Optimized Webmedia’s SEO Best Practices in 2017

The internet has revolutionized the way businesses are being run all over the world. In the earlier days of internet marketing, companies used tactics such as spamming and jamming of links. Nowadays, however, the success of online marketing campaigns depends largely on how visible a company’s website is on Search engines. To achieve the required visibility on sites such as Google, one of the best strategies that can be employed is Search Engine Optimization (SEO). According to Search Engine Land, in their post, Study: Google Now Displays Rich Answers For 19.45% Of Queries, “Rich answers are now displaying for targeted queries at a rate of 19.45% for targeted queries, according to a new study by Stone Temple Consulting”. By applying the best practices in the field of SEO, businesses can show up at the first page of search engine results, leading to an unprecedented level of exposure and increased commercial success for their products and services. It is possible for businesses to remain permanently on the first page of free search engine results, but you will need to be efficient at exploiting new developments in Search engine optimization practices which are necessary to beat Google’s ever changing algorithm updates. As stated in Smart Insights’ Top SEO tips for 2017 post, “The algorithm set in place this month may not be the same the next. It is an always evolving algorithm that encourages SEO specialists to stay on their toes and keep abreast with updates.” In this article, we present here a list of the Best SEO Practices in 2017.

In this article, we offer valuable insights into every area of Search Engine Optimization techniques for the year 2017. These include off-site, on-site as well as on-page SEO strategies. The strategies discussed in this article elaborate on the latest techniques that can be employed by newbies, SEO specialists and online marketers to ensure they achieve the desired visibility that will guarantee the success of their businesses.

1. ON-SITE SEO

This is an SEO strategy which involves optimizing each web page on a website to achieve higher visitor traffic and higher rank in search engine results. It requires the optimization of the page’s content, HTML source code, setting permalink structures and site mapping. Meanwhile, in Off-site SEO strategy, you use external signals and links to achieve optimization.

ON-SITE SEO includes the following:

a. The title of Page

Use keywords once.

b. Headings

1. Add a keyword that’s related to the content of the page.
2. Add a single H1 tag to individual pages; later you can use as many H2 to H6 tags.
3. Include a page relevant keyword.

c. URL Structure

The structure of the URL is an essential part of On-site SEO.

d. Make the website easy to navigate

When visitors can find what they need quickly on your website, it creates more engagement which is required to view any products or call to action you have on the site. Bounce rate can also be reduced by an easy to navigate site map, and it can significantly enhance your site’s visibility in Google rankings.

e. Captivate with Multimedia

A picture is said to be worth more than a thousand words. Visual cues such as videos, images, or animations that catch the eye can help to increase audience engagement on your site and also reduce bounce rate which are two criteria Google uses in measuring user interaction.

f. Mobile Responsiveness and Load Times

1. Most internet users now surf the web via their mobile devices. Therefore it’s important for your site to be responsive to all mobile platforms.
2. Loading times of more than 2-3 seconds can have a negative effect on your rankings; ensure your sites load even faster for better ranking on Google.
3. “Google is steadily moving to a mobile-only world”, as stated in Moz’s post, SEO and Digital Trends in 2017.

g. UI/UX

It’s important that you create an easy to use User Interface (UI) and a memorable User Experience (UX) as this helps to promote your brand and reduces bounce rates.

2. ON-PAGE SEO

On-page SEO refers to the process of using target keywords to optimize the contents of a web page, for example using keywords in the heading of a blog post, placing the keyword in strategic locations in an article and writing content of high quality. In a blog post by SEMrush called, Best SEO Practices to Dominate In 2017, Sujan Patel – Co-founder of WebProfits, stated that “the only way to reliably build links is to create amazing content.”

a. Blog Post Title

This is the most important element of on-page SEO. Targeted keywords or phrases should be used close to the beginning of the title.

b. Post Permalink Structure

1. Ensure your URL is correctly displayed.
2. The URL should contain targeted keywords.
3. Differentiate the strings in the structure of your URL with dashