In this weeks round up of articles from online, there seems to be a common theme – DON’T IGNORE SEO. We found several (and listed two below) articles about large corporations who stopped paying attention (or didn’t feel they needed to concern themselves with) to rankings in the search engine. One then blamed Google for a drop in their sales.
Besides the fact that our founder and owner was the first SEO Expert at CBS SportsLine.com in the late 90’s, Webmaster For Hire always keeps SEO in the forefront of all our projects. When owners tell us that it isn’t a concern, we share the benefits and explain why it should be important. Unlike social media sites that are fickle for their benefits for businesses, ranking in search engines is not. Yes, the algorithm changes constantly. Yes, it is ongoing and hiring the right SEO agency is not cheap (subjectively). But it is one of the most sustainable and valuable marketing strategies any business can do.
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7 Tips to Improve Your SEO in 2019
CMSWire “SEO and inbound marketing go hand-in-hand. But the fact remains: SEO is a battlefield, one in which marketers remain at the mercy of Google, for the most part.” They cover topics we share with our clients consistently: Content, Mobile Facts, PPC does not affect SEO, Personalized SEO, and more.
Read more here: https://www.cmswire.com/digital-marketing/7-tips-to-improve-your-seo-in-2019/
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UX, Content and other secrets to Overstock’s SEO turnaround
This article covers the importance of SEO for all businesses – not just the small businesses. Overstock had a huge set-back in 2011 for their search engine optimization.
In this Search Engine Land article, writer Barry Schwartz explains “It was one of the larger sites to be hit by a link penalty back in 2011. And in 2015 the company blamed Google for its 18% stock price drop after being hit by a ranking decline following a Google algorithm update. In 2017 and through early 2018 Overstock also saw some significant declines in its Google search rankings.”
He covers how Overstock was able to comeback with “rankings climb 97% year-over-year”
Learn more here: https://searchengineland.com/ux-content-and-other-secrets-to-overstocks-seo-turnaround-318958
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SEO vs. PPC: A Few Forgotten Truths
We have always believed that you need both SEO and PPC in your marketing strategic campaigns. PPC gets you on the first page faster and, though the click-throughs are lower than SEO, it does bring a higher percentage of leads. SEO takes 6-months, 8-months and sometimes a year or more to see first page ranking scores. However, it has sustainability and higher click-through rates. They are not cheap when done by the right agency, but they are both highly valuable.
In this Search Engine Journal article, writer Pauline Jakober discusses the internet marketing battle and the reality of both of these SEM (search engine marketing) strategies.
Learn More Here: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/seo-vs-ppc-forgotten-truths/315147/
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The High Cost of Ignoring SEO
We have seen it time and time again, businesses say that SEO isn’t important. Then they realize their in-house staff who has no experience in SEO cannot rank their sites for important keywords. They start with an SEO expert and leave thinking that it was set and done, only to find out that their rankings start dropping in 1 to 2 years (or less). Search engine optimization is ongoing. When the algorithm changes and your site isn’t keeping up – you will be lost in the rankings. Advice given to you two years ago, doesn’t work.
In this PracticalEcommerce article, writer Hamlet Batista demonstrates how “MyBinding, founded in 1998, is an upstart. It has far fewer employees and resources. But it’s killing Spiral online. (an industry leader)”
Read More Here: https://www.practicalecommerce.com/the-high-cost-of-ignoring-seo
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Behavioral Shifts In Voice Search Demonstrate Need For SEO
We have been talking about Voice Search for a while now. A lot of small and mid-size business owners have put any thoughts about it on the backburner. It’s time to bring it forward or you’ll get lost in the rankings.
In this Media Post article, writer Laurie Sullivan discusses the results of recent research results regarding voice search. “The Voice Assistant SEO Report For Brands — released in July by Voicebot, which produces independent research on voice and artificial intelligence, and creative services firm Magic + Co. — found that voice search is rising and third-party sites such as Wikipedia and Yelp are defining the information consumers are hearing about brands.”
Read More Here: https://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/337936/behavioral-shifts-in-voice-search-demonstrate-need.html
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The Top SEO Mistakes You Need to Avoid from an SEO Expert
There are many mistakes that business owners make with SEO. We see them all the time. Most of the time they are guessing what they should be doing with very little to no research. Hiring an SEO Agency, who stays up on the latest algorithm changes, is important. You’ll be missing the opportunities if you try to guess what will rank your business site.
In this KAKE article, they discuss the lack of importance of short keyword focus, neglecting your Google My Business, only focusing on the words on your website, and more.
Read More Here: http://www.kake.com/story/40807892/the-top-seo-mistakes-you-need-to-avoid-from-an-seo-expert
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Solstice Sunglasses overhauls its SEO strategy
Just like Overstock above, Solstice Sunglasses takes note of SEO and makes massive shifts for their website focused on rankings in Google. It should give you a warning as to why all businesses should include SEO in their annual budgets.
In this Digital Commerce 360 article, writer April Berthene discusses what Solstice Sunglasses did and why. “The sunglasses retailer redesigned and recoded its ecommerce site to double down on SEO. Since the relaunch, its overall web traffic increased 66%, traffic from organic search increased 10 percentage points and transactions from consumers who came to the site via organic search increased 106% year over year.”
Read More Here: https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/2019/07/19/solstice-sunglasses-overhauls-its-seo-strategy/
Webmaster For Hire was an SEO agency. Beth Varian, was the first SEO Expert in 1998. She and the W4H team stay on top of the latest algorithm changes in Google. “Our clients don’t have time to keep up with the hundreds of changes that Google makes each year. They barely recognize any of the dozen or so core changes that Google makes. That’s where we bring value to our clients. We inform them of the changes and update our service packages to meet them.” says Beth Varian.
Don’t be like the large corporations who had to overhaul their websites because they ignored the latest changes in search engine optimization practices.