SEO, undoubtedly, is essential to healthy website growth. It has transformed many startups to leading actors in their industries through steady growth and effective planning. It is very important for businesses to secure top rankings in SERPs so that they can give their online assets maximum exposure and attract most of their potential online customers. It doesn’t matter whether you own a local plumbing business or a huge multinational company, it is inevitable to implement the best and the most relevant SEO strategies in order to make the most out of your investment on online marketing.
Why is it important to get your website to the top of Google search? More than 4 billion searches are performed on Google every day. We all use search engines to find quick and reliable solutions. There is no point in building a business website if it does not show up on the first page of Google. Following are 4 of the important SEO techniques to boost your ranking in 2018 and beyond:
1. Voice search
2017 has witnessed an unprecedented growth in voice search usage with a potential to be a major search medium. Many experts are of the opinion that the reason for voice technology’s growth is the improved rate at which voice commands are accurately captured. When it comes to planning SEO strategies for future, it is recommended to consider factors that can influence the way search engines rank sites. Voice search is certainly one of those factors that can have a great impact on your online presence in coming years.
In order to address the ongoing growth in voice search, you must incorporate new keyword phrases with a more natural and conversational tone into your content. For instance, the search phrase ‘downtown Edmonton restaurants’ is likely to get more exposure if it is written in a conversational style such as ‘what is the best place to eat in downtown Edmonton’. Make voice search an important component of your existing SEO efforts and take advantage of this interesting way of connecting with prospects and customers.
2. Link building
Link building is not a new SEO strategy, however, it will continue to be a major ranking factor. Along with RankBrain and content, link building has been one of the top 3 ranking factors so far. Search engines assign great significance to high-quality links. Being mentioned on authentic high traffic websites in your industry will definitely have a dramatic impact on your Google ranking. The more popular and authoritative a site is, the more links from that site matter. For example, Wikipedia is a well-known platform with thousands of sites linking to it. All you need is quality content to produce backlinks that will not only improve your credibility but also boost your SEO results.
Related: 5 Strategies for Better ‘Link Building’ and Improving Your SEO
3. User experience (UX)
Search engines constantly enhance their performance in terms of providing the best possible results to its users. In order to accomplish this, search engines favor those sites that offer incredible user experience and satisfy searchers. Smooth navigation, credible content, responsive website design, actionable information are some of the factors that determine whether or not your site offers a good user experience. Combining SEO and user experience will ensure more conversions and a competitive edge.
There is a fairly direct link between user experience and high ranking. Search engines make a considerable number of intuitions about a given site through user engagement metrics, linking patterns, and machine learning. Search engines notice the popularity of a site and then interpret it as a signal of high quality. Building a great user experience, therefore, will be key to your SEO success in 2018.
4. Mobile-first index
Google works constantly to keep itself updated and reflective of the needs of its users. It is a fact that people use mobiles excessively to perform a majority of their online activities. 3 out of every 5 searches are performed on mobiles.
Mobile-first indexing, as the term suggests, considers the mobile version of your site to rank it on Google which means if your website is fully optimized for mobile, you will be ranked high on both desktop and mobile. Your SEO efforts will not yield the desired results if your site does not perform well on mobiles. Therefore, build a responsive site to perform well in the mobile-first index.
Your business website must understand and cater the needs of your audience in order to perform well in terms of SEO and conversion. It is now clear that if your users are happy, search engines are happy. Putting users and their needs first, and meeting them with the right solutions at every step, is the only way to survive constant algorithm improvements.
About Reach First
Reach First is a digital marketing agency which provides result-oriented SEO expertise to businesses in Edmonton and across Canada. Our focus is to develop sustainable SEO strategies and implement them to produce the desired results for our clients. Feel free to discuss your project with one of our marketing directors.