Ultimately, it matters most when evaluating a website for search engine optimization.
Your backlinks are precious to you, and you may have spent many hours enhancing the on-page quality rank for the website. But the client isn’t an SEO expert, so ensure that you describe how keyword optimization works with simple words. It should always be done using Einstein’s method – imagine how it is explained to a child of five!
Website Speed Performance Report
The website speed performance report can be the easiest place to start. You can quickly take something arbitrary and ethereal (like SEO) and make it empirical by explaining how site speed affects website visitation, experience, flow, and conversion.
Leveraging data like page visits, bounce rates, average load time, and page loading speed helps you pinpoint areas that need enhancement. This allows for faster diagnosis of website velocity issues, which is crucial to optimization success. With these insights, optimizing your web pages is easier than ever! It also is crucial if your marketing team or agency is running a marketing automation campaign to laser-target prospects.
It helps ensure your client understands why faster loading speeds result in better user experience, such as faster page load times, reduced bounce rates, and improved conversion.
By explaining the importance of website speed in terms of SEO, you can affirm that your client understands why optimization is necessary.
We like pulling reports from GTMetrix. They allow the user to select what part of the country the site visitor is coming from and how fast their internet speed is. This allows an apples-to-apples comparison of data over time.
While Google provides speed data within Google Analytics reporting, their mobile speeds are pegged at phones on older, slower networks like LTE and slower. With 5G, visitors to your website receive an exponentially quicker experience than what Google may lead you to believe. Don’t be fooled by inaccurate perceptions of a “dog-slow” user journey!
Let’s Talk About Google Analytics
As partners with Google, we certainly won’t be speaking ill of the tech giant. But… Google Analytics is not an excellent tool for displaying search analytics. We like reports to display information that allows for actionable results to occur. If you walk away from viewing Google Analytics without envisioning ten new ways to optimize the user experience on your website, it’s not a good reporting tool. A well-crafted report should provide accurate data that empowers business decision-makers to make strategic decisions.
Some Best-of-Breed SEO Reporting Tools
1. Moz – Providing far more insight than Google Analytics, Moz offers a wide range of SEO reporting tools, from keyword research to website analytics and link-building reports. It also offers competitive analysis, which means you can compare your site’s performance against the top competitors in your industry.
2. SEMRush – This SEO report tool provides detailed website audit reports, including on-page and off-page SEO analyses. It also has a keyword research tool that helps you find the right keywords for your website.
3. Ahrefs – This comprehensive SEO SEO report platform offers in-depth backlink analysis, site audit reports, keyword research tools, and other reporting capabilities. Its wide range of features makes it perfect for larger companies.
4. Google Search Console – This essential tool from Google provides detailed information about a website’s performance in the SERPs and other search engine results pages. It also offers insights into how your site appears in organic searches and which queries it ranks for.
Make Sure You Include Charts and Graphs
Visuals like charts, graphs, and month-over-month analyses are essential when creating comprehensive SEO client reports. After all, seeing is believing! These visuals help clients quickly grasp trends and patterns in the data, allowing them to leverage it for their benefit promptly. Moreover, a detailed SEO report with attractive visuals can greatly impress potential business partners during presentations – so make sure you include plenty of eye-catching graphics if you want your SEO client reports to be as effective as possible. We like to say, “if you don’t see lots of green arrows, we aren’t doing our job”.
In Conclusion
With the right SEO report, you can show your clients that their SEO efforts are paying off and that their website is achieving higher keyword rankings and organic traffic. Tools like Google Search Console can provide detailed insights into how users interact with a website, while other best-of-breed reporting tools such as Moz and Ahrefs can help you optimize your website for better performance. By combining the right data with visually appealing charts and graphs, you can ensure that your SEO client reports stand out and make a lasting impression.
So start cracking the code to perfect SEO client reporting today – your clients will thank you! Got any questions? Let us know!
Our On-Page SEO checklist shows you on-page factors to help a website get higher rankings on search engines. And for help on the next step in SEO… we’ll help you with the complete checklist for SEO below.
Is obtaining more business and revenue worth learning a few new things? We certainly think so. That’s why the Bash Foo team is a certified Google Agency.
SEO basics checklist
Here are some basics…
• Perform keyword research to identify your prospective customers’ keywords to find you.
• Make sure that the content on each page is relevant to the keyword you are targeting.
• Include meta tags such as page titles, descriptions, and headings (H1, H2, H3).
• Optimize your page load speed by leveraging browser caching and compressing images.
• Are you using video or image alt tags to help your site structure?
• Make sure the content is original, well-written, and high-quality.
Now for the DETAILED CHECKLIST
Install and Configure an SEO Plugin (If You’re Using WordPress)
If you’re using WordPress, installing and configuring an SEO plugin is important. This will help optimize your website for search engine rankings and ensure that technical search engine optimization tasks, such as creating robot.html and XML web sitemaps, are correctly completed. Popular SEO plugins include The Writer Assistant, which can be found in WordPress.
These plugins often include features such as keyword research to identify your prospective customers’ keywords, meta tags, page loading speed optimization, video and images alt tags, originality of content, and more. With the right plugin in place, you’ll be sure to have all the necessary elements for successful SEO in 2023.
Which tools to use for performing keyword research?
Choosing the right domain name and accurately describing the website is essential for SEO keyword research. Here are the top 5 SEO keyword research tools:
The URL structure of the URL helps Google crawl your site more efficiently. First, do not include an underscore. Then, ensure that the URL is as brief as possible. If you are using WordPress, be sure to use Permalinks to create “friendly” URLs.
Title tag character length
The ideal length of titles is 50-60 words.
Make sure your site loads fast
The page speed of your website is an essential part of ranking well in search engines since 2010. A slow-loading page can be frustrating for users, thus decreasing the chances of them finding your content.
To help improve this, use tools such as GTMetrix to check the loading speed of each page on your site. Additionally, you can do a site audit with the Site Audit tool to identify any slow pages on your website, which are highlighted in the Performance Report. Making sure your site loads quickly is essential for successful SEO in 2023.
Make sure your website is accessible at one domain
It is essential to ensure that your website is only accessible at one domain to maximize the SEO value of your site. This ensures that all search engine traffic goes to one website, making it easier for users to find and interact with your content.
Additionally, having a single domain helps avoid duplicate content issues, which can lead to lower rankings in search engine results. Having one domain also helps to ensure that your website is appropriately indexed by search engines, which can lead to higher visibility and more significant traffic.
Find and Fix Keyword Cannibalization Issues
Keyword cannibalization is when two or more pages within a website target the same keyword. This can lead to confusion among search engines regarding which page should rank for that keyword, resulting in lower-than-expected rankings and less organic traffic.
To find if there are any keyword cannibalization problems on your site, you can use tools such as SEMRush or Ahrefs. These will help identify duplicate content and tell you which pages use the same target keywords. Once you have identified any issues, you need to fix them. You can do this by either merging multiple pages into one or by adding canonical tags to show search engines where the source of information is located.
