It’s 2012! And unless you are a believer of some ancient race, then we won’t see 2013… but for the rest of us, we have lives to lead, SERP’s to conquer and Social Media campaigns to give a kick in the pants! So what are you going to do about it?
So, 5 Things to improve your search marketing, or how to actually get off your ass and get things done!!
We have all been there at one time or another – Writers call it Writers Block. There isn’t really a name for it in the world of search but sometimes we need to look with fresh eyes at the tasks at hand, decide on a plan and hit it head-long in the teeth!
1. Write, Write and Write Some More
How many times have Google said “Write your content for your visitors, not for us”…? Then why do so many organisations insist on continuing to write poor content stuffed with pointless keywords to try and help their SEO? It’s beyond me because it won’t work! Why won’t it work? Well, I’ll tell you… Because Google are clever! Never try and underestimate the work going on behind the scenes with the search boffins. Look at it like this, which would you rather read… And article that you can tell has been written with some thought, or something that is stuffed full of sentences that make absolutely no sense? It’s not really a difficult choice but still the ‘Net is littered with this rubbish. Fortunately Google Panda has kicked some of this rubbish into touch! Happy days…
2. Take it Social!
Still something of an unknown for many is the dreaded Social Media! It’s like learning to drive a car… You know you need to get from A to B, but how the hell do you do it? For many it is a point of much concern with the primary worry being one of “What if I do it wrong?”… Well, you can’t really ‘do’ Social Media wrong – we do it in our daily lives by interacting with others at work, in the pub, while shopping… Every time you talk to someone you are participating in a form of information transfer be it in general conversation, passing information on, recommending films, talking about a new book, experiences with a company who delivered your Christmas presents late… There is absolutely no difference! All that is changing is how you do it. Don’t be scared because unless you decide to insult everyone, then all interaction is good!
3. Links are good! So are Likes, Mentions, +1′s and Shares!
In the dim and distant past Google used to weigh the authority of a website primarily on the links that were coming back into it. However, this was flawed from the word go with people buying links on websites or coming up with deals to ‘triangulate’ links so that Google couldn’t follow a pattern (you link to my site and I will link back to you from another one). So without going into this in too great a detail, Google changed the playing field somewhat and said “OK – links are still good, but now we also take notice of individuals and if they re-share your content“. This takes us back to both points 1. and 2. above. Point 1 because without great content, who is going to want to share it and point 2 because without a strong social network, who are you going to share it with??
4. Never bury your content – and PLEASE make it interesting!
There are two reasons and ways to look at this. The first is your Website Navigation. Why would you build a site, spend time in writing articles and then hide them somewhere in a nest of links making it impossibly difficult to allow visitors to find? It’s like buying your dog a treat – he knows it’s somewhere about because he can smell it, but he will be damned if he can find it because you placed it on the top of the fridge! The same applies here! Take a look at your site – is it obvious from a page what a visitor can do? Are there markers to suggest what can be found when they click on a link? Is the landing page self explanatory and give the visitor a reason to stay there?
The second reason here is because of something called Bounce Rate – there is an element of Point 1. in here too! Google looks at a bounce as this… If someone comes to a site and then immediately hits the back button, that is considered a bounce – and a bounce is bad because?? Just think about this logically – someone searches for a phrase, finds you on Google, clicks on your link, decides that what is there is utter crap and goes back again – what message is that giving Google? It’s telling them that what they found isn’t worth being promoted – and the more people that do this, the more negative signals are sent back again.
5. Best practice is the way to go!
Google has something called the Webmaster Guidelines. This is essentially the Bible of SEO and should be ignored at your peril – yet people still do? Why would someone tell you not to walk out in front of a lorry, then you go and do it anyway? Is this because they think they know the search algorithm better than those that created it? I know, an amusing thought, yet millions of sites still ignore these basic rules and then wonder why their site is underperforming!? What more do you want if Google says “Make a site with a clear hierarchy and text links. Every page should be reachable from at least one static text link” and then you ignore it? I’m sorry, but these people deserve everything they get! Or don’t get…
Well, in the time-honoured fashion of Search Marketing, if you like this article, please take a moment to share it on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn using the lovely little share icons right below you 
JAN
About the Author
Written by Social SEO expert Andy Drinkwater. Andy has been involved in Social SEO & Social Media since 2001 and Copywriting since 1991 and is an active blogger on these subjects.