SEO is Still Super-Relevant

Times may change, but one thing seems to be clear: in 2019, SEO is going to continue to be one of the most important techniques of any successful marketing strategy. Without fully understanding the phenomenal power of this method, you will fail to conquer the SERPS, see retention become an illusion, and watch as your business becomes as relevant as a Discman in the 21st century.

By reading this SEO article, you will get to understand what is SEO, what are some of the key SEO trends, and which SEO tricks you can take advantage of to optimize your website this year.

What is SEO?

SEO is an acronym which effectively stands for Search Engine Optimization. It is the practice of actually getting to increase the quality and quantity of traffic to a specific website via organic search results.

Indeed, research has shown that the websites which manage to be on the first page of the Google search engine receive almost 95% of all clicks. In addition, many studies show that the specific results that appear higher up on the page effectively receive an increased Click-Through Rate (CTR).

There are three main factors which attentive readers must be able to take into account to understand what SEO is all about:

• Traffic Quantity
• Traffic Quality
• Organic Search Results

Traffic Quantity

The more people actually click a website’s link, the better. Traffic quantity shows Google that people are interested in visiting a specific website.

The more well-informed, complete, enticing, and engaging the website, the higher the number of clicks. The more clicks, the better the chances of that website appearing at the acme of search results.

Traffic Quality

How do connoisseurs ensure websites get the perfect traction? By betting on the quality of the content showcased on the website.

Everyone can learn how to create appealing CTAs which manage to attract the right visitors. Making them stay and actually enjoy their overall website user experience? A whole different ball game.

The key? To create content that attracts the right visitors to a specific website. The more “perfect” visitors, the more quality traffic websites will get.

If 98% of the people who visit a website actually want to visit it, they tend to stay longer, take advantage of everything that website has to offer, enjoy their experience, and help Google understand that the particular website is deserving of a higher Google ranking.

Organic Search Results

What is organic traffic? Organic traffic is actually the opposite of paid traffic. Paid traffic means that pros are paying a certain amount of money to be able to appear at the top of the search engine results. Usually, this is done through Google Ads.

Whereas paid traffic is the consequence of people paying to acquire new clicks and leads, unpaid traffic - organic traffic - means that visitors are finding out about a website after searching for it on Google.

Why is organic traffic so important? Because it allows Google to understand that people want to see a website, even though nobody has paid money for them to be able to see that website appear.

Organic traffic is the name of the game. It’s the reason why companies like to invest in this technique, coming up with killer content marketing strategies and performing highly-detailed keyword research to be able to devise a successful system.

SEO Stats

Now that we’ve seen why organic traffic is important and what this game is all about, it’s time to understand the impact of this method.

Here are some definitive stats for those who feel suspicious of the power of SEO:

• In 2018, Google represented 79% of all global desktop traffic
• 82% of marketers report that SEO effectiveness has risen in the past 5 years
• 61% of marketers have stated that improving their SEO strategy is their key concern
• 75% of internet users never actually scroll past the first page of the SERPS
• Organic search represents 95% of all web traffic
• SEO leads get a 14.6% close rate, whereas print ads get a 1.7% close rate
• Improvements in content have been able to increase blog traffic by a whopping 2,000%

Now that we know everything we need to know about how this method can transform businesses, get massive brand awareness, and allow companies to prosper, it is important to focus on website optimization.

What are the key tricks to optimize a website in 2019? By reading these 4 proven tips for website optimization, you will be able to find out.

4 SEO Tricks for Website Optimization

1. Links Rule

Link building is a key strategy that delivers proven results. In the wondrous realm of Search Engine Optimization, link building is all about those actions which are aimed at increasing the number and the quality of inbound links to a specific web page with the ultimate end of increasing the SERPS ranking of that website.

In order to ensure websites get the SEO juice you need, you must be able to create enticing content that readers will get drawn to. Moreover, you should be able to establish connections with other blogs and websites, so as to ensure you can take link building to another level.

It may be that a company has created a case study on environmental law. At the same time, that company sees that there is a website with more traffic which contains a lot of great content on environmental law.

What to do? Take advantage of an SEO outreach bonanza, get in touch with the owner of the more important blog, create a relationship, and earn a link on that top website. The more authoritative the link you manage to get, the better the chances you have of reaping the rewards of a successful SEO strategy.