Set Up Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools
Google Search Console is an effective tool for monitoring and troubleshooting website performance in Google search results. It provides insights into how your site is performing, including errors and crawl issues, as well as how often it appears in searches on the web.
Additionally, it helps identify which keywords are driving traffic to your website. Bing Webmaster Tools is similar to Google Search Console but specifically tailored for optimizing a website’s presence in Bing search engine results.
All major search engines have their own webmaster tools that can help improve SEO rankings in 2023 by providing detailed analytics and data about a website’s performance and visibility across different engines. They also provide resources to help optimize a website on both desktop and mobile devices.
Find and Fix HTTP Links on HTTPS Pages
Insecure websites moved on from HTTP to HTTPS years ago and are never coming back. Businesses understand the value of protecting their customer’s security, and website visitors want their personal information protected. They will not visit or shop at insecure sites. Also, Google will penalize your site for loading as HTTP.
Which tools to use for optimizing page URLs?
Optimizing page URLs is integral to improving your website’s SEO in 2023. Several tools can help with this process, such as Screaming Frog and DeepCrawl. These tools identify issues with existing URLs and allow you to customize them according to best practice standards.
Additionally, they provide suggestions on how to improve them for higher rankings in search engine results. They also offer detailed reports which help you analyze the performance of each URL and make necessary improvements if required.
Other helpful tools include Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools, which provide insight into how your pages perform in search results and suggest possible optimizations. Using these tools, businesses can ensure their websites are correctly indexed by search engines.
You may want to check your technical site health before starting on content. Why? Much like setting up webmaster tools allows you to monitor your site’s performance, technical SEO ensures your site can be crawled and indexed. Without this, it would be challenging to rank for anything!
A website owner would want to check the technical site health before optimizing content because it is essential for search engine crawlers and bots to be able to find and index their web pages. If a website has technical issues such as broken links, duplicate content, or loading errors, these can prevent crawlers from finding and indexing pages correctly. This can lead to decreased visibility in search engine results, directly impacting organic traffic.
Additionally, if page titles and meta descriptions are not optimized properly, this can affect rankings.
Therefore, checking the technical health of a website is essential before any SEO optimization begins, as it ensures that search engines can crawl and index web pages correctly.
Ensure Your Site’s Content Is Up to Date
When a website visitor visits a site that has not been updated in a long time, they are likely to be unimpressed and may even choose to leave the site. This is because outdated content can be visually unappealing and often contains broken links or outdated information, leading to confusion.
Additionally, if the website does not appear professional, it implies that the business does not care about providing the best experience for its customers.
Search engines also downgrade websites with outdated content, making them less relevant for users searching for up-to-date information. Therefore, businesses should regularly update their content to maintain high rankings in search engine results.
Internal linking best practices
There are a number of WordPress plugins that can help website owners provide better internal linking.
Yoast SEO: This plugin helps optimize URLs and guides how to use keywords in internal links. It also creates a sitemap that makes it easier for search engine crawlers to find pages on the site and allows users to set up redirects for broken links.
Link Whisper: This plugin helps website owners identify potential internal linking opportunities and breaks down the link juice on each page, making it easier to optimize internal links. It also allows users to create custom text-based URLs that are more SEO-friendly than the default WordPress URLs.
WP Link Status: This plugin provides an overview of all internal links on the site and allows users to identify broken or redirecting links quickly. It also helps find orphaned pages not linked to any other page, which can hurt SEO.
Which tools to use for designing a mobile-friendly website?
A mobile-friendly website is essential in today’s digital world since more people use their mobile devices to search for products and services than ever before.
An SEO expert at Bash Foo says, “Over 60% of all web searches are now conducted on mobile phones, so optimizing a website for mobile use is no longer optional. It has become essential for providing a great user experience and maintaining visibility in search engine results”.
Which tools to use for creating unique title tags and meta descriptions?
1. Yoast SEO: This plugin helps optimize URLs and provides guidance on using keywords in title tags and meta descriptions. It also generates an XML sitemap, making it easier for search engine crawlers to find pages on the site, while its custom fields feature allows users to add unique titles and descriptions to each page.
2. SEO Squirrly: This plugin helps create SEO-friendly titles and meta descriptions by suggesting the best keywords based on user search preferences. It also offers an image optimization feature that allows users to add ALT tags to images for improved visibility in search engine results.
3. All-in-One SEO Pack: This plugin automatically generates titles and meta descriptions based on the content of a page, while its advanced settings allow users to customize title tags and meta descriptions. It also offers an XML sitemap feature which helps search engine crawlers find pages on the site more easily.
How do I find SEO keywords for my website
Finding SEO keywords for your website is essential in optimizing it for search engine results. It involves the process of researching and selecting relevant keywords to use on your pages, as well as analyzing keyword trends to identify emerging opportunities.
Tools such as Google Keyword Planner, SEMRush, KWFinder, and Ahrefs can help with this process by providing keyword suggestions and data on search trends.
Additionally, website owners should pay attention to the keywords their competitors are using to gain a competitive edge. Finally, it is essential to prioritize long-tail keywords as these tend to have higher search volumes and less competition than shorter ones.
Off-Page SEO & Link Building Checklist
Hiring an agency to provide your off-page SEO and link-building services can be beneficial in many ways. An experienced agency will have the knowledge and expertise to optimize a website for search engine visibility and create quality backlinks that increase referral traffic.
They also understand the importance of staying up-to-date with the latest algorithms and ranking factors to keep the website visible in search engine results.
Furthermore, an agency can save you time and effort as they can identify the most effective strategies quickly and execute them efficiently. Ultimately, a good SEO agency will help your website get more traffic and higher rankings, resulting in improved visibility for your business online.
Which tools to use for setting up a Google My Business profile?
Google My Business is a great tool to help businesses reach customers online. Setting up a Google My Business profile can be done quickly and easily, allowing business owners to create an informative page about their business that appears in search engine results. To do this, users can utilize tools such as the Google My Business website or app, which allows them to add information such as business hours, photos, and contact information.
Businesses can also use third-party tools such as Moz Local, SE Ranking, and Yext to manage their Google My Business profiles more effectively.
These tools make it easier to track rankings and reviews, create accurate listings across multiple sites, and monitor changes in search engine algorithms. You’ll find that marketing agencies like Bash Foo can do this very efficiently.
Why write compelling Title Tags?
Title tags are crucial to any website, as they let search engines know what your page is about. Writing compelling title tags can help attract more visitors to your site, as they will appear prominently in search engine results and give users an idea of the content that awaits them. Title tags should be unique and descriptive so that they stand out.
Break things up with images
Since this article is supposed to be a list, we didn’t pepper the article with photos; however, adding photos is never bad for SEO.
We recommend pictures as they help solve problems, break down the text, and aid visual recognition. Do not simply put pictures into your web pages willy-nilly. Ensure you create and identify images that enhance the readers’ experience. Typically we use graphs, charting, and images to illustrate the point.
Add internal links
Internal links allow search engines to see what you’re referring to. Then it helps Google and others navigate your website. It’s already been covered how important it is for content to include links to external sources.
