SEO is dead. Or is it? With Google constantly changing its approach to the search engine optimization, website owners are on guard and are seeking to avoid penalties. One problem is that too many people are focused on matters that no longer matter or have come into disfavor. Still, you need to attract web visitors which means changing your approach.
That approach must include several facets including old time connections, distributed content, and keyword strengthening. Read on for guidance on how to strengthen each critical area.
Old Time Connections
What are old time connections? In short, it is the way you used to connect with people before the Internet and especially before you learned about SEO. You know, face-to-face connections.
Yes, we’ve all moved away from the in-person approach when we pushed forward with SEO. After all, it was so easy to exchange links when all it took was an email to confirm same. That approach no longer works nor do the search engines approve of the practice.
Your old time or in-person connections can be accomplished in a number of ways including business meetings, conventions, and public meet ups. Bring along plenty of business cards and distribute these liberally. Ask people to visit your website and award them if they sign up. You might suggest, “if you sign up online, we’ll give you 25 percent off of the purchase price.” You would then snag an email address and follow up with newsletters and additional coupons.
Distributed Content
You’ve worked so hard to build and maintain your content, why should you share it? Indeed, you’ve been fighting web scrapers for years and have only begun to exert full control over your site.
Keep your web content, but begin to develop fresh content that is shareable and extremely valuable. That content can include white papers, check lists, and videos. If your content is good, you’ll receive attribution what should mean a link to your website.
You can also tuck away your better content by erecting a paywall. If, however, the whole pay-to-read-content option just doesn’t sit well with you, there is another way to make it work: have your visitors provide their contact information in exchange for wider access. Your goal is to get business, what receiving personal information can provide through a follow-up email.
Keyword Strengthening
When was the last time that you performed a comprehensive review of your keyword terms? Long-tail keywords are important, and can be a great way to attract visitors to your site. These keywords are especially important if the top words are dominated by someone else such as a competitor with deep pockets.
Although long-tail keywords generate less traffic than the strongest keywords, they’re still important traffic generators. Collectively, long tail keywords can bring in more traffic than the strongest keywords provided you capture enough variants. Use a keyword generator tail to figure this out.
Long Live SEO!
SEO as we know it may be dead, but it is very much alive. Only that it has changed. Understand and implement the current requirements and your site will shine remain under the good graces of the search engines.
Jason Bayless is a professional blogger that gives small business and entrepreneurs SEO advice. He writes for BestSEOCompanies.com, a nationally recognized comparison website of the best SEO companies in the United States.