4 Ways to do SEO Right in 2013
As the New Year arrives, many small businesses are taking this time to reevaluate their plans and determine where they are seeing the most success, what they can do differently, and what of their practices are outdated and need some improvement. If you are like many of the small businesses doing this, you know that one of the most important, and the most difficult, online marketing strategies to keep up with aresearch engine optimization.
2012 marked the year where Google and other search engines revised their algorithm multiple times leaving many small business websites in the dust and punished for practices that they felt were considered best. Now, in 2013, small businesses like yours are reevaluating their approach to search engine optimization and wondering how they can avoid being punished by more algorithm changes and still rank high in the search engines.
To get you started on your strategizing, here are four ways you can do SEO right in 2013.
Create a Content Marketing Strategy
Content marketing is one of the hottest buzz words among small businesses and online marketers. In 2013, to be successful online, you must have a plan in place to create consistent, high quality content. Search engines will be looking at content to see if you are rehashing old content or if you are creating new, exciting content that will be valuable to their searchers. Content marketing occurs not just on your own website through a blog, but also on other websites through guest blog posts and articles. While content marketing is not always easy and requires investment of time to create, it is still the strongest way to get found online and look good in front of search engines.
Create a Google+ Profile and Link All Pages and Data from There
Google+ is Google’s take on a social network. Many have considered it worthless and subpar to other giants, such as Facebook. But at closer look, smart online marketers have seen the potential for far greater opportunities than simply social networking. When your business creates a Google+ profile, you are able to help Google index your pages by linking to them on your profile and establish an author rank – another big step Google is taking to weed out low quality content and focus on authors that provide high quality content.
Use the Link Disavow Tool Wisely
The most recent Google algorithm update punished websites for being linked to from low ranking websites and websites that are considered spam or to have purchased links. For small businesses that had ever purchased links or who were punished unknowingly because not all sites linking to their page were quality, this had a devastating impact. Now, small businesses are using the disavow tool by Google to ask for those specific websites to not be counted against them. This tool is tricky and should only be used if you have extensive knowledge on when it is most appropriate to unlink pages.
Use a Wider Range of Tactics
If 2012 taught online marketers one thing, it was that Google is doing everything they can to weed out SEO strategies and drive small businesses to focus primarily on providing high quality content to their visitors. In 2013, using a broader spectrum of strategies and keywords will help you avoid getting punished by Google and keep your website working well for you.
Each of these tactics is important to keep in mind, but many are difficult to implement on your own. Contact us for help getting started toward a new way of doing SEO and watch your website take off in 2013.