If you’re adding a link to other pages, you should add a link to them. Find links in your website that can be found using external links.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this ultimate on-page SEO Checklist will help you increase your website’s rankings in the search engine results pages.
Utilize the recommended tools and strategies to optimize your website for maximum visibility in SERPs and get more traffic to your business online.
If you need help setting up a Google My Business profile or have any other questions, contact Bash Foo at 937-912-4519 or agency@bashfoo.com. We’re here to help you get the most out of your website and increase your visibility online. Good luck!
Are you ready to take your copywriting game up a notch? AI-generated copy is the way of the future, so it’s time to get ahead of the curve with these top 10 AI Commands.
gpt generate: generates text using a pre-trained GPT model Source
gpt eval: evaluates the performance of a pre-trained GPT model Source
use ChatGPT as a Linux Terminal: use the AI chatbot to run commands in Linux Source
debug code: debug code using the AI chatbot Source
write code: write code using the AI chatbot Source
play tic tac toe: play tic tac toe with the AI chatbot Source
explain things: ask the AI chatbot to explain concepts and ideas Source
ChatGPT is More Than Just Code it’s Copy
AI-generated copy is compelling. It can provide marketing teams with various options tested and proven to engage customers in ways traditional copywriting simply cannot. This type of content takes seconds to generate and can be used for all campaigns, including email blasts, social media posts, and websites.
With ChatGPT, you can access a wide range of features that make creating compelling sales copy more effortless than ever before. Here are just some of the top AI commands you can use to create amazing content:
1. Generate headlines – ChatGPT’s headline generator can quickly create a range of potential titles that will make your customers notice.
2. Create product descriptions – Using natural language processing, you can craft product copy that accurately reflects the quality and value of each item.
3. Write persuasive sales copy – From case studies to promotional emails, ChatGPT makes it easy to write compelling sales copy that resonates with your target audience.
4. Automatically generate blog posts – No more spending hours trying to come up with topics! With ChatGPT’s automated blog post generator, you can create compelling content in no time.
5. Create persuasive ad copy – AI-generated copy provides an efficient way to write powerful ad text that will stand out from the competition and attract more customers.
6. Generate product reviews – ChatGPT makes it easy to quickly generate genuine product reviews for your online store with just a few clicks of the mouse.
7. Automatically create email templates – You can use AI-powered technology to quickly create personalized email templates that will engage any audience.
8. Write FAQs – ChatGPT’s natural language processing features make it easy to create comprehensive FAQs that answer customer questions in detail.
9. Generate social media posts – Writing engaging posts for all your social media accounts can be a tedious task. Still, ChatGPT makes it easy to generate content that captures your followers’ attention in no time.
10. Automatically create website copy – Whether you’re looking to craft compelling home page copy or write meta descriptions for individual pages, AI-generated copy is the way to go!
Find Out More
These are just some unique features you can use with ChatGPT. For more information on all its capabilities, check out its official website here OpenAI.
AI-generated copy is quickly becoming an essential part of any successful marketing strategy, and it has the potential to revolutionize how businesses create content. As Marc Benioff, founder, and CEO of Salesforce, put it: “AI will be the most important technology that any company will have to master in order to succeed.”
Chris Voss, former FBI hostage negotiator and author of Never Split the Difference, also speaks highly of AI-generated copy, saying: “Understanding how AI can write better than humans is essential for staying ahead of your competition.”
From generating headlines to crafting blog posts and email templates, ChatGPT provides a range of features that make creating unique content more effortless than ever before. So if you’re looking to take your copywriting game up a notch with AI-generated copy, these top 25 AI commands are the perfect place to start.
Try it out today and see what a difference ChatGPT can make in your content creation process!
Are you looking for ways to increase sales productivity and get ahead of your competitors? Then sales enablement strategies and tools are a must! Sales enablement helps sales teams improve sales performance by providing them with essential training, coaching, customer relationship management (CRM) software, sales playbooks, and technology solutions. In this blog, we’ll explore the top sales enablement strategies and tools that can help you get ahead in sales! Read on to learn more.
Sales Strategies that Work
• Training & Coaching – Providing sales teams with training and coaching sessions can help improve sales performance and sales processes. Through these sessions, sales reps can learn about the latest sales techniques and best practices that will help them close more deals and increase sales productivity.
• CRM Software – Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software is essential for sales teams to manage customer relationships and track sales activities. It also helps sales staff keep up with sales leads and customer data.
• Sales Playbooks – Sales playbooks provide sales teams with step-by-step instructions on executing sales processes, helping them close more deals faster.
• Technology Solutions – Implementing technology solutions such as AI-powered chatbots or sales automation tools can help streamline sales.
Top Three CRM’s: Pipedrive, Salesforce, and Hubspot
When it comes to sales enablement, the right CRM software is essential for sales teams to manage their customer relationships and track sales activities. Pipedrive, Salesforce, and Hubspot are some of the top CRM solutions. All three offer a range of features to help sales teams close more deals faster.
Pipedrive offers an intuitive visual sales pipeline that sales reps can use to stay organized and keep track of sales opportunities. It also provides automated email campaigns and a mobile app so sales reps can access their data on the go.
Salesforce is another excellent option that helps sales teams close more deals by providing them with powerful insights into customer behavior and sales performance. Its AI-powered analytics and sales performance reports can help sales reps increase productivity. It is the trusted solution of most large sales organizations.
Finally, Hubspot is ideal for sales teams looking to streamline their sales process with automation tools like sales playbooks and chatbots. It also offers an intuitive interface that sales reps can use to access customer data and track sales activities quickly.
Overall, these top CRM solutions can provide sales teams with the tools they need to be successful in sales and increase sales productivity. So if you’re looking for ways to get ahead of your competitors, consider investing in one of these CRMs today!
Personalizing the Sales Message
Personalized sales messages are essential for sales teams to build meaningful customer relationships. Collecting contacts and building sales databases is the first step if you intend to send these personalized messages to your prospects.
Once you have your contact list, you can use sales automation tools like email outreach software to write highly personalized messages that resonate with your target audience. This will help sales reps start conversations quickly and make it easier to convert leads into sales.
When writing sales emails, sales reps should consider adding value by addressing customer pain points and providing helpful answers to their questions. Ensure your message is tailored specifically for each contact to show them that you understand their needs and make them more likely to respond positively.
Engage Quickly – Or Lose Out
Sales reps must engage quickly with prospects to capture their attention and not lose the lead’s interest. To do this, sales reps should use sales automation tools like chatbots and sales playbooks that can help them respond quickly to customer inquiries.
Chatbots are an excellent way to answer simple questions quickly and direct customers toward a sales representative if they need more help. They allow sales teams to connect with leads faster and save time by automatically responding to customer inquiries.
Sales playbooks are also very useful for sales teams as they provide step-by-step instructions on how sales reps should handle different scenarios. With sales playbooks, sales reps can ensure that every interaction is consistent and provide sales prospects with the best experience possible.
