Hyperlocal SEO: How to Optimize for Micro-Moments

As rapid as changes have occurred in Google’s algorithms in recent years, the biggest changes to SEO have been user intent.

Twenty years ago, when Google was no more than a promising search startup, a search was a useful tool to navigate an unwieldy web.

Today it is more than that. Search is an artifice we turn to hundreds of times a day to ask things like:

• How many tablespoons in a cup?
• What is the capital of Nigeria?
• Which pizza places are open near me right now?

User intent has shifted from passing curiosity to the existence of dozens of micro-moments in which a few quick taps on a mobile phone uncover the information needed.

Because of this, SEO has evolved to look like something very different and yet somehow, quite familiar with what the webmasters of yesteryear were optimizing for in 1998.

To understand micro-moments and their impact on SEO, you need to better understand the shift from general local search to a more hyper-local, ultra-relevant search engine, and the way in which people now use technology to supplement their daily decisions.

What Are Micro-Moments?

As of 2017, mobile traffic accounts for 50.3 percent of all global web traffic. Ten years ago, that number was 0.7 percent, and it has increased by 5-10 percent every year in that interval.

We live in a world where the mobile phone is an extension of its user – a tool that is used constantly throughout the day for reference, insight, or feedback.

You check the time, set timers, buy movie tickets, and order more cat food on Amazon.

These quick hits on your phone happen in mere seconds.

You think of something and you take the corresponding action on your mobile device in micro-moments that recur several dozen times a day.

Think back to before 2009 – you had a to-do list, a grocery list, a backlog of things to do for when you had time to sit down at your desktop or get to the store.

How we do things has changed.

And it has impacted search substantially – micro-moments change everything about how brands engage with consumers.

Rather than a funnel built around a multi-minute session spent on a computer searching for relevant information, businesses must now contend with micro-moments that last mere seconds.

In a recent Google/Ipsos study, 91 percent of smartphone users said they would look up information on their smartphones in the middle of a task. That same study showed that 82 percent of smartphone users will consult their phone while in a store making a buying decision and 10 percent of those users make a different buying decision as a result.

SEO is as much about the moment now as the content.

People have a specific need that needs to be fulfilled as quickly as possible and they expect their search results to fit those needs.

Consumer expectations are through the roof because the technology we’ve given them is powerful enough to frequently meet those expectations.

As a business trying to remain competitive in the industry and local searches, this is an incredibly important shift, and for many, it ties directly into how hyperlocal search has evolved to replace more generic local results.

The Evolution of Local SEO into Hyperlocal

The goal of the search is to dig to the heart of user intent and show them the most relevant content for their search. This has only gotten more difficult as the volume of content online has increased.

Today, it’s rare to find a business that doesn’t have a website and a listing in Google Maps.

But it isn’t enough for Google to show every pizza parlor in New York when you’re looking for a slice for lunch. Results need to be catered to the individual who is searching, based on location and search preferences.

For this reason, local businesses are encouraged to optimize for:

• Hyperlocal Keywords: More than just New York or Brooklyn, a well-optimized pizza parlor website should target the neighborhood or even the street on which it operates. “bay ridge pizza” is far more relevant than “new york pizza”.
• Business Address: Your location information needs to be consistently listed on your website and any other owned media you operate. That includes as many pages of your website as possible, your Facebook Page, and any directory listings you operate.
• Directory Listings: Make sure your business is listed in all relevant local directories, including Yellowbook, YellowPages, Yelp, TripAdvisor (when relevant), and Google My Business. If a listing exists that you don’t own, claim it and make sure all data is consistent across these listings.

Optimizing for local searches is important, but Google wants to be as specific as possible when providing results to its users.

Take advantage of this to optimize for hyperlocal searches, based not only on neighborhood searches but location-supported searches on mobile devices.

The Role Micro-Moments Play in Hyperlocal Search

Mobile search results are frequently different from desktop SERPs.

BrightEdge reported that 79 percent of keywords overall and 47 percent of the top 20 SERPs are different on a mobile device.

This is a concerted effort by Google to show content that is not only relevant to the device being used but targeted to the type of search being done.

If someone is searching on a mobile device, they are more likely to need a solution that is close to them.

Consider the mindset of someone searching for a local business on their mobile device. At home, they could be planning a day in the coming week, mapping where they can get a haircut or what store might sell the new TV they’ve decided to buy. On a mobile device, they are out of the house, actively engaged in a buying decision and are more often than not in the midst of a micro-moment.

