Ahhh, the elusive “Google Page Rank” algorithm… how do you figure out the key to getting that number one spot? Beth Kahlich helped unlock the mystery with her talk that was probably most aptly subtitled – Understanding Search and What to do About It \u2013 (You\u2019re Getting It All Wrong<\/strong><\/em>)<\/p>\n Some people have some idea of what SEO is but most<\/strong><\/em> people have no clue. (Don’t feel too bad about it if you don’t “get it”, it changes quite frequently!)<\/p>\n Beth’s Goal\u00a0 for her presentation was to look at SEO in a different way. People don\u2019t have the right mindset and don\u2019t have the foundational things down. Without a solid foundation and the right mindset, you’ll just end up spinning your wheels.<\/p>\n 1st<\/sup> \u2013 Be A Good Marketer<\/p>\n Does your traffic convert? All the traffic in the world is useless if it doesn’t convert. What’s the point of people seeing your content if they aren’t doing anything about it\/with it?<\/p>\n Truth #1 – You cannot guarantee that you\u2019re going to make #1 for a certain keyword<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Bring your SEO person in at the beginning of a website build. This will save you time, money, headaches and heartaches down the line. If you build the site and THEN think about the SEO, you’re just going to need to go back and do a lot of redesigning.<\/p>\n Link signals are constantly being updated –\u00a0 It used to be how many links? Do you have the \u201cright\u201d back links (anchor text)?<\/p>\n Then it was content signals \u2013 keyword stuffing, keyword density, then it changed from keywords to topics.<\/p>\n Truth #2 –<\/strong> You could be chasing the algorithms your whole life and the constant change will make it futile<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n Organizations need to not think about SEO \u2013 Instead, speak to your target audience with content that is part of a comprehensive marketing plan. If you do this, the SEO largely takes care of itself because it become an integral part of your content.<\/p>\n Two tips:<\/strong><\/p>\n So, what is Google really looking for?<\/strong><\/p>\n Quality + Simplicity = Clarity<\/strong> on topics<\/p>\n Depth of information = Authority<\/strong> on topics<\/p>\n So, on your website:<\/p>\n TOP LEVEL CONTENT<\/strong> \u2013 Clarity & Simplicity<\/p>\n Broad Keywords\/Topics<\/p>\n MIDDLE LEVEL CONTENT<\/strong><\/p>\n More Specific Keywords\/Topics<\/p>\n BOTTOM LEVEL CONTENT<\/strong> \u2013 this is the focus<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Blog Posts\/Articles<\/p>\n VERY SPECIFIC Keywords\/Topics<\/p>\n Truth #3 –<\/strong> NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR JUST ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS<\/strong><\/em>!<\/p>\n Think laterally & think vertically \u2013 What\u2019s RELATED to your business?<\/p>\n For example – if your business is a “dog-friendly travel services”, you wouldn’t JUST talk about that.\u00a0 You’d talk about dog related products and services, as well. Perhaps expand out to information about responsible pet ownership. It’s still related to your business, it will still resonate with your audience and it won’t be endless droning on about just your business, which means people won’t tune you out.<\/p>\n On-page optimization<\/strong><\/p>\n How do your pages relate to each other? Make it as easy as possible for Google to understand what your content is about.<\/p>\n\n
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