In Conclusion
Selecting the right CRM and sales automation tools is essential for sales teams to maximize their sales productivity. Pipedrive, Salesforce, and Hubspot are three of the top CRM solutions that can provide sales teams with the features they need to close more deals faster.
Once your contacts are sorted and segmented, write highly personalized sales messages that address customer pain points and provide helpful answers. This will help sales reps quickly start meaningful conversations with prospects and keep their interest alive.
Finally, sales automation tools like chatbots and sales playbooks can help sales teams engage with leads faster and not miss any opportunity for a sale. With the right CRM and sales automation tools, sales teams can increase sales productivity and stay ahead of competitors.
When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), the same old tips and tricks can start to feel stale. But don’t worry, we here at Bash Foo have a few fresh takes on traditional SEO advice that will get you back on top of your game! Let’s take a look at some new ways to take advantage of SEO.
Focus on Quality Over Quantity
It used to be that more content was better, but with Google’s algorithms becoming increasingly sophisticated, quality is now key. Focus on writing high-quality content with up-to-date information and keywords that are relevant to your industry. This way you can make sure that your customers will find what they need without having to wade through irrelevant content.
Optimize for Mobile
With mobile usage continuing to rise, it’s important for businesses to optimize their websites for mobile devices as well as desktop computers. Make sure that your website loads quickly across all platforms and use responsive design techniques so that the layout looks good regardless of device. This will help ensure that users have a positive experience when visiting your site, which can lead to increased engagement and conversions.
Update Your Content Regularly
Search engines love fresh content, so it’s important to update your website regularly with new posts and updates. Additionally, regularly updating your website ensures that it remains relevant and up-to-date in an ever-evolving digital landscape. Not only will this help you stay ahead of the competition, but it also helps boost search engine rankings because the search engine algorithms recognize active sites as being more valuable than those that are stagnant or outdated.
As you can see, there are plenty of ways to enhance and refresh your SEO strategy! By focusing on quality content, optimizing for mobile devices, and keeping your website updated with fresh content, you can make sure that your business stays one step ahead in the digital world. With these tips from the pros at Bash Foo under your belt, you’ll be well-positioned for success!
The grocery store and gas pump aren’t the only places Americans are seeing inflation hit. In a recently released report, Google has increased the Cost Per Lead (CPL) across the board. With an average cost increase of 19%, some industries like Arts/Entertainment, Travel, Furniture, and Business Services have seen increases of 134%, 69%, 54%, and 34%, respectively.
While we know manufacturers are dealing with supply chain issues and the heavy labor cost, it is unclear what cost drivers Google experiences to generate these steep CPL increases. “It’s almost like Google is getting hit by the reflection of their Ad Quality score algorithm,” shares Mike McDermott, President of Bash Foo. “Websites are being scrutinized (by Google) more and more for quality content, page speed, and mobile conformance, and the result affects not only the organic search ranks but also the quality scores for their ads.”
Dash to SEO
One area of the market that hasn’t seen huge increases in cost is search optimization agencies like Bash Foo. Unlike Google Ads, SEO is agnostic and without a platform, so SEO is still measured in hourly wage chunks. “We have experienced some labor increases, more along the lines of the rate of inflation (7-8%) but nothing even close to the nearly 20% spike that Google Ads is expressing”.
What this Means for Your Business
The results of high-quality SEO work drive organic search results toward Page One. It’s not as quick to deliver results as Google Ads may be. However, once your keywords rank on Page One, the cost per lead or CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) is drastically reduced. Companies that used to use Google Ads exclusively are turning their heads towards new lead funnels driven by quality SEO. “You sort of have to ask yourself, are you willing to pay 20-30% more for the leads you acquire this year?” smiled McDermott.
SEO is Never a Fixed Metric
Google continues to tweak how things work, and 2023 will be no exception. Business websites that last updated a long while ago will become a casualty on Google’s drive to higher quality websites, faster page loading, and higher click-throughs. Google looks at the website age + pages that are linking to it. This gives them some sense of “authority” and “confidence”. Next, they turn their eye to # of pages, navigation, content size, and quality. Finally, there is a technical passthrough of how long it takes for the page/site to load and is it easy for users to access the information.
Have you Called it Quits on Website Leadgen?
Many small business owners have indeed called it quits. They left their website by the wayside as they treated it as a single marketing document rather than a method to generate leads. This is why it is so challenging to go off of just organic search results, as Page One may turn up with a small competitor in the area on top, not the recommended leader. Savvy searchers will also look at # of reviews and how many stars they have. You can usually tell a business owner who left their website to rot when they say, “I don’t think my customers are on the Internet,” or “Websites aren’t a good way to advertise.”
Call to Action
As a digital agency that supports small businesses in the Dayton area, I’d be remiss in telling everyone to stop advertising on Google. The advice that we would provide is that in 2023, consider your budgets for advertising to be split between the short-term win (Ads), and the long-term play (SEO). Finally, Dayton web design projects should include a substantial # of static sections (homepage, services page, products page) and very active blog and social media components to keep the search engines from getting tired of you. Content is still “king” in 2023, but it has to be smartly implemented for Google to take notice.
Today, December 13th, 2022, Facebook announced that they will shut down Facebook Jobs on February 22nd, 2023.
For small business owners, Facebook Jobs has been a low-cost way of listing available jobs while properly targeting local workers with the right skills. The industries hit hardest by this news are restaurants and bars. During the COVID lockdown, Facebook Jobs was a primary listing service for “Essential Worker” jobs like warehouse, food, and transportation.
“It’s primarily blue-collar employers that this news will hardest hit,” shared Mike McDermott, President of Bash Foo, a digital marketing agency. “I think it is a further sign of financial turmoil within Facebook and their deep desire to monetize every service and procedure provided by the social media giant.”
The job ads that could be placed within Facebook Jobs were not only listed within the employer’s news feed from their Business Page but the listings could be “boosted” so that would-be workers could see the advertisements without following their page.
“It’s unclear right now what employers will do,” shared McDermott, “but employers need to start looking for options before February 2023 so that they have a plan for the Spring hiring of their workforce.”
As a small business trying to maintain a relevant online presence, you must look at your website every now and then for updates. Believe it or not, digging a little deeper to maintain an updated website that catches on with the latest trends in graphics, blogs, UX design, and digital marketing can significantly impact expected returns.
And yet, many businesses find the task of updating their website time-consuming, cumbersome, and frustrating. Well, they have good reason to think so. First, updating a website requires at least some technical know-how for updating and backup, and restoration in case things go awry.
Second, there are several key factors to remember when updating a website – a checklist – so the website feels fresh and works error-free. Be it taking care of plugins or theme updates, poor-quality or too large images, outdated user information and links, broken features, or formatting issues – there are plenty of things to keep a tab on.
While this may seem like a lot, remember that your website is the first impression the customers will have about your business. It is as important to appear organized as to look appealing and unique. In this article, we have broken down a few key reasons that go into updating your website as a small business:
Enhancing the Visual Appeal
Let’s be honest – your website is the first and most important reflection of your company’s ethos for any visitor in this digital world, much like walking into your brick-and-mortar store and judging its appearance in seconds to develop an instant emotion. The user will instantly relate to your authenticity, spirit, and culture if your website seems professional and attractive at first glance. We don’t even need to tell you how they will feel if your website is poorly designed, organized, or outmoded.