• “Let’s get something to eat.”
• “I have a few minutes, let’s get that haircut real quick.”

These are passing moments, but are pivotal moments in the buying cycle. Consider that 57 percent of people who engage with a business via mobile search are more likely to visit a store, 39 percent more likely to call that business, and 51 percent more likely to buy something.

And because so many of these people are using their devices to make product decisions that support a purchase, SEO plays a huge role here.

For example, one of the fastest growing search terms in the last two years is “best”. On mobile devices, searches for “best” have increased by 80 percent as people turn to their phones while standing in the deodorant aisle to determine which they should buy.

In 2015, searches for “near me” and “nearby” similarly increased by 80 percent. Google references these as “I-want-to-go moments” – a search driven by a desire to take action.

What more could a brand ask for?

Optimizing for Hyperlocal Micro-Moments

How do you make sure your search listings contain the information people need when they have these now moments on a mobile device?

In addition to the hyperlocal optimization tips outlined above, there are several other things you should keep in mind:

• Mobile-First Mindset: With more than half of searches occurring on mobile devices, this makes sense anyway, but for local businesses, in particular, it is an absolute must. Contact information should be visible on every page of your website and supplemented whenever possible with click-to-call buttons.
• Utilize Local Features: Google’s local search results are designed to provide key information for those micro-moment searches. Hotel searches, for example, include reviews, the star rating, and the cost per night based on upcoming dates. There are additional filters as well, including “cheap”, “top rated”, and “luxury”. Optimizing your Google Business listing allows you to provide this key information, whatever type of business you operate.
• Develop Relevant Content: Create pages on your website that reflect the types of “right now” questions people would search for when ready to make a decision. People may not search for “pizza parlor in Brooklyn”, but rather “pizza near the Brooklyn Bridge”. When standing at the base of the bridge, they search based on location and situation.
• Customize per Location: Create custom landing pages based on each location you are targeting. Each landing page should contain the location information (address, ZIP code, local neighborhoods), as well as relevant information related to that location.
• Use Structured Data Markup: Structured data markup, or schema markup, allows you to include vital information on your pages in a format that Google can more easily pull directly into SERPs. This includes business type, hours, address, phone number, longitude and latitude, and several other factors that can influence your hyperlocal search results.

Summary

For local businesses eager to attract local customers, especially in that magic moment when they are ready to buy what you are selling, these steps allow you to stand out.

If you operate primarily locally, are a retail or service business, and find yourself with substantial competition for search traffic, consider the importance of these micro-moments and build your hyperlocal SEO efforts accordingly.

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Is a 301 or 302 redirect best for SEO?

Confused on which redirect to use? Here are the differences between 301 and 302 redirects and how Google and Bing view each when moving web pages.

In 2018, there’s still some confusion about which redirect is best to use for search engine optimization (SEO).

There are many articles in the search marketing industry on the topic of 301 and 302 redirects, and many suggest that a 302 redirect will not pass PageRank and that 301 redirects are best for SEO.

Is that still the case in 2018? Let’s look at what we know.

Using 301 redirects

The short answer to the question, “Should I use a 301 redirect when I want to permanently move content from one webpage to another?” is “Yes.”

If you want to be sure the search engines understand that your universal resource locator (URL) has permanently moved to a new location with equivalent content and should pass link equity, then yes, use a 301 redirect.

Does a 301 (or any 30X redirect) still pass PageRank? Another short answer: Yes!

In 2016, Google spokesperson Gary Illyes (@methode) confirmed all 300 level server-side redirects pass PageRank, regardless of whether it’s a 301, 302, 307 or something else.

Gary Illyes (@methode) updated his statement again in 2017:

Gary Illyes has also recommended site owners “go with whatever you like” as far as redirects go, as 301s and 302s to identical content both pass the same PageRank.

And if you’re just concerned with Google, you don’t need to be as concerned about redirects anymore. If you follow Gary’s advice and use the redirect you think is most appropriate to the situation, you probably won’t have much indexing issues with Google.

However, if you’re in the United States, Google may not be the only engine to worry about; in 2017, Bing claimed to have 33 percent of the market share.

Bing’s webmaster guidelines still say, “Bing prefers you use a 301 permanent redirect when moving content, should the move be permanent. If the move is temporary, then a 302 temporary redirect will work fine.”

