With algorithm updates being implemented on a more regular basis, staying at the top of Google’s Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) has never been more difficult.
Gone are the days of directory submissions, exact match domains, and keyword stuffing. SEO professionals have to do whatever it takes to beat their competitors.
Sure, you can do more hard graft through aggressive link building outreach, hiring a PR agency, or a stable of content writers, but could the simple alternative strategies below give you an edge?
The idea that “content is king” is certainly true – you need good quality content and regular content uploaded to demonstrate that you are proactive and not a dormant site. Content cannot be fluffy, with thousands and thousands of words, because it must be relevant and answer questions in your niche, presented with #tags, useful links, images, and videos wherever possible.
“A competitive edge above your rivals is publishing content when nobody else is.” explains Rosie Marie, CEO of Rosca Technologies, a data optimisation solution. “You have to understand that Google is an algorithm and a machine.” Google re-crawls every day or at least every few days, explains Marie, stressing that it is difficult to know exactly when this happens. Marie notes that her company has tried publishing content at weekends, which is easy if you use a content management system, because others are unlikely to be doing so. “Also, we take advantage of things like UK bank holidays and the week between Christmas and New Year because Google could well think that we are more proactive than our competitors. If so, do we not deserve to rank higher?
We regularly hear that time spent on site is a good SEO indicator, after all, if people stay on your website for a long time and click through various pages, this shows that your information is useful, compared to a user who arrives and leaves after 5 seconds, resulting in a low bounce rate.
“You could ask your partners and people in your niche to review your website and offer their feedbackk, says Gavin Cooper, founder of Claims Bible . “Start by posting on LinkedIn and Facebook and tell your friends you have just redesigned your site or have recently started a business and would really appreciate some feedback, he says. “Some feedback might not be pleasant to hear! But you will have many dedicated users who are really looking at pages and scrolling and this is great for SEO, certainly in the early days of launching a website
Cooper notes that companies need to be careful not to forget that a higher click-through rate on Google search results also helps in the early stages of launching a site. “For example, if you are in position 9 and more people click on you than on position 3 or 4, that should also help your ranking, he says. “Similar ideas include sending out blast emails or SMS messages or making a big announcement on LinkedIn, but linking to your website. Do not give LinkedIn the traffic, keep the traffic for yourself!
One of the most traditional linking techniques is to create quality data-driven pieces and then email and gain links to it as a resource. Not only does this take a long time, but you have no guarantee over which links point to you, and what anchor text is implemented. “Our alternative technique entails reaching out to websites that have already written articles or blog posts on your topic, be it health, finance, travel, or anything that has an expert opinion“, explains Nick Brogden, founder of Earned Media at EarnedMedia. “Our approach is to reach out to all of those page two to ten guides, contact them and offer to provide extra data to help ‘clutter’ and refine their articles“, he says. “Understandably several publishers are keen to have extra information in their articles and were happy to provide a follow link as a reference”. Link building done! Complicated technique but not impossible.
Content is king, but we know links make the world go round. There are some things that work as an excellent link bait for a brand, such as being named or winning awards and being featured in press sections. “Looking at competitors, it appears there are some lists that attract more attention than others“, says Richard Allan, co-founder of Capital Bean. “Creating better lists like the best cities to do something, start a family, or retire to, tends to attract more interest than others, especially if they are data-filled“.
Allan notes, furthermore, that businesses should consider sponsoring large healthcare organizations or non-profits as they often provide a link and a badge as part of it on their websites. “You can help a great cause too“, he says.
If you’ve ranked beautifully for some important keywords but find yourself starting to decline, you can simply consider refreshing the content and replacing it with new and improved information, taking other points utilized by those that seem to be ranked better lately. Google loves new content and this helps your indexability, so it wouldn’t be strange to update your top pages every 6 months or so to avoid losing positions.
Source Searchenginewatch
Pubblicato in Digital Marketing, SEO
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