While many digital businesses start small, with time, you need to update your website’s visual appearance and organization to highlight your products and services, unify your message, and talk to the customer according to the latest trends. Get rid of outdated elements or entries and focus on revamping your website from the visitor’s point of view – new and old. For repeat customers, finding something new on the website each time they visit is preferable to repeatedly returning to the same site content.
Improving Navigation
While the website looks are undoubtedly essential, UX is much more than that. The User experience of the website focuses on the entire interaction that visitors have with it, including how simple it is to use, how quickly it loads, how simple it is to access content, and how little friction there is when visitors attempt to carry out the action they’re attempting to carry out. You might need a website update to ensure its navigation is geared toward directing the best UX as far as navigation and access are concerned.
Making Your Website Mobile-Friendly
The term “responsive web design” refers to enabling a website to adjust according to the size of the screen it is being viewed on. Someone visiting your website on a little smartphone might see the same content as someone seeing it on a laptop, etc. Many businesses make the mistake of ignoring a mobile-friendly website design early on, focusing on the desktop view. It would help if you looked at your Google analytics to see what devices your visitors are coming from. Then you can design a site catering to your most important visitors.
Improving Speed
The speed at which your website loads significantly impacts whether visitors remain or leave and never come back. Make sure to update your website, or the relevant parts, to maintain a good loading speed with image optimization, lazy loading, and other practices.
Reinforcing with Great Content
Content indeed is King because that attracts the visitor to your website first. With you having only 2 to 4 seconds to engage new visitors with your website, you might want to redesign it to communicate your content better and on-point. Make sure you focus not only on content presentation but also on its quality, relevance, and updates.
SEO and Digital Marketing Enhancement
The website plays an integral role in digital marketing efforts due to the close dependence on SEO. Small businesses like yours might need an SEO update with top-notch, relevant content using the right keywords. Google itself favors websites that actively update their content to show only the most relevant and latest answers to search queries.
Using Strategic Call to Actions
There is a high probability that your website lacks strong calls to action that can turn visitors into buyers. A call-to-action (CTA) is a button or link you add to your website to encourage potential clients to convert into leads by taking specific action on your landing page. If each landing page of your website does not have a clear CTA or is not attractive enough to hold on to the customer’s attention, your website certainly needs a quick revamp.
Struggling with Website Updates? We are Here to Relieve You of the Stress!
We understand that the task of updating your website for any or all of the above reasons is a huge responsibility in itself. But you must agree that offloading regular website updates saves time and effort in the long run and augments your selling power immediately.
What if we told you, you could have professional assistance in updating your website on demand without worrying about the technicalities, aesthetics, or function? All without the cost and complications involved in requesting an IT RFP.
At Bash Foo, our website design and development model involves carefully executing any changes to your website in close collaboration with clients to augment user experience. We help set up development, test, and production instances of your website so that updating can be a breeze. With over 23 years of experience in web development, you can rest assured that our solutions will best fit your needs.
The best catch? We specialize in working with and for small businesses! Hurry and get in touch with us today and discover how our services fit your needs. Contact now!
Online reviews play a significant role for businesses trying to sell their products or services. According to BrightLocal, 91% of consumers state that positive reviews make them more likely to buy.
Bad customer reviews potentially harm both a brand’s name as well as financial outcomes. Online reviews lead to more interactions with customers, thus impacting organic visibility. Besides, they also affect consumer decisions – availing a service, buying a product, etc.
This is why it is imperative to pay attention to your online reviews. While positive feedback naturally helps to nurture your brand, negative reviews can sometimes act as a setback. At Bash Foo, we believe that every business must respond to or combat bad reviews that they find online.
How Popular Are Online Reviews?
No matter what the industry, the internet has become a melting pot of businesses of every size, trying to outdo the others to catch the customer’s eye. A majority of customers want to look up the details of a business before buying their products or services. This User-Generated Content (UGC) comes in the form of reviews left about the company or the buying experience, along with an insight into other relevant information.
Sites like Google and Yelp end up being the defacto sites that consumers use when researching a business online. Their reviews cover every segment and business size, with over 115 million reviews on just Yelp’s website. Facebook has emerged as yet another powerful platform for online reviews, responsible for around 19% of all business reviews worldwide.
On the other hand, Google accounts for millions of business listings and 57.5% of all online reviews worldwide. This proves especially beneficial for small businesses, which can gain a positive reputation in no time through Google My Business pages. Online reviews end up as essential marketing tools for brands and transparent references for customers. The numbers speak for the popularity and relevance of online reviews for businesses and consumers alike.
The Basics of Online Reviews Explained
Customers view online reviews as helpful opinions from people who have used the services or products of a business before them and have some insights to share. In today’s times, with the massive penetration of digital and social media, online reviews have come to shape how a business is perceived online.
In the words of Chris Anderson, the Curator of TED, “Your brand isn’t what you say it – it’s what Google says it is.”
Who is Reading Online Reviews?
The answer would be – virtually everyone! Think about the first thing you do when looking for a restaurant online. Or, try to imagine yourself purchasing a garment from an online store. Aren’t we automatically drawn to checking out the reviews to know what others have to say about the product or service?
Around 89% of customers would not take any action on their purchase or booking unless they have read some online reviews. Therefore, it is pretty clear that people read online reviews; in fact, online reviews have become part and parcel of today’s online shopping experience.
Are Online Reviews perceived as Trustworthy?
The same survey from BrightLocal also highlights that 91% of millennials trust online reviews as much as recommendations from friends and family. A majority of online purchasers have admitted that online reviews have influenced their decision-making in the past. Besides, they are likely to refer to online reviews in the future to make more well-informed choices.
So, why do customers trust online reviews so much? The first reason is that these opinions on the web offer transparency about the business and its products or services from a third-person perspective. Customers want to know everything before they shop. While this was barely possible before, the internet has enabled them to carefully understand every aspect of the product or service by reading the diverse opinions of strangers with seemingly verified profiles.
Online reviews provide customers with unmatched knowledge about a business and its products/services, even if the business itself might not be very transparent in the matter. Secondly, the influence of another person is always welcome when making a purchase. Foodies are drawn to restaurants that create positive vibes, while they will stay away from it if they come to know how disappointing it was.
Customers view online reviews as genuine and helpful resources for helping other shoppers make informed decisions. 86% of consumers would themselves consider writing a review for a business, which means they also trust that the reviews they read are genuine shares.
Why can Negative Reviews be a Concern for Your Business?
First things first, negative reviews are not inevitable, and they are not always bad for your business. Some negative feedback from time to time might even help your business – listing out the areas of improvement and helping you handle criticism better.
However, we have to admit that too many bad reviews can end up jeopardizing the popularity and trust quotient of your online business, doing more harm than good. While combating bad reviews as constructive feedback is easy, handling reviews those trollers deliberately pen down to give you a tough time, is certainly not worth it.