Bing said in 2011 that 302s which look permanent are eventually treated as 301s and pass link equity, but if you want to ensure the link equity is passed sooner, you should use a 301 before a 302 if you know the redirect is not temporary.

Worldwide

If you’re optimizing for users in China, where Google currently only has 1.5 percent of the market, you probably care more about what Baidu and Shenma say about redirects than Google or Bing, and you should use permanent redirects for permanently moved URLs just to be safe.

Best practice

If you’re redirecting one URL to equivalent content, and you don’t expect that content to come back to the original URL, and you want the link equity to pass sooner than later, use a 301 redirect. In general, you can’t go wrong with a 301 redirect for redirecting permanently moved equivalent content for SEO.

Still confused? Use this simple flowchart as a helpful guide:

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4 SEO Mistakes That Are Costing You Traffic (And How to Avoid Them)

Do backlinks still matter in 2018? What’s with all the hype surrounding internal linking? Should you spend more time publishing long-form content?

If you’ve pondered over these questions while doing your recent site audit, then we’ve got some answers for you.

Optimizing your website for search engine result pages (SERPs) still remains a priority for most marketers. With new search engine algorithm updates and changing user perspectives, it’s important that we as marketers stay on top of the trends and constantly evolve our SEO methods and practices to rank higher in SERPs.

Having said that, some optimization techniques tend to do more harm than good, especially in the long run. To that end, here are 4 most common SEO mistakes and what you can do to avoid them.

1. Prioritizing Social Media Over Link Building

Many publishers turn to social media when they’ve just published a fresh piece of content in an effort to get more clicks, likes, and upvotes. Once the article gets the desired number of shares, it’s often tempting to abandon the link building quest completely and move on to the next piece of content.

But sadly, despite social media being a highly useful tool to promote articles, there is no proven correlation between social media shares and improved search rankings.

On the other hand, link building takes time and effort but can help you gain more organic traffic in the long run. In fact, backlinks from authoritative sources continue to be one of the primary factors to rank high in search engines.

According to a recent study by Backlinko where they analyzed over 1 million Google search results, it was revealed that the number of domains linking to a page correlated with rankings more than any other factor.

Source: Backlinko

How to Avoid it?

The quality of backlinks plays a huge role in determining search engine success. If you’re able to earn backlinks from high domain authority sites, your organic rankings can improve in a matter of days. On the other hand, if you obtain links from bad neighborhood or indulge in black hat practices, your site may get penalized by Google into obscurity.

As a result, establish authority by publishing long-form articles in your niche (more on that later) and implement a robust outreach strategy by using the right tools to connect with the top industry influencers.

2. Not Investing in a Mobile-Optimized Website

SEO is not just about optimizing the content on your website or earning authoritative backlinks. It’s also about improving the quality of the website, especially its performance on mobile devices.

According to Google’s Mobile Playbook, 57% of users won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed mobile site.

So, if your website is not optimized for mobile devices, you’ll miss out on valuable traffic, leads, and conversions.

How to Avoid it?

Use any of the following free tools to check the mobile-friendliness of your website:

• Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test.
• HubSpot’s Marketing Grader.
• Bing’s Mobile Friendliness Test Tool.
• GTMetrix.

Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test will determine whether your website meets Google’s benchmark for mobile-optimized websites. HubSpot’s Marketing Grader and GTMetrix provide deeper insights into what you can do to improve the mobile-friendliness of your website.

3. Not Optimizing Your Internal Link Structure

SEOs often make the mistake of ignoring internal link structure. While internal links may not be as important as external links, they still have the ability to influence rankings and change crawling patterns.

By adding the right internal links, you make sure Google understands the relevance of pages, the relationship between pages and the value of pages. As a result, you need to evaluate and improve internal linking strategy on a regular basis.

How to Avoid it?

Imagine your website to be a pyramid with the most important content on top. This content is usually referred to as the ‘cornerstone content’.

So, the ideal internal linking strategy would be to have several links pointing to cornerstone content from closely-related pages in the pyramid, which would then pass a lot of link juice on to those pages.

4. Not Publishing Enough Long-form Content

Have you ever stumbled upon a resource that covered the essentials of a particular topic in all its entirety? Well, you just consumed long-form content.

Long-form guides or articles are typically more than 2000 words and involve a ton work.

But in return, they provide a lot of value to readers, tend to rank higher in SERPs and provide proof of your authority on a particular subject.

How to Avoid it?

