SEO
During the old fashioned days of dial-up Internet, it was expected that navigating the web required a degree of patience. That was even before any images or videos were brought into the equation. Today the need to accelerate loading speeds is paramount for SEO success, seeing the spread of the NBN as a major factor in the need to improve on this metric. Slow speeds equate to a poor user experience, resulting in a higher bounce rate and a lower ranking with Google. By conducting free and quick diagnostic checks, modern enterprises can be on top of this matter with urgency.
Utilise Meta Titles and Descriptions for SEO
Crawlers want to be able to access key points of information at every possible juncture and this is why the use of meta titles and descriptions matters in the field of SEO. Just by condensing the information from a page into these categories, a search engine like Google can rank a site appropriately and offer searchers a basic rundown of a website based off the heading and description. It is sound practice to summarise this HTML element, especially when many other competitors overlook its importance.
These techniques would constitute good SEO tips that are applicable across the commercial spectrum. The central theme is separating the noise from the actual substance, focusing on basic practices that aren’t spectacular but effective. It is easy to overlook their value and view them as small details on the margin, yet they do matter when viewing the optimisation process from a wider lens.