Besides, nasty competitors might also calculatingly leave behind poor reviews just for the sake of belittling your efforts. They might intentionally leave behind multiple 1-star reviews and negative comments to influence your customers, despite there being no truth in it! Such reviews could eventually impact your business by:
Affecting Sales
Since most people rely on reviews for social proof, accumulated negative feedback can shatter their confidence in your products and services, thereby negatively impacting sales.
Eroding Trust
With the countless brands in your domain fighting neck to neck, multiple negative reviews on display will only make the pool of customers drift away from your brand to your competitor’s.
Nullifying SEO Efforts
Ranking high in search engines is a prime necessity when it comes to digital popularity these days. Poor customer reviews online affect the content on the internet associated with you, leading Google and other search engines to prevent your website from appearing high in search results.
Handle Negative Reviews Effectively with Bash Foo
It is clear, therefore, that online reviews have the power to make or break businesses today. Therefore, if you wish to optimize your brand’s digital presence in the current climate, you need to start using online reviews to your advantage.
The first step towards this is to eliminate negative reviews that fail to offer constructive criticism or that seem to be purposely planted to show your brand in a bad light. At Bash Foo, we have been helping brands, especially small businesses, build an improved online reputation over the years. Our best-in-class services comprehensively take care of your digital presence, including eliminating negative reviews that cause consumers to pause.
How do we do this?
We Make Online Reviews a Priority
At Bash Foo, we make sure that your brand does not lose out on one of its most effective marketing tools for the digital world – online reviews. We understand the value of reviews for influencing customer decisions and how they are neck to neck with social media marketing strategies today.
Therefore, while you take care of your business activities, we prioritize effective strategies related to online reviews for you. From charting out a response strategy to helping you take action against a negative review, we have it all covered for you.
We Help Monitor Your Business Reviews Online
Our focus is on continuously monitoring your online reviews across different platforms – Google My Business page, Facebook, Yelp, social media, and even your website. We focus more than just on stars – written reviews make a stronger impression on 73% of shoppers; therefore, we keep a tab on what is being written about your brand.
We are committed to ensuring that no unfair reviews are misleading potential customers about your products and services. Trust Bash Foo to be all ears when it comes to what people are discussing about your business online!
We Remove Negative Customer Reviews of Your Business
While some criticism is welcome, we help eliminate any irrational negative online reviews that trollers or competitors pen to make you look bad. From negative social media comments to irrational reviews on sites like Yelp, we are experts in managing poor online reviews for your business.
Our strategy towards a bad online review is to be responsive, not reactive. Years of experience in the industry have taught us how to tackle negative online reviews. After careful scanning the review in question, we either help bring before your customers your willingness to go the extra mile or dismiss unreasonable feedback the right way. Bash Foo’s idea is to adopt a proactive approach towards response to negative reviews.
Online Reviews: A Word-of-Mouth Marketing Strategy
That social proof and influence play a huge role in consumer decisions are already clear to us by now. Business reviews on popular sites such as Facebook and Yelp can go a long way in establishing the reputation of your products and services as a brand if taken care of the right way.
While negative feedback online is inevitable, the best way to handle them is to avoid any friction and deal with the situation calmly. Poor reviews could also end up lending you the right insights to improve customer experiences! The best way is to always lookout for ways to use online reviews as leverage to get ahead in the competitive marketplace and positioning yourself on the top.
It seems as if everyone has tried their hand at marketing automation and has either failed miserably or continues to fight an uphill battle. It is rare to hear success stories.
Wrong. There are success stories, but chances are you aren’t tuned into them. One core reason is that businesses that find a successful venue to market their goods and services RARELY let others know about it. That is why you only seem to hear about the horror stories out there.
False. Business owners and stakeholders love this idea that you can drop some $$$ for a fancy new tool and automate things so that you won’t have to hire or (sometimes) retain employees. Sort of like buying a robot for a factory. They expect a one-to-one or sometimes one-to-many replacement of employees. That is just not the case. Marketing automation demands a team of individuals pouring their talents into the tool.
You’ll need a marketing manager to develop strategy, a content writer to create the email sequences, and a marketing analyst who can install code snippets, filter contact lists, set schedules, and provide reporting. Lastly, for those interested in cpa marketing, someone to translate the expressed costs with the consumer actions taken.
Marketing Automation = Added Relaxation for Sales Teams
Think of it. As a sales manager, you are only responsible for following up with bottom-of-funnel leads that increase business revenues. You no longer have to answer the phone when new customers call because the Marketing team has been communicating with them. They are responsible for nurturing leads until they are ready to buy.
Again, this is false because when a hot lead does enter the funnel, marketing is often NOT the one you want to communicate with them. They enter with interest, and all you give them is yet another email newsletter or important LinkedIn communication. The sales team should continue to “work” new leads just as they did before the fancy new marketing automation tool was introduced.
All I want is leads.
This is a common thread for the sales team to tell the marketing team. They don’t care about ALL the GREAT Marketing Qualified Leads (MQL) that they have acquired in the past month. They are also the quickest to “cancel” them. Telling the marketing team that company XYZ won’t ever buy from us or that the contact being nurtured is not interested, even though all their engagement signals align with interest. Fine. The marketing team states that they will now classify hot leads as Sales Qualified Leads based on specific readiness criteria.
Six months pass, and the Sales team is still balking, stating that the Sales Qualified Leads are still not worthy of a phone call or visit. Now they want their work to be classified as an Opportunity before they engage.
You may be laughing right now, but this is all too common when lucrative sales regions are gerrymandered so that the sales team can earn without breaking a sweat. If your marketing team reports that their lead funnel is getting emaciated by Sales, you should be worried.
The intern can do content writing
Nearly 93% of businesses put content generation on the young. They cost the least, and management knows that writing content takes time. Big mistake here. Content writing is complex, and you’ll not reap any benefit from your campaigns written by individuals who know the least about your products, services, and organization. The best that you can hope for is grammatically correct prose. Inbound marketing demands persuasive copy. Copy that jumps off the page and makes the reader do a double-take. Copy that speaks without industry lingo or sales jargon. It’s copy explicitly written to help solve a specific problem or fit a particular application. That’s it.
Why is this blog post speaking to me?
Our prospects have all “been there, done that” regarding marketing automation. Their frustration is either that they felt like marketing automation bilked more resources than what it generated or that their manager felt that way. I’m writing this blog post not to bring up the FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) but to address that marketing automation should only be added to your marketing stack of capabilities for those companies interested in investing in growth. Businesses that approach marketing automation with a “dip the toe” attitude need not apply.
There you have it—the reason to hire a marketing agency vs. hire interns/entry-level marketing personnel. If you want to invest in an excellently run marketing team but don’t want to invest in that team’s health care bills, 401k, vacations, or management, you can hire an agency to execute just this portion of your business operation.
It costs a fraction of hiring internally, you don’t need experts there to train your newbies, and you can gain near-instant results without wasting time on “figuring things out” or that “crawl, walk, run” approach to growing your sales revenues.