Link building is about allowing amazing content to be recommended through the use of hyperlinks, ensuring Google can understand that some pretty powerful and respected blogs are linking to another website. That recommendation can be the difference between success and failure and that’s why link building is a critical strategy.

The process of acquiring hyperlinks from some other websites that have tremendous authority and that can boost a website’s ranking allows search engines to crawl the web, crawl the links between each individual page, and award more power to those companies which are able to invest in savvy, expanded content.

Here are some link building stats everyone should be familiar with:

• 72% of sharks state that backlinks are significant to rank power
• 90% of marketers actually employ content marketing efforts as a link-earning tactic
• 53% of marketers allocate 25% of their overall budget to link building strategies

2. Keywords Matter

Keyword research is another cornerstone of this type of strategies. It’s all about using and finding alternative search terms that people actually type into search engines while looking for a specific subject.

When devising a content strategy, you must be able to perform thorough keyword research so that you identify which important keywords your content should contain in order to make sure you acquire the readers you want to get.

Keyword research allows content to reach the specific set of people that were meant to be reached, ensuring businesses don’t create content that appeals to users who will never be interested in a specific product or service.

There are four different kinds of keywords to consider:

• Commercial - keywords which include terms that indicate researchers want to purchase something
• Transactional - keywords that demonstrate the user is ready to dive deeper, which means they are ready to convert
• Navigational - keywords that stem from the fact that researchers want to navigate certain platforms and need help
• Informational - a question-keyword which indicates the user is in need of some tips

By betting on content which is able to gather all these different types of keywords and never forgetting to include the almighty important LSI keywords in every piece of website content possible, you will be able to create better websites filled with more relevant information and the right keywords to appeal to the perfect set of prospective customers.

3. Google Analytics

One of the worst mistakes made by wannabe hotshots? They come up with a killer content strategy, take keyword research into full-blown account, and even manage to establish powerful blog connections that ensure they get a lot of external links to ignite the power of their website.

The problem, then? They forget that data is crucial in the game.

Analyzing data, traffic patterns, bounce rates, average time spent on page and a plethora of other tremendously important categories of information is essential. By analyzing data on a regular basis, maestros tweak their strategies, eliminate rotten links, anticipate any possible Black Hat tactics directed at their website, and manage to ensure their website is perfectly tuned to succeed in the harsh battle of the SERPS.

What is the key to succeeding in SEO data analysis? Google Analytics. Since it is virtually impossible to optimize what cannot be measured, it is fundamental that you use Google Analytics to get amazing info.

Here’s what you can do with Google Analytics:

• The automatic collection of data regarding a specific website
• Get customized reports
• Integrate with other platforms and tools
• Measure internal site search
• Understand the reasons why users bounce away from the website and perform the needed tweaks to ensure that doesn’t happen
• Get to know the gender, age, interests, and even the types of devices used to access your website and act accordingly
• Know which social media channels to target
• Understand whether or not you are achieving specific goals

SEO without data analysis is like advertising without creativity: it’s simply an impossible task to undertake. Everyone should perform data analysis on a regular basis, change what must be changed to ensure better results, and optimize their website taking specific facts into consideration.

4. Key SEO Website Tricks

Apart from keyword research, link building, and the almighty importance of analyzing data to ensure website optimization reaches new levels of success, it is crucial that you manage to perform some SEO website optimization tweaks that can really make a difference.

Here are some helpful tips that will allow you to know what you should do when it comes to website optimization this year.

You should:

• Use schema markup (structured data) to classify content so that Google knows exactly what a specific post is all about
• Create an XML sitemap to ensure the particular website is crawlable
• Use tracking on the website to find out when and why visitors are dropping out
• Compress and optimize images to increase the site’s speed

In order to ensure that you get the most out of your efforts, you should go ahead and read this expanded SEO checklist.

Proven SEO Methods

Keyword research helps website masters create the most appealing content for their specific target audience, link building allows content to find new audiences, Google Analytics lets specialists find out everything they should know about their website, and minor website tweaks can really become a watershed moment for companies hoping to make the most of this game.

In the years to come, there will be new SEO tips and tricks for savvy marketers, which will let you boost your power, gain more readers, acquire new leads, and help your businesses grow by allowing you to take full advantage of the blessing of Search Engine Optimization.