New SEO Strategies for 2013

Jul 18, 2013

New SEO Strategies for 2013

Search Engine Optimization – like everything else in our online marketing world – constantly changes both behind the scenes and right in front of our faces, which means that we have to adjust the way that we do things for both our Local Fresh Marketing brand and for our clients on a consistent basis.

So I was pretty excited this morning to run across this infographic about new SEO strategies on the Local Fresh Pinterest page. A couple of highlights:

The Importance of Referral Traffic

It used to be that we looked at only organic search engine activity to drive a client’s rank in Google. With the rapid growth of social media outlets over recent years, this goal has become more diversified. We now have to consider a variety of traffic sources, including people who connect with clients’ websites from Google+, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, to name a few.

What does this mean for you? If you’re uncomfortable with social media marketing, it’s time to get comfortable with it. Part of our overall strategy with new and established clients is a strong, engaged brand over relevant social media outlets.

Content for People and Not Search Engines

For a long time, creating content in our line of work for websites, blogs and social media has been largely driven by attracting search engines instead of people. As I’ve worked with Local Fresh over the last few years, I’ve seen this trend (relatively) slowly change with the growth of social media outlets. Why? Because social media outlets are populated by people, who have interests and preferences.

What does this mean for you? If keywords and search engine analytics are the most important elements to you when it comes to creating a blog post on your site, it’s time to re-prioritize. The goal now is compelling content that engages readers and makes them want to share it with others. Sometimes, this means incorporating a post or two with cute kittens or babies, because people love that stuff.

Quality and Not Quantity

There are blogs out there in a wide range of niches that post all day, every day. I don’t know about you, but as a small business owner and freelancer, I don’t have the time or energy for that kind of strategy.

From the beginning of my own pursuits, I decided that quality would have to work instead of quantity. I post what I think will interest my readers and that which I find entertaining or useful. The growth of my audience has taken time, but it has been steady over the years, and the followers I have cultivated with this strategy have not left.

What does this mean for you? Focus on quality content. Focus on your audience. Focus on engaging those readers.

Strategy is Long-Term

It seems counter-intuitive that this website and SEO business changes so fast and so much, but that a good online marketing strategy is long-term. It would seem instead that the strategy would need to constantly change, utilizing the short-term, in order to keep up.

I’ve not found this to be true. Integrated and online marketing success is a long-term proposition. Yes, there are short-term goals and benchmarks, but reaching your desired audience and building engagement takes time, effort, energy and careful thought.

Which is partly why I love this infographic – there’s plenty of food for thought here when considering your place in the SEO world!

Sustainable-And-Algorithm-Proof-New-SEO-Methods-For-2013-Infographic

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