Seo Company In Houston

Prioritizing SEO Tasks By Impact – pt2

Instead, we decided to switch over to blog refreshes. We came up with a list of older blog posts that we thought were ripe for updates and started updating the content. We did not need to do extensive reviews, and we knew we could implement the necessary changes. Consequently, blog traffic picked up, which allowed us to show some improvements without having to create new content.

At the end of it all, search engine optimizations are often dependent on other departments to bear results. It is vital that you be aware of available resources and that you adjust when need be.

Align Recommendations with Your Business Goals

While aligning with your business goals seems like an obvious thing, it is vital that to ensure that you’re driving results that will impact the entire organization. Is that something that you are going to do? Or are the recommendations you suggest simply geared towards improving organic revenue and traffic?

I will be honest. I’ve been 100% guilty of providing recommendations that will help the search engine optimization program but which do not necessarily align with the organization’s goals. This is one very easy mistake to make.

Consider Client B above. At the commencement of the program, we identified a core set of keywords to work with and the type of content we’d need to get more visibility. We all agreed until we created the content.

While they understood that they needed content, they felt that it really did not fit with existing campaigns and their current strategy.

So three blog posts sat there unpublished – until months later.

We asked questions and got integrated into their demand gen calendar, and as it turns out, the three unpublished blog posts would fit perfectly in an upcoming campaign.

It was a simple thing to overlook. The content we’d made was perfectly okay for the program; however, it was not necessarily a fit for their campaign at that moment.

Ensure that you understand not only the objectives of the SEO team but also the objectives of supporting teams and those of the business in entirety.

Do Not Jump at the Trends

Last month, I made a presentation on some of the most common SEO mistakes we make. One of those mistakes is overreacting to Google’s many changes and updates.

Okay, I get it. I do. When Google says that we need to make our sites more secure or it will start warning users, it is vital that we listen and make the necessary changes. However, when Google suggests that we make our sites secure and then cannot figure out how to differentiate between non-secured and secured versions, it can be a bit frustrating.

Remember Google Plus? Authorship? And what about 300-character meta-descriptions? Well, wasn’t that a fun minute.

We need to make sure that what we recommend actually makes sense for our businesses. We cannot provide recommendations just because Google suggested it.

Okay, I am not saying that your site should not be secured or that it should not be mobile-friendly and fast. What I’m trying to say is that your mobile traffic probably is a bit insignificant, so you do not have to spend 90% of your time focusing on your mobile strategy.

Here is another good example.

When AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) was introduced, it seemed like a straightforward thing to do. While it was designed for publishers, Yoast made it simpler, and because of that, it became part of our typical technical recs. But then again, what about those not using WordPress? What about people using CMS (Custom Content Management Systems) who’d need to hire developers to build out accelerated mobile pages’ functionality? Was it even worth it?

Sadly, it was not. In such a case, the webmaster did not publish tons of new content, and their mobile traffic figures were significantly small. Even more revealing, mobile search results for most of their core terms did not contain accelerated mobile pages results.

Google told us to ‘Jump,’ but in that case, there wasn’t a reason to jump.

Final Thoughts

In the end, it is important to remember that success is a moving target. We live in a time of where people consider what you have done for them lately and not what you have been doing for them. A program may change within a few months or in a year. As search engine optimization specialists, it is vital that we continue, adjusting, measuring and ensuring that our strategies align with the ever-changing landscape.

Remember, while you could try and fix everything, that is not always the only option. Help your team become successful by prioritizing tasks. Help them understand what’s going to have a greater impact and provide recommendations that are business objectives oriented.

Call or contact the professionals at Found Me Online to address starting your online marketing campaign! Click here for article one

Prioritizing Houston SEO Tasks By Impact – P1

How do you tell if the content changes and search engine optimization changes you are making will benefit your website? Contributor Casie Gillette expounds on ways you can prioritize your resources so that they positively impact your bottom line and promote your business objectives.

“What is it that we need to do to optimize our site properly?”

This is one question every SEO specialist will ask at some point but is one that does not have a straightforward answer. Think about it, have you ever heard of or seen a site that only needs one thing?

That is the problem with search engine optimization. It is comprised of so many different aspects that when faced with the ‘what should we do’ question, we often find ourselves offering too many recommendations. Sadly, most teams are not armed with the knowledge or resources needed to handle them. So, instead of getting things done, we end up completing little to almost nothing at all.

“How can we be sure that our team is making the changes needed to help drive success?”

Over the years working as a digital marketing expert, this has been one challenge that I have faced so many times, and thankfully, I have learned several ways to handle it. Let us have a look.

Prioritize by Impact

A day only has so much time, and that means not everything can be done within a single day. So, if you can only get two things on your to-do list, then make sure that you choose the things that will have the biggest impact on your site as a whole.

Let us look at a technical search engine optimization audit, for instance. In technical audits, we might recommend redirect updates, image compressions, heading tags, canonicalization and mirage of things. A development team, already weighed down by regular, day-to-day tasks won’t be able to get everything done all at once.

To ensure that we get at least one thing done, you have to look at the things that are really holding back your site. Title tags might not look like high-priority, but if your website does have them, this change alone could lead to some considerable improvements.

When recommending things to do, prioritize and help your teams understand where they need to start and what things can wait. Not everything is a priority.

Prioritize by Resources

The same will apply to resources.