The only way around is to focus on producing more long-form content.

Long form articles usually tend to be in the field of journalism (think of leading news publications like the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, etc.), but these 3 examples below show how marketers and bloggers too can use long-form content to their advantage, generating traffic, user engagement, and retention.

Conclusion

Avoid these four mistakes and you should be getting a lot more organic traffic in the coming weeks.

Hope you found this article useful. Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Is There Any New Innovation In SEO?

So how much innovation is there, really, in SEO?

Search engine optimization (SEO) has been a field of its own in the marketing community for the past two decades.

But in a world where most industries are constantly responding to new cycles of innovation, and in a field with a technological focus, SEO can seem almost stagnant by comparison.

Sure, there are often new Google updates and new software platforms to consider, but the basic strategies are very similar to what they were a decade ago.

What Counts as “Innovation?”

This is the most important question to ask first. What really counts as “innovation?”

SEO is an industry that has already gone through many changes in its short 20-ish years of existence. On a large scale, there are near-constant tweaks to Google’s ranking algorithm that we have to look at.

On a small scale, we have to make strategic adjustments on a client by client basis—partially because every client is different and partially because any single client could see significant ranking volatility at an unpredictable pace.

But these stand as mere tweaks to an existing system, or as responses to an external stimulus. For there to be “true” innovation, there needs to be a new idea, a new approach, or an entirely new methodology.

The Fundamental Principles

You can view SEO through multiple different lenses. At the lowest, most specific level, you can think about individual tactics or processes required for your campaign.

At the highest, almost conceptual level, you can think of SEO in terms of general underlying principles—and these SEO fundamentals haven’t changed much.

• Search indexing and tech specs. If you want to be listed in Google’s search rankings, you first need to make sure you’re in its index. The search indexing process hasn’t changed much over the years and is still the first step to getting seen in the SERPs.
• High-quality content. High-quality content gives Google more pages to index, giving you more opportunities to rank for various relevant keywords. This hasn’t changed.
• Link building. Despite advancements in link evaluation, link building is still the best way to build authority—and it’s a practical necessity if you want to rank higher, just as it was a decade ago.

These have been the gold standards for a successful SEO campaign for many years, and conceptually, they haven’t changed.

Responses to New Updates

What has changed is the way that Google fields and responds to search queries.

Google is still the dominant search engine, and it’s constantly rolling out updates that change how its ranking algorithm works—although usually, in small ways.

A tweak to the SERP layout or better semantic support doesn’t qualify as large-scale, game-changing plays.

Major updates, like Panda and Penguin, did result in major shakeups to organic search rankings, but I don’t know that you can call them innovations.

Google has always prioritized quality content; Panda just made its quality evaluation abilities a little bit better.

It has also always prioritized the quality of links; Penguin just made its evaluation better. These weren’t new ideas, though they did force many businesses to reevaluate their tactics and strategies.

Rather than innovations, these merely cleared the field of questionable practitioners.

New Techniques

So let’s look at the new techniques that have been developed for SEO. In the field of medicine, there are constant breakthroughs to introduce new surgical techniques and treatment methods—so does SEO have the same pattern of development?

With one categorical exception (which I’ll explain shortly), the answer is no. You still need to create new pieces of content to support your site’s domain authority and engage your audience.

The best ways to build links (through guest posts and link attraction through high-quality content publication & promotion) are still the best.

Keyword research and selection still have the fundamental steps it did in the beginning. And even your approach to troubleshooting index problems is much the same as it was a few years ago.

The exception I mentioned? It has to do with the technology we use to employ these techniques.

New Technologies

The real source of innovation in the SEO industry isn’t with the tactics you use or the high-level strategies you employ, but rather the technologies you use to employ them.

For example:

• Google Search Console. Originally called Webmaster Tools, Google Search Console continues to add new features and upgrades to make it easier to determine how your website is viewed.
• Keyword research. You’re still looking for high-volume, low-competition keywords, but you can do it faster and with more information thanks to tools like Moz’s Keyword Explorer.
• Analytics. Google Analytics and other analytics tools are constantly becoming more user-friendly and offering more types of data you can use to evaluate your campaign.
• Automation. Marketing automation is taking basic marketing tasks and making them more streamlined and automatic, from scheduling social media posts to coordinating email blasts.

These aren’t necessarily changing what SEO is, but they are changing how SEO can be executed.

So, How Much Innovation, Really?

