Whether you have just started a small business or you have a well-established and larger business, you probably know that a good quality SEO campaign is essential if you want to enlarge your customer base and increase your profits.
When it comes to SEO services, there is no hard and fast rule that can be set in stone because the best practices are constantly changing. For example, what was a great idea in terms of SEO back in 2015 will not necessarily still be the best way forward today, in 2020.
Any reputable digital marketing agency will advise you that SEO is very complex and your unique area of business, as well as other factors, should always be taken into account when designing a campaign.
There are many ways in which you can improve your website’s SEO and Google ranking and, if you were wondering what the current best practices are, this article will discuss everything you need to know.
Content should sound natural and not as if it is there simply to house keywords.
Most people have read an article that sounds incredibly unnatural and as if it was written by an amateur. Although keywords are very important in every SEO campaign, if your content sounds as if you have simply stuffed all your keywords into it, your website users and any potential customers will not view your business as an authority in its field.
Even worse, the major search engines (like Google) will pick this up as well and you may be penalized.
Try and avoid link exchanges as far as possible.
While there is absolutely nothing wrong with having another website linking to yours (or vice versa), try and avoid linking back as far as possible. Google can easily pick up link exchanges and will not like it if you do so.
If you really want to rank higher with Google, rather create content that is high quality and content that your users will enjoy reading. Relevant, interesting and top quality content is the best way to go as it lends a lot of trustworthiness to your brand.
Your metadata description should always be a true representation of your page content.
In 2020, it is more important than ever before to ensure that your metadata description is reflective of what is actually on your page. Don’t forget to include relevant keywords, either as these will appear in bold when users conduct searches and will definitely make them interested in your website.
Remember to spread your keywords out.
Many website owners are tempted to keep all their relevant keywords on one page of their site. Often, this is out of laziness or ignorance but if you continue with this, your individual pages could be competing against each other for Google rankings, which is definitely something to avoid.
We recommend rather spreading your keywords out and inserting them only when you feel it will be most relevant to the content. In addition, your website visitors will also have a clearer idea of what product or service you are offering.
Check with your SEO digital marketing agency before making any major changes.
Many of us have been in the same boat: you are in a hurry and funds are tight but you want to make a major change to your website, so you decide to do it yourself. After all, what harm can it really do?
Well, any major change could actually do a lot of damage. Of course, it could go the other way and help you significantly but you simply do not know unless you have consulted with a digital marketing expert.
Your digital marketing expert will be able to advise you on the best way to make changes and will be in a much better position to be able to assess how it will affect your SEO strategy’s overall performance.
Always respond to reviews: whether positive or negative.
Bad reviews are part and parcel of every business and there will come a day when even the best businesses receive a bad review. However, it is not so much the bad review itself, but the way in which you respond (or don’t) that counts.
Failure to respond, or even acknowledge, a bad review shows site visitors that your customer service is not great and that you do not value your customers as much as you should.
Have a strong presence on social media.
Social media is one of 2020’s most powerful digital marketing and business tools and the best part of it is that it is completely free! We recommend having a strong presence on various social media platforms and trying to engage with your followers as much as possible.