UNDERSTANDING HOW SERPS DRIVE BUSINESS SUCCESS

Technology continues to develop at a staggering rate. Almost everything – including marketing – has become digital now. You want your company and your brand to be at par with your competitors, so you build yourself a website too, in order to spread information about your product or service. But just having a website does not guarantee success. You have to consider many other things, one of which is your Search Engine Results Page (SERP) ranking.

What is SERP?

What is SERP, exactly? When a user looks something up in Google, the first page he would see after typing his query and hitting enter is a list of relevant websites to his query, ranked in the order of importance, with the most relevant site on top. This is the search engine results page.

People are impatient. If they do not find what they want in the first few links they click, they would try another search query. This is a fact proven in a study made by Jupiter Research in April 2008. The results showed that the number of users clicking the first few websites on the first SERP increased by 68 percent from 2002 to 2008. Moreover, fewer users looked at the second or third page of the SERP. This is why being on the first page is important. Being on the second or third page of the SERP is equivalent to you losing 90 percent readership from your target market, potential customers and, eventually, profit. You need to ensure that your site ranks high by making it optimized for search as much as possible.

SERP ranking is Important

SERP ranking is important because Google wants to give its customers the most relevant results to their inquiry. The higher your ranking in the SERP listing, the higher the likelihood of people visiting your website. Since Google is a machine that does not have the human capabilities of understanding the context behind images or videos, it can only look at the text information in the site and monitor links to it. Therefore, you need to have content in your site that is optimized for search engines (more commonly known as search engine optimization or SEO).

Factors that Affect SERP Ranking

How do you get to the top of the listing? Here are some of the considerations:

1. Google wants to give its customers the best results, so it takes into consideration the location of the user according to their server. The closer you are to the customer’s server the more likely your site will rank high in the SERP. If the customer is not very specific with the search (for example restaurants in Dallas) then Google will make the assumption that the customer needs something near him and adjusts the SERP ranking of sites accordingly. In order to optimize your website for local search, local SEO will have to be done in order to ensure all elements are present on and off your website.
2. When people look things up, they type their query on the search bar. “Houses for sale” is an example. These are then called keywords. Google sends its spiders to crawl the web and send back to the SERP the websites that contain the keywords.
   

It is for this reason that website owners hire writers and SEO professionals to produce good content with keywords adequately distributed throughout the body of the content. When you plan your content, make sure to come up with good keywords – what your potential customers are most likely to use as keywords when searching a product or service that you offer.

In the past, keyword density was of huge importance. Websites were on a race to churn content teeming with keywords in order to top the SERP listing. However, putting too many keywords – also known as keyword stuffing – made for badly written content, which now leads to penalizing from Google. Therefore, your site must have meaningful content with the keywords and related words sitting prominently in the title and scattered well throughout the text.

3. Links act as recommendations and up votes. When you have other websites linking yours, then Google will think that your site is relevant. As a result, your website will get a higher SERP ranking. However, it is important to get links from trustworthy websites that also rank high on the SERP, not just link spamming from non-related websites.

4. This is the most important factor that will help see your site to the top of the SERP listing. Great content gives valuable information and is written for users, not for search engines.

The better your content is, the more visits you get – and this is something Google can determine. If your site is dynamic with people commenting and linking to it because of good content, then you are sure to get a higher ranking.

5. Social activities. These include shares, likes, and social following. If you need proof about how important this is, you just have to look at your Facebook newsfeed (supposing you have one) and see the content your friends are sharing – videos, articles and what-have-you. Google also takes into consideration the behavior of users. If you have very good content, then it would naturally get shared. Your website will have more traffic because people are talking about it. The more shares your site has, the more credible it becomes. When Google detects rising social activity in your site, it will place higher in the listing.

As with everything else, search engines will continue to change based on the behavior of their users. Naturally, search engines like Google want to provide the most relevant information their users need. By understanding the basics of SEO and SERPs, you can optimize your website to make it rank high on the SERP listing. As a result, your online presence will be strong. This strength will be communicated not only to your existing and potential customers but to search engines as well. Be clever with the use of links and keywords. Write fresh content that people find valuable to read and share. By following these tips, you will have a higher chance of ranking high in the SERP listing and a higher chance of success.

HOW TO BUILD RELATIONSHIPS THROUGH GREAT CONTENT

“Marketing is a contest for people’s attention,” says Seth Godin, best-selling author, marketing expert and entrepreneur. Currently there is an attention crisis with brands and companies struggling for attention. Why not when there are so many brands to choose from? Gone are the days when the only thing a company had to do to be successful is to create a useful product and make people know about it through advertising. If you want to be a success today, then you have to market accordingly.

One of the best ways of marketing a product or a service is through content marketing. Industry leader Content Marketing Institute defines content marketing as “a marketing technique of creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.” Content marketing came to be as a result of consumers shunning away traditional marketing methods like television, print ads and even online ads. Content marketing has many platforms: social media, blogging, infographics, slideshows and videos, all geared toward customer engagement and eventually, profit for the company.

Content is King

Content can be anything from a very important piece of scientific writing to a video of three dogs chasing their own tails. Microsoft founder Bill Gates, in an article with the title Content is King, states that the Internet is a marketplace of content – ideas, experiences and products.

But this kind of marketing is not churning out articles or video clips just for the heck of it. Businesses need to do marketing with fresh and relevant content to stay on top. As Gates writes in his essay. “If people are to be expected to put up with turning on a computer to read a screen, they must be rewarded with deep and extremely up-to-date information that they can explore at will. They need to have audio, and possibly video. They need an opportunity for personal involvement that goes far beyond that offered through the letters-to-the-editor pages of print magazines.”

What is great content?

