SEO in 2014 – Want to Know More?

Content marketing is well and truly Alive!

Go back just 1 year to 2013, and you will find that content marketing all the rage. All you needed to do was publish great content and hey presto, you are ranking. In 2014, companies no longer need to create an overwhelming amount of pages to get their message out there. They now need to have a strong mix between, the content and a strategy behind this. The evolution is slight, but random content produced en masse is not enough anymore. In a nutshell, you need to what people are actually looking for an d produce content that answers these questions. The content really needs to fill a void that was previously missing. Be specific and be on target with your copy. Search engines and online users are getting smarter – fooling them is no longer and option.

Is your Company and Industry Leader.

Let’s get real about content. So often I hear people say that they can get something written overseas for $10 an article or 500 words. Sure its cheap and sure it’s more economical than going to a local copywriter, but moving forward in 2014, this aint going to work. People will read what you write and if its not worth liking, sharing or making an inquiry, then the exercise is absolutely pointless. Not only won’t it rank, but it will not generate traffic – and we all know that SEO is about online traffic.

The User experience (UX) is more important than the number of page views.

So you are serious about your SEO. You have employed a company to start the process and you are happy when they tell you that you are getting so many pages views and so many clicks. They go over the analytics and you get excited when they tell you that this month you had 30% more page views than last month. Well, I have news for you. The user experience is far more important that the excessive amount of page hits. Conversion in 2014 is the name of the game and web pages, now need to be designed for both SEO and conversion. You want users to stay on the site and buy from you – if they are not immediately attracted by what they see and if they cannot locate what they are looking for then they will go to another website. Hence the UX is going to be of vital importance in 2014 and I would say over the next couple of years.

Guess What the Mobile Phone is here to stay.

Look for your website on your mobile phone and what can you see/ Is it responsive? That is, does it automatically resize the website based on the screen size? If not then you business is going to loose clients. Over 55% of all online searches are by the mobile. In so far as SEO is concerned we are going to see an huge increase in the reliance of mobile phone statistics. Your web design agency will need to wireframe from the beginning your mobile phone interface. On top of this, like a desktop, the design and coding need to be completely SEO friendly and search compliant.  So now you need to consider all facets and ways in which the consumer searches.

Don’t Build Too Many Links STOP link building.

Links from 1 website to another is turns the internet world around. It keeps the wheels of the online environment spinning and helps sites rank. BUT, over link building can and WILL and I say this with 100% certainty – over optimisation will get your website penalised and your will incur a Google website penalty. 2014 is the year of cautious link building with the emphasis on your brand rather than keywords. This can get complicated and I do not want to get too into this now but lets just say, being over cautious, in 2014 and you will see the rewards. Speak to me about this before you do anything on  02 9360 8514 as I encounter so many companies that make the wrong choice and decisions when it comes to their links.

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I am Social, are you?

Update profiles – get active on all your social media networks. Don’t just rely on your online ranking. Combine this with your social media to get customers. As the saying goes: ‘ don’t put al your eggs in 1 basket’ – spread your internet marketing across as many platforms as you can in 2014. Don’t let your profiles languish. Share your content and continue to interact with your fans and followers in 2014.

In Conclusion

The reason I love SEO is because it is always evolving and changing. It keeps me on my toes and it is always challenging, keeping our own website as well as our clients sites ranking. This is what we do best and this is why I get so excited about SEO – for those people who have come into the office for a design brief, will know what I am talking about.

The key message here is that in 2014, SEO is all about quality, honesty and integrity – break any of these rules and your site will go no-where. Being as natural as possible, is the best advice I can give you for your SEO in 2014.

SEO Scams and How to Avoid Being Stung

  1. The Guarantee: Dealing with Google is NEVER easy. They change the ranking algorithm daily. They are always a step ahead of you and it is impossible to say with certainty that you can guarantee a ranking. If a SEO provider says this then they are not telling you the truth. Only and I will say this again, only work with an SEO team that tells you that whilst they cannot make an absolute guarantee of first page ranking, their techniques have worked in the past ( last 3 months only), and they will give it their best shot. Remember Google is a third party, where you will have absolutely no contact with and they will never tell you whaty they are doing or how they rank a website – hence all ranking guarantees are void!
  2. The Lock In Contract: Don’t fall for this. Ever! Companies who want to lock you into their contract will basically do nothing and keep on charging you. If you try to get out of this contract they will make life very difficult for you. Remember, these guys are scammers and they know how to tie you up and scare you into staying with them. They will threaten you legally and this is not what you want. Golden rule here is to stay well way from signing any kind of contract or committing to any lengthy term.
  3. They know someone at Google and can pull strings to help your website rank better. This is a beauty and no one knows the algorithm changes expect a very few top people. Falling for this scam is easy to spot. As soon as they mention this, hang up the phone. Plus do you think someone in Google is going to jeopardise their career in one of the best companies in the world just to help a SEO company out. It’s ridiculous!
  4. They are ranking on page 1. Really?? Make sure they are not pulling your leg. Google the phrase SEO Sydney and see if in fact they are there organically, or is it a paid ad. Very sneaky tactic so often used by these scammers. Most people glancing at the page will not be able to spot the difference between a top 3 paid ad or a natural listing. Be very careful with this one.
  5. They say they will get you to page 1 in 90 days and if they don’t you will not pay anything. Come on, this one is the WORST and falling for it is absolute insanity. Of course they will rank you, BUT IT WILL BE FOR REALY EASY KEYWORDS and NOT the main ONES that you want to rank for, the ones that have the highest amount of traffic. Once you fall into this trap, sign up with them and part with your money, they will use dodgy over spammy techniques that will work for a BAD keyword, but they will never be able to rank your main ones – this I can promise you. It’s exactly like buying a second hand car. Imagine if they said you can drive it for 90 days and if you don’t like it you can return it – WITH A FULL REFUND – NO WAY!!! – what a lie – don’t fall for this kind of sales pitch.
  6. We want your business so we ARE PREPARED TO OFFER YOU A VERY GOOD DISCOUNT! The SEO world is full of people wanting any money they can get and they will be happy to take any money you are prepared to part with. Cheap discounted SEO prices combined with too good to be true, well over the top promises, is the pathway to complete online failure. These guys are laughing all the way to the bank with your money.
  7. We can do everything online – there is absolutely no point in meeting with us. We work this way all the time with our clients. What a load of lies. These scammers do not want to meet face to face because they are either NOT IN THIS COUNTRY or just a front for some fraudulent sub continent SEO scam machine. If they say they have over 500 clients who are happy to work like this, then please, please hang up the phone! SEO is complicated and needs explaining. Simple back linking doesn’t work anymore and you REALLY NEED to meet with a company that can explain the whole and proper SEO process to you.

 

If you are keen to start an SEO campaign and want to do this properly, why not give me a call, I would say that we are one of the oldest SEO companies in Sydney and I will show you exactly how it is done, what we do and what you can expect. I never over promise, I do not pretend to offer silver bullets or quick solutions, but what I do offer is credible and proven solutions that will give your website the VERY best chance of being successful!