Allowing a marketing agency experienced in helping businesses in your industry is a reliable method to prevent wasteful spending of dollars on a marketing automation tool that fails to bring the results you need.
Hiring the top attorney for your legal needs can sometimes feel like an overwhelming task, especially if you don’t know where to look. 86% of clients meet their lawyers through Google, which means a web search is undoubtedly one of the most reliable ways of searching for top attorneys in your area.
However, many lawyers follow the practice of creating shell offices and promoting them as online firms. They do not actually work out of these cities, yet they list them with the sole motive of reaching into communities that they do not live or work in. Therefore, you might be misled into believing that the attorney works in your area, whereas you might end up meeting just one of his paralegals.
This is why it is essential to follow some best practices when searching for top attorneys in your area and actually finding them. At Bash Foo, we have helped several law firms optimize their websites for search; therefore, you can say we have insights to provide you on this matter!
Let’s dig deeper into this topic.
A Few Things to Focus on Before Beginning Your Lawyer Search
Most people prefer to have long-term connections with their lawyers to resort to them even for future cases. This makes it important to look for the right qualities in your attorney that could make an association with them feasible for you in the long run.
The lawyer’s experience and areas of expertise are prime factors, for most lawyers tend to focus on just one or a few types of law. Therefore, always try to select an attorney who has previously proven experience in the field you seek help in. For instance, a lawyer specializing in divorce cases is not ideal for dealing with business laws or criminal court cases.
Secondly, you might also want to look at the size of their practice. If you need an attorney to only help you out with contract reviewing and documentation, it is not necessary to go for a large firm. However, a large corporate firm with multiple experts and vast experience might prove much more helpful when dealing with more significant business issues.
Location is an important factor since you want an attorney well-versed with state and local laws, rules, and regulations. At the same time, it would be much more convenient for you to make frequent trips to their office for consultations, discussions, depositions, and so on.
This is How You should Search for the Top Attorneys in Your Area
With the internet having revolutionized almost every traditional field, searching for a good attorney has also become more convenient than ever before. Together with the web, you must deploy a mix of conventional approaches for a fool-proof search of the best lawyer for your case.
There are several ways to search authentically for the top attorneys in your area while steering clear of any shell companies or fraudsters. Here is our list.
Good Old Google Search
In 2019, around 86% of law firms had a website, which is steadily increasing year on year. Thanks to Google’s latest algorithm update, it is no longer possible for online businesses to rank high unless they assure quality, value, and, naturally, high traffic. This is another reason why attorneys and firms hire top digital marketing agencies to help present their value better and reach out to potential clients on the web.
Therefore, you can use the web as a first step towards researching the top attorneys in your area. Be mindful of using your location (or “near me”) and the lawyer’s expertise when typing in a search query for the most relevant results. Try shortlisting lawyers or firms that have verified Google My Business pages and boast multiple positive reviews. Take a good look at their website to understand their principles, values, experience, and expertise to understand whether or not they are a good fit for you.
Social Networking Sites
These days, social media has quickly replaced search engines to provide more authentic and customer-reviewed information on businesses. The same can be said about law firms and attorneys with a handsome social media presence across relevant platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook.
You can search for the top attorneys in your area on these platforms with ease. The additional benefit you get is in the form of authentic reviews by their clients, who you can look up online too. Word of caution: not all attorneys or law firms readily showcase their work or profile on social media. You might not get all the top attorneys in your area on these platforms. However, it is a good initial step to be able to shortlist some choices. First, find 2-3 lawyers using Google, and then look into what sort of a person they are on Facebook.
Refer to a Reliable Online Directory
Online directories, such as Nolo, offer comprehensive and trusted information on the top attorneys in the US, which you can browse by location. Such directories offer an all-inclusive profile of attorneys, including their experience, education, fees, area of expertise, and so on.
However, you should ensure that you are using only the most reliable online directories for accessing such information. Some directories promise to list only those attorneys who have a valid license and are in good standing with their bar association. Therefore, you can have a list of the best and authentic attorneys in your area in a single click.
Buyers beware of sites like NOLO; however, they allow their attorneys to pay for enhanced listing views and feature spots. They may not be the best lawyer in the pack, but they may have the deepest pockets to buy ads.
Apart from an online directory, you can also access the Local Chamber of Commerce for reliable information on top attorneys in your area. You can get direct line or mobile phone numbers for reaching out to them, saving you from passing through a wave of client advocates or paralegals.
The Word-of-Mouth Way
By far, one of the most trusted ways of looking for and finding a top attorney who can meet your needs is by way of referrals. If you are in touch with another lawyer, say someone who is not an expert in the field you are looking for, you can always ask them for someone who is. Most lawyers have direct contact numbers and emails of fellow lawyers. Besides, they could share their insights on whose work they deem best.
You can also reach out to business referrals – your banker, accountant, insurance agent, real estate broker, and so on – for expert attorneys in your area in the field you are interested in. Such people are usually in constant touch with lawyers and paralegals and can help you instantly with the best recommendations.
Then again, you can depend on your friends, family, relatives, or colleagues to share with you their personal references when it comes to an expert attorney. If they have been in similar situations before, they could even provide you with honest feedback on their experience with the attorney and his firm.
Advertisements by Law firms
Not all, but some ads can actually be helpful in your quest for the best attorneys in your area. There is always a degree of caution to be maintained – do not believe everything you hear or read.
However, with the increasing relevance of internet search for law firms and social media, many reliable and resourceful attorneys and law firms choose to catch the potential client’s attention through advertisements. Look out for their area of expertise, years of experience, location, fees, and so on in such ads.
Taking Help from Non-Profits
Some non-profit groups and men/women support groups often help individuals, small businesses, and families by helping them access the right attorney for their case. Such groups are also the best destination when researching for similar cases, especially if you are a small business new to legal complications.
These groups are well-versed with authentic local attorneys in your area and even help you meet someone who fits your budget and philosophy. From family and divorce lawyers to business lawyers through clinics, you can also access specific experts, such as someone who could deal with an urban sprawl case with help from an environmental group.
It does not end with the search
Even after you have successfully drawn a list of the top attorneys in your area specific to your need and budget, there are a few things to keep in mind.
Actually Finding the Attorney is Equally Important
With no shortage of fraudsters and shell companies on the web, the next step after searching for attorneys is to find them. When using the electronic medium for searching a local attorney, seek their direct email address like john.doe@toplawfirm.com, instead of help@toplawfirm.com to have a better chance of actually reaching the attorney. A background check of their office location and a discovery call are also great options.
Be Wary of their Charges
It is an excellent practice to have some clarity over the consultation and interview charges beforehand. Ask the attorney if they provide free consultations and how much an initial interview would cost. Also, be transparent about their fees, included services, method (lump sum, installments), and mode (online, bank transfer, and so on) of payments.
Lastly, before you finalize your attorney, get in touch with them either in person or on a phone call to understand their philosophy and present your concerns. If you hope for them to represent you, your ideologies must match theirs to a certain level.