So let’s return to the initial question. How much innovation is there in the SEO field?

In terms of high-level concepts, direction, and technique, there’s very little innovation.

Google works the same as it used to (with aesthetic and functional improvements, but no radical departures), and the same guiding principles from last decade work just as well today.

The innovation arises from tech companies who create and distribute new ways to use those techniques or measure your ability to achieve that high-level direction.

They aren’t changing the industry in terms of your goals or tasks but in terms of how you can set those goals and execute those tasks.

SEO is getting more accessible, more automated, and easier to understand, but its core principles remain the same.

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Four Ways To Use Social Media To Your SEO Advantage

Think SEO and social aren’t related? Think again.

Good social media marketing leads consumers to a website; good SEO practices help consumers to find that website and to stay engaged with it.

Want your own results? Here are four ways to leverage social media for SEO:

1. Get the right followers.

Followers on social media are a lot of links in the SEO world. It’s not so much about the number as it is the quality. To get these followers, don’t buy them. Consistently building your social media presence, encouraging users to follow your page for special discounts or VIP offers, and generally offering good content will result in an increased following.

We’ve seen firsthand how a large, good-quality social following can lead to increased website traffic and higher quality traffic with a greater ROI.

2. Use social media for external link-building.

To piggyback off the last point, the greater number of followers you have, the greater the potential for shares you have online as well. And the more shares on social media you have, the more opportunities people have to see your content and link to it.

Focus on creating popular content. Popular content is fun, engaging, useful, visually appealing, entertaining and most importantly, share-worthy. To create high-quality content make sure your content is original, thought-provoking, full of answers, actionable, easy to read and has a strong headline.

And always include a link back to your main website domain. If you create high-quality content that gains traction on social media, both consumers and other websites will reference your link, which greatly helps your SEO. To better reach your target audience, take advantage of content promotion tools like Facebook Targeting or Twitter Ads.

3. Build your brand.

Don’t just share content for the sake of sharing content. We ensure that everything we post for our clients reflects the company’s mission and core values. If you don’t have a mission or core values expressly stated, I suggest making a mission statement and three to four core values for every single post to relate to.

At the same time, don’t make every post overly promotional or sales-type. Our company uses a two-pronged process. We post engaging pictures, memes and articles that have to do with the client’s industry to grab the attention of those scrolling through their Facebook feed. This provides an entertaining aspect. But we also post ads, aimed primarily at getting a click to the client’s website. The website is, of course, search engine optimized.

Even if customers aren’t initially clicking on social media paid ads, this tactic is beneficial. Why? Because we generally click on the brands we know, not random brands we’ve never heard of. That means, the bigger your brand recognition is and the more consumers trust you, the likelier you are to receive a larger share of clicks on Google. The more clicks you get on Google from your new social audience, the higher you will start to rank.

4. Engage locally.

One thing search engines look for is how well you are engaging with your local community. That being the case, it isn’t just a good idea to reach out locally via social media, it’s a necessity.

To do this, update your accounts whenever your company gets involved in a local event. You can take pictures of these events or run live videos. If you are working with another organization or business nearby, let everyone know about it online. Post and comment on their social channels and encourage them to do the same on yours. Share their best content and seek out guest blog opportunities.

As you do this, you’ll simultaneously gain the trust of Google and potential customers in your area.

That’s A Wrap

Basically, if you aren’t utilizing social media, you aren’t doing SEO right. Of course, it’s not enough to just have a Facebook or Twitter account. Use them to gain followers, generate links, build your brand image and engage locally.

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How to Use SEO to Manage Your Brand’s Reputation Online

With strong SEO, your brand’s online reputation will also go up. Here are three ways to do it.

There’s quite a bit to consider when managing your online brand. Simple PR efforts that may have been effective in the print age don’t have the same impact on the internet. There are several primary reasons for this.

First, everybody on the internet has a voice. If someone has a gripe with you or your business, there is a platform on the internet for them to let you – and everybody else – hear about it. This gives the consumer, particularly the disgruntled consumer, a louder voice than ever before.

Additionally, the ease of publishing online has made it so that anybody with something to sell can advertise their product. This is great for small business owners who don’t have the financial clout to advertise on old-school platforms like newspapers or magazines. It can also, however, result in your published material getting lost in an ocean of content.

Fortunately, you don’t have to fire off your websites, advertisements and blog posts into the internet ether, just hoping that somebody will find them. Through search engine optimization (SEO), you can maximize the value of the words you use, and give yourself a good chance of showing up in a Google search for your product or industry.

