The Evolution of SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) has always been important to businesses. However, recent changes to Google’s algorithm mean that now, more than ever, businesses need a firm grasp on the best practices in SEO. This is especially true for businesses that rely heavily on results from search engines to drive traffic to their websites.

At GoLeads, we are always amazed at the responses we receive from clients after we introduce the subject of SEO to them. Answers are varied, but usually come down to these top 3:

“Oh, we’re already doing this.”

“I have someone concentrating on this full time.”

“We do outbound calling. We don’t want inbound calls.”   (Really?)

What’s interesting about the first two responses is that it doesn’t take much research to recognize they really aren’t doing anything when it comes to SEO. We can never find them in the organic listings under their keywords or phrases. Plus, their back-end coding is all wrong, there is no new content…the list goes on.

The great thing about SEO is that it’s never too late to start taking an active approach to it. Now is the time to get back in the game. That’s because Google has changed the rules quite dramatically that it’s possible for everyone to compete for visibility.

Need another incentive? Businesses that do not abide by Google guidelines may be removed from its search engine entirely.

While deciphering and adhering to SEO best practices may seem daunting, fear not! Learning how to best leverage SEO for your business is not impossible. What follows are the most important things to keep in mind when it comes to the latest in SEO:

1. YOUR WEBSITE MUST BE MOBILE AND USER FRIENDLY. Most of us realize that every business must have a mobile website. But equally important is that your mobile website is easy to read and look good on every type of mobile device, including smart phones and tablets.
2. CONTENT REMAINS KING. Content continues to reign supreme and it is becoming more important all the time. Today’s content must be high quality, provide useful insights, and be easily shared.
3. SPEED COUNTS. Slow websites will be penalized. For example, if the pages on your website take too long to load, your page ranking will suffer.
4. TIME (ON YOUR WEBSITE) IS OF THE ESSENCE. There is no such thing as someone spending too much time on your site. In fact, Google will be judging your content on how long people spend on your website. Likewise, if you have a lot of visitors to your website but they don’t stay for long, you need to find out why that is and take steps to change it.

Knowing what SEO strategies are most important and how to implement them can be a struggle. At GoLeads, we help businesses just like yours do this every single day and we can do the same for you. Navigating the new SEO landscape can be difficult, but the good news is you don’t have to go it alone!