Last year, we made a recommendation to Client A that they needed to transition their website from HTTP to HTTPs. And while they accepted the idea, and we were obviously excited about it, we realized that they did not have anyone to help manage the process of them.

Moving a website to HTTPs is not a small feat. It can be complicated and could result in tons of errors, and, as I have seen severally now, it could result in a significant loss of organic loss – thanks to Google. We could not take any risks. We held our recommendation for almost one whole year until they had sourced and placed the right people to ensure a smooth, error-free transition. As a result, everything got switched over properly, and the website is seeing a significant increase in traffic.

Let us look at another great example. Client B wanted help writing content but did not have anyone to edit, manage or approve the process, which resulted in a backlog of tons of unpublished blog posts. Who will an unpublished blog post help? Absolutely nobody.

Call or contact the professionals at Found Me Online to address starting your online marketing campaign! Click here for article two.

Should You Keep Your Best Content, or Give it Away? Part 2

Cons:

• You are using your content to a site that is someone else’s
• Your reputation will be affected by the reputation of the site hosting the content
• The content can be easily removed at any time
• The site hosting the content could shut down.
• Below are some of the pros and cons of having your content on your own site.

Pros:

• There is no middleman involved, you are directly driving traffic to your site
• You have total control over the content
• If you happen to build links, the links are going to help your site and not that of someone else.
• You are building the authority of your site

Cons:

• If you happen to get penalized, the chances of you getting traffic decreases.
• You might not get much return on investment (ROI) if you don’t get decent traffic.
• The audience you are reaching might not be diverse because of the demographics of your site.
• If your site is not popular, then there is a risk you might be losing a chance to attract links

Content types and where they go

Let’s have a look at the different types of content and see how and where they should be housed and why.
Evergreen content that is going to be updated. This is the type of content you need to keep on your site unless there is no traffic coming to your site. This is because you will have an easier time controlling the updates. Evergreen content can also be the perfect option for attracting quality links, so the links should be leading to your site. If for example, you have a site selling ceiling fans then you create a guide on choosing and installing ceiling fans using videos or step by step instructions, then you don’t want that content to be on any other site that is not yours.

One-off pieces. If you happen to have content that is considered a one-off piece, then it is a good idea to place it on other people’s website. If I want to write content on the best WordPress plug-ins, then the best option is putting it on a site that is about web design or WordPress, instead of my website which is about link building.

Lists of resources. I prefer keeping the main list on my own website and then I will try contributing pieces to the list, or even create a slightly different list that can be used for other sites. You will have an easier time updating it when it is on your own site. If I was interested in creating a list covering content creation tools, I can have lists such as “Top 10 free content creation tools of 2019” on other people’s site.

Always remember social platforms!

Social network platforms such as Medium and LinkedIn have been shown to be effective when it comes to generating of good traffic. You can use your Twitter account to give out tricks and tips, and also take part in Facebook groups. The platforms will provide you with quality traffic and you will also have an easier way of getting feedback because people will post comments on your content.
Content is more than just articles. It also includes videos, podcasts, infographics, survey results, case studies, slide decks, and more. Try the different types of content, and you will be able to attract quality content to your site.

Call or contact the professionals at Found Me Online to address starting your online marketing campaign! Click here for article one.

Should You Keep Your Best Content, or Give it Away? Part 1

The dilemma of whether to keep your best content on your own website or place it elsewhere is something that SEO experts like to debate quite a bit. Opinions vary massively, and for some people, the answer is situation dependent. There are some bloggers that actively seek out guest bloggers because they want more content and they don’t have a large writing staff. There are others who are just starting out, and they want to boost their reputation by writing guest posts and columns for other sites so that they can increase their incoming link count.

Sometimes a beginner might ask a more experienced SEO to help with roundup posts, as a way of increasing their credibility and building up content. As you can see, there are many reasons that people might solicit content, or contact someone to place content. If you are going to make new content, though, where should you put it?

It could be argued that if you’re going to all that effort the content should stay on your own site. There is a point there. It could, however, be good to share it so that it will reach a wider audience and potentially bring you more traffic and more leads.

Branch Out

If you’re happy to place content elsewhere, then it makes sense to try it. Branching out works well for an awful lot of people. Having columns on reputable sites, doing interviews, doing guest posts and giving roundups can be helpful. Having diverse traffic streams means that if your rankings ever fall you should still get some decent traffic from the other sites, because you are not entirely relying on Google for your traffic. You can get highly qualified leads that way, too.

Also, if you put your content on other sites, you are able to keep up a nice broad and popular profile regardless of your own site, so you will not have to worry about losing everything if you lose your domain. When search traffic is comparatively low it makes sense to put good content on other people’s sites where you might get more eyeballs to it. Do still be selfish with content that you have invested a lot of time and effort into, but remember that the content is useless if nobody sees it.

The Pros and Cons

If you can’t decide where you want to put your content, look at where your traffic comes from and base your final decision on that. If you get a lot of referrals, then put the content elsewhere. If you get a lot of traffic from the search engines (organic, not paid search) then keep the content on your own website.

On balance, it should really work out something like that:

Pros:

• Sharing content improves your visibility and helps you to reach a new, bigger audience
• Sharing content increases your authority as an expert in the relevant online community
• Sharing content could appear in other people’s newsletters and in other roundups
• If anything bad happens to your website then you will still have content elsewhere.

Cons:

• Sharing content means that other people will link to the third party site, not yours.

Call or contact the professionals at Found Me Online to address starting your online marketing campaign! Click here for article two