A post on the Google Webmaster Central blog explains how Google determines the quality of content. Essentially, the content has to:

• Have information that can be trusted.
• Have substance, preferably written by someone who is an enthusiast or an expert in the topic.
• Draw genuine interest, not written merely to drive search engine ranking.
• Be original, fresh and found on research.
• Be more insightful and interesting than what is obvious.

Content is written not only for search engine optimization, but more importantly for customer engagement. To produce great content and engage your audience, you must:

• Have knowledge, insight and perspective that set your content apart.
• Have someone in your business to produce compelling and valuable content.
• Have the resources to regularly create content for existing and potential customers.

Unless you have these, content marketing will not work for you. Bad content is just a waste of time and energy.

Content Generation and Relationship Building

If you want a successful business, – then you have to build a relationship with your customers. You can do this by engaging your customers – both existing and potential – through generation of great content. Here are some tips in producing fresh and engaging content:

1. Create content centered on the customer. Know your audience and create stories that focus on them. More than writing about your product specifications or the advantages of hiring the services you offer, you should make your audience the star – so make something that appeals to the customer in an intellectual and emotional level.
2. Know which style works best. Will you build a relationship with your customers through articles or forum discussions? Are you going to make videos to reach out to them? Personalize your content delivery to draw customers in and make sure to continue the connection through constant engagement.
3. Be accessible. Make it easy for your customers and your target audience to be connected and to stay connected to your brand. You can do this by phone, by chat or by email. Make sure that your website is easy to navigate by positioning buttons and links accordingly.
4. Be personal. Nothing would encourage engagement better than personal stories. Be yourself and communicate this in your content. Most products and services offered nowadays are of the same high quality, so differentiate your brand and inspire customer connection, engagement and loyalty.
5. Put quality over quantity. Do not feel pressured to put out great amounts of content at a single time. Remember that quality is always better than quantity, especially if you are after building a relationship that lasts.
6. Be committed. Building a brand and engaging customers is a long and hard process, much like building a relationship with a real person. If you cannot commit to generating great content, then do not expect to build lasting relationships with your customer base.
7. Nurture connections. Your content should not just bridge the gap between you and your customers. It should also allow your audience to connect with other people. Therefore your content should evoke emotions that will spur your customers to share it and spread the word about your brand and what you offer.
8. Offer help. People turn to the Internet for almost every need. If they know that you can help them solve problems, then you will become a trusted and reliable go-to resource for help. People inherently like to be consistent and loyal to what they believe to be trustworthy and consistent, so make sure that your content is truthful and honest.
9. Share your expertise. The days when you have to withhold your secret formula for success is gone. Nowadays, information is a commodity that people can easily get with a single mouse click or finger tap. If you want to be successful in building a relationship with your customers, then you have to share what you know through free courses, webinars and e-books, among others.
10. Be compelling. Write detailed and informative articles with catchy titles. Create emotionally-charged videos that people like to share and discuss. Be consistent with your delivery and before you know it, you will have a strong following.

Encourage engagement and create meaningful conversations through content marketing. Through these meaningful conversations you will be able to build strong, solid and lasting relationship with your customers, which will, in turn, drive profit and success for your brand.

Looking for help with your companies content or brand image online?

GROWING TRENDS IN THE SEO INDUSTRY

Search Engine Optimization has long been amongst the best and most effective ways to market a business online. In case you don’t already know, SEO is a process by which you can optimize your website in a certain way so that Google shows it amongst its top results. This is a sure way to increase your brand identity and drive traffic to your webpage.

Modern Day SEO

Just like everything else, SEO trends are changing with advances in technology and changes in Google’s algorithm. Today’s online world is not simple comprised of websites that provide you with information and nothing else. Most of today’s web is filled with websites integrated with social media platforms, and online business owners would do well to remember the importance of these websites in order to understand the meaning of real organic SEO in this era.

Social Media is not enough

Simply integrating social media into your digital marketing campaign is not enough to get your website awarded with amazing rankings, if done alone. Here are some growing SEO trends that you should keep in mind when trying to build an online following.

Create Content that is Audience-Aware:

This is an important part of modern SEO which has proven itself to be very effective. Creating content that is focused on the interests of a targeted audience is the first step any online business should take. This leads to content that is catchy and interesting for the specific portion of the population you want to sell your product or service to.

Social Presence is appreciated by Google, Use It:

After seeing the number of people actively using social media, Google has started giving better rankings to websites with social media integration or an online presence on a social media network.

Build Your Brand Before You Build Links:

Most people tend to take advantage of the power of link building for their SEO but they forget the fact that in order to drive true traffic to your website, you need a strong brand presence as well. So make sure that you give something concrete and interesting to the people when using links from other websites, otherwise they won’t be compelled to click on the links anyway.

Optimize Your Business for Mobiles As Well:

The amount of mobile phones being used daily is growing exponentially. Smartphones have made it possible to do anything a computer can do, but when you are on the go, and online businesses need to know that. If your website isn’t optimized for mobile use, you might lose a lot of potential traffic. Having a mobile version of your website built, or redesigning your website to be responsive is the solution for this.

Blog to Fulfill Needs, Not to Stuff Keywords:

There are two types of blogging. One makes use of unethical SEO practices like adding unnecessary keywords to the content just so that people will see your site in search results. The other one, which is ethical, as well as more efficient, is to  write content based on users needs that must be fulfilled. This will turn your content into something that is interesting and that actually provides the reader with helpful information.

We can easily see that the concept of Search Engine Optimization has evolved quite a bit with the increase in online traffic. People use the internet every day, and they are getting smarter about it. The old methods of SEO just don’t work as well as they used to and this has also led to SEO being more expensive than it used to be. The evolving trends of SEO need to be understood by marketers so that they can create engaging content for the user that, with the help of social presence and link building, can lead to a much more successful campaign.