SEO isn’t an exact science because the algorithms that determine its effectiveness change fairly regularly. However, there are some general rules that should apply regardless of any changes:

1. Find the right keywords.

You know the ins and outs of your products, and you’ve become an authority on your craft. While your expertise is valuable, it’s more valuable, as you build your brand online, to gain an understanding of what your market knows about your craft.

For example, you may be an incredible photographer. If you advertise your services using technical terms and touting jargon-y qualifications, other photographers might think you’re great, but people who actually need your services won’t know or care what you’re saying. Find keywords that your potential customers are searching for, and build your content around them. This way, when someone in your area is searching for a photographer, you’ve tailored your online content to answer their needs.

2. Work with professionals.

With a bit of study, basic SEO isn’t hard to understand. As it is with all things, though, producing a top-notch end service requires a more experienced hand. Luckily, there are plenty of qualified professionals on the market who specialize in making sure their clients’ online reputation management is flawless. (They’ve got the portfolios to prove it – ask to see them.) Whether you’re trying to recover from a past PR mistake, a few bad reviews or inaccurate information, there’s no better way to take back control of your brand’s reputation than with a bit of SEO magic.

3. Pay attention to what’s trending.

While you may not be able to unseat industry giants right away, you can use SEO to be quicker than them to address trending topics. If you can tell that a new area of service is opening up by keeping up with search trends, you can mobilize a marketing campaign to address the said trend. This way, you may get a chance to make a name for yourself and carve out a place in the industry before the established powers can get there. Through vigilant SEO work, you can find your niche and integrate yourself into a community, thereby forming a stronger identity and solidifying your reputation in the industry.

Wrapping things up

Again, SEO is not a perfect science, and this is by design – there’s little value to a system in which you can formulaically make yourself look good. If this were the case, every company would have an identical website to their competition. SEO, as it is, gives you the chance to stack the odds in your favor while maintaining your originality as a brand. Take advantage of it as you work to manage your brand’s online reputation.

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Five Most Asked SEO Questions – 2018 Edition

I’m a big fan of Search Engine Optimisation. I’ve been working in natural search for the better part of half a decade, initially starting in the wake of the Penguin algorithm update. During my short professional career, I’ve seen the industry evolve from somewhat of a “dark art” to the content-led PR integration initiative that is commonplace today – and I’m a big fan of this change.

Despite this, general marketers and some specialists occasionally have a difficult time grasping what SEO is, if it’s important and whether it should be a key focus for digital marketing activity. Ultimately, nowadays I like to think of search engine optimization as not a stand-alone channel, but a “series of best practices for the majority of online (& offline) channels”.

Think about it. Planning a Display campaign? Ever thought of using a “search” call to action? Developing a new landing page for part of a Paid Search strategy? What kind of impact will this have on SEO; will this cause duplicate content? Could we optimize this landing page for the natural search to give an opportunity to rank organically?

Here is a round-up of some of the most common questions I’ve had from clients and digital marketing peers, with my take on the answer.

Is SEO dead?

Nope.

Critics (I like to think of them as Paid Search specialists) have said that SEO is dead or has been dying for many years, this simply is not true. Instead, SEO has evolved in a variety of ways. Borrowing elements from PR, Journalism, Video & even traditional marketing to drive results.

Moreover, the landscape of search has changed dramatically over the last few years. With the introduction of Page Speed & User Insights as a ranking factor and the rise of Voice search, a SEO’ers job 5 years ago is not the same as it is today.

Admittedly with the introduction of Not Provided in 2011, I can see how many marketers place “more value” in Paid Search than Organic, at-least at a keyword level. However, as we’re told more and more – keywords are not the be all and end all.

Ultimately, I think this change in the landscape with natural search professions having to borrow elements from other channels, combined with lack of transparent data really sparked this conversion on “SEO dying”. From my perspective, this is simply untrue and instead shows an ignorance of the channel.

SO, how has SEO evolved?

Historically, grey hat techniques that drove results in the early days of search engine optimization no longer work, however as mentioned SEO is not dead. Instead, since the introduction of the Panda, Penguin and Hummingbird/Knowledge Graph parts of the ranking algorithm, the practices to increase search engine visibility have changed.