Living in the past is unhealthy – both for you and your website’s SEO. Search Engine Optimization tactics, just like other trends in the digital world, have seen significant changes over the last few years that have primarily redefined conventional SEO practices.
While some of the traditional strategies continue to be relevant in the current climate, several SEO tactics are now outdated and should be discarded.
The fact that SEO drives 1000%+ more traffic than organic social media itself speaks of the importance of the right SEO strategies for better results. A vital digital marketing tactic, effective SEO requires businesses to tailor their website to what their audience needs.
The impact of SEO work becomes amplified due to Google’s dynamic algorithm, which demands quality and content over age-old SEO tactics. Let’s take a look at some of the most outdated, obsolete SEO strategies that you need to get rid of today!
Keyword Stuffing
Our Content Management Systems have been reminding us to use more and more keywords – paragraphs, headings, subheadings, introductions, conclusions, images – everywhere! While keyword density used to be a standard benchmark for search engines to rank a page higher in terms of value and relevance for the particular search, the trend no longer holds much value today.
The reason behind this shift is the growing inclination of businesses to rely extraordinarily on keywords, almost leading to the abuse of this SEO strategy. From unnecessary repetition to out-of-context mentions, the attempt to overload content with keywords invariably led to poor quality content across such websites. For instance:
“Our food delivery service is the fastest in Portland. We offer quick food delivery services across all neighborhoods of Portland. If you plan to call a Portland food delivery service today, please contact our food delivery company at portlandfooddelivery.com”
Despite being laden with the obvious keywords, such content would do no good for your business – it could even land you up with a ranking penalty.
What Could You Do Instead?
Instead of focusing on keyword density and frequency, search engines now stress more on the relevance and intent of keyword use. Therefore, it is best to act more responsibly when it comes to keyword optimization in your content. Focus more on content quality and use keywords naturally where they fit into the context. Search engines want you to write content for audiences, not their algorithms.
What seemed like the smartest thing to do a few years back is problematic today – getting longer domain names just for the sake of fitting “keywords” into them. For instance, do not get a domain like fooddeliveryservice-portland.com just to fit in the location and specialty keywords.
Such kind of action is also unrewarding for the long term. What if you decide to expand your business to multiple regions in the future? What if you change your niche or add more services? The only two options before you in such a case would be either to get stuck with an irrelevant domain or buy a new one and lose out on the already established and circulated first one.
What Could You Do Instead?
After Google updated its algorithm, the importance of such domains has fallen considerably. While it may still be considered fruitful to include high-value keywords in your URL, nothing beats a consistent yet unique brand strategy.
Therefore, when it comes to a domain name for your website, try making it as meaningful and relevant for your brand as possible. Opt for a concise brand name. The more deciding factor is the quality of your services and content – not the keywords in your URL.
Duplicate Pages to Rank for More Keywords
Another obsolete SEO strategy that marketers often fall prey to is creating multiple similar pages to rank for more keywords, sometimes entirely duplicated, sometimes with a few tweaks and twists in language.
Sadly, this strategy no longer works. Google’s ever-changing algorithm has brought to the table penalties for content duplication. Therefore, if you are just thinking of populating your website with identical pages just for keyword rankings, it will not lead to anything fruitful.
What Could You Do Instead?
If you are inclined to create similar pages for different services on your website, for instance, and want to play safe with a set of keywords, at least make sure that your content is unique for each of these pages. Make each bit of content valuable and relevant for the audience or region you are targeting. If your content has quality and value, this could outscore other problems.
Besides, you can optimize your pages in other ways for keyword rankings. Consider adding keywords to the site’s footer, including locations, services, links, or other helpful information.
Buying Links
Backlinks are undoubtedly one of the most important aspects of SEO; however, digital marketers tend to behave very immaturely by purchasing links from “link farms” just for additional links. Many also go to the extent of submitting their site to suspicious site directories for “link exchanges.”
Backlinking itself is not illegal. You can use links of social media accounts, communities, and associations that you are a member of or resourceful links on your site. Besides being relevant to your content, such backlinks also make sense to search engines and make the process hassle-free.
Duplicate ALT Tags and Captions for Images
Indeed, ALT tags are not readily visible on websites, but that does not mean that they should be treated like hidden caveats for stuffing keywords that seem to work. ALT tags and image captions are equally relevant for your SEO game if you treat them as information-rich resources that add context and relevance to your content online.
Copy-pasting the same ALT tags and captions is as good as not adding one at all. Despite these being essential elements of your website’s SEO, Google does not support duplication of ALT tags and captions and could penalize your content in terms of rankings.
What Could You Do Instead?
Try spending some time working out unique captions and ALT tags for your image while still making relevant, in-context choices. Make sure that the captions are chosen based on utility and value and not mere numbers. Using the proper tags can lead to better rankings for long-tail keywords for you. Besides, it is unnecessary to add tags to all images in your content – just a few images with unique tags could do the trick.
Exact Match Search Queries
Creating websites, domains, and content with multiple repetitions of specific search queries in mind could have worked a few years back, but not anymore. This is because the new algorithm of search engines focuses on value and meaning, not on numbers.
What Could You Do Instead?
Content that targets niche audience pools and their queries will produce results; however, it is time to do things differently. Try focusing on addressing top trends in queries without dwelling on exact matches. Make your content resourceful, engaging and provide the solutions your audience is seeking – the rest will follow.
Guest Blogging
It might seem enticing to publish a few quality posts on more prominent media publications like HubSpot, hoping for an overnight success story. Sadly, this trend is officially out of trend.
The issue is that these media channels continue growing in size, content, and diversity with time. The more they grow, the more writers they host, and the more similar posts their platform caters to. This considerably reduces your chances of standing out among the crowd of similar content that is live on their platform.
What Could You Do Instead?
Guest blogging could work only in cases where your content has gone viral. In such cases, it plays an integral role in drawing traffic, subscribers, and social proof. However, instead of sending out your content only to more prominent publications with a bigger audience in mind, you could opt for a more balanced approach.
Target specific blog pages, despite them having smaller audiences. Publishing your content on such blogs might also draw targeted traffic to your page and establish stronger relationships with these budding publications right from the start. Also, make sure you choose the publications or blogs wisely – relevant to both your audiences and adding value to your services.
Turn the Tables for Your SEO Game
Ranking high in search engine results demands more than just age-old SEO tactics based on numbers. It is time to act smart and use the power of SEO right. With the dynamic field evolving constantly, it is important to stay upbeat with the latest trends and kick out those that no longer work.
Apart from focusing on quality, learn to market your content well and leverage social media, artificial intelligence, and data analytics to balance quality and numbers. Dwell on trends like voice search, mobile responsiveness, meaningful featured snippets, and predictive search technology.
At the same time, use the latest strategies such as improved User Experience (UX), long-form content (such as this blog), bucket brigades to guide readers through the copy, and optimizing content with videos. Lastly, dive into the technical basics of website and page speed, image optimization, and meta tags for hitting the jackpots.
Get in touch with us for a more guided and technically sound approach to higher search rankings with SEO strategies that work!