Now, there will always be a place for technical SEO and this mostly hasn’t undergone a large change over the last few years. Ensuring that a website is accessible from GoogleBots (or BingBots) and guaranteeing there aren’t any pitfalls that are causing indexation, crawlability or duplicate content issues will play a key part of any SEO strategy of many years to come.

This change in SEO is more to do with content. With the introduction of the Panda, the quality of the content found on a domain is a large part of the on-site ranking factors. Similarly, with the introduction of Penguin, the ability to grow search presence by the purchasing of backlinks is no longer an approach that drives results. Instead, this off-site part of the ranking algorithm, AKA links, need to be generated naturally – you need to give a reason for someone to link to you.

Which is where we arrive back to content. Whether this is a kick-ass blog post, awesome infographic or a great data visualization, these are great opportunities to generate coverage/buzz (links) to your domain.

So while there has been a dramatic shift in how you can grow SEO visibility, the end goal is the same.

Should I be investing in Paid or Organic Search?

It’s a bit of a copout but it’s impossible to answer this question without taking the specific situation of a given brand or domain into consideration. For example, a local business that has a small amount of competition that is looking to drive a few leads per week could develop strong visibility in organic and local search results – with a small spend.

However, if you’re a brand-new eCommerce platform that is looking to compete with some of the web giants such as eBay or Amazon, it’s likely that in the short term organic search is going to be a huge uphill battle – and you may want to look at investing in PPC.

Additionally, there is always going to be a case for established brands to run SEO and PPC simultaneously. A website may have fantastic SEO visibility for a fleet of core services, however, let’s say a new product range or service is added it will be difficult to rank for this in the short term – thus Paid Search is a strong short-term solution to boost search visibility and generate conversions for these services. To take this a step further to a keyword level, brands may want to turn off bidding on keywords where they rank in the top 3 positions organically. Spend can then be re-directed to keywords where is there is limited SEO visibility.

How powerful is your domain? Do you need to generate conversions now? What’s the cost per click for relevant keywords? What’s the competition like in organic search?

Ultimately what we’re talking about above is investing time into a clear digital marketing strategy – identifying long and short-term goals is imperative when making a decision regarding whether PPC, SEO or a combined approach is the best option.

Will backlinks ever not be part of Google’s algorithm?

In my opinion, not anytime soon. However, there have been conversations about dropping links as a ranking factor for nearly as long as links have been part of the algorithm. At SMX Advanced 2012 the previous head of web-spam at Google Matt Cutts stated: “I wouldn’t write the epitaph for links just yet”. Two years later in a Google Webmaster Video dated February 2014 a user wrote to the webspam team asking if there was a “version” of the Google algorithm that excluded backlinks as a ranking factor. Cutts responded:

“We have run experiments like that internally, and the quality looks much, much worse. It turns out backlinks, even though there’s some noise and certainly a lot of spam, for the most part, is still a really, really big win in terms of quality of our search results. So we’ve played around with the idea of turning off backlink relevance, and at least for now, backlink relevance still really helps in terms of making sure that we return the best, most relevant, most topical set of search results.”

Yandex, the largest search engine in Russia announced in December 2013 that links would not be part of their ranking algorithm for some industries. A year later, Yandex brought links back as a key part of their ranking factor. Previously, Yandex was overcome by shady link tactics in their algorithm, so they attempted to try and create an algorithm without them. Evidentially this shift away from links not playing a part of the ranking factor was not a success.

How will Voice search impact SEO over the next few years?

Anyone with even a vague interest in SEO will be aware that the rise of voice search and personal assistants like Alexa or Siri will massively impact the future of search engine optimization. Voice inputted queries on mobile devices will see the rise of “direct answers” to satisfy these voice queries. Sometimes called “rich answers” Google & Bing provide direct answer results in answer to specific user questions, where traditionally links to other websites were displayed.

Try it yourself. Open your phone and ask Google: “who is the president of the united states?” this will display Donald Trump. Next, ask “who is his wife”. This would then display a result which should display Melania Trump.

This is an example of the power of the Hummingbird and Knowledge Graph elements of the Google algorithm. Not only can google work out the entities of “President” “United States” and that “who” refers to a person, the follow-up query Google can understand that the “his” in “who is his wife” is related to the prior question and can connect the dots.

Direct answers are Google’s way to provide the best user experience by answer search-questions in the search engine results pages as quickly as possible.

The impact of this on SEO and website practices alike is that domains will need to provide clear answers to these search led questions.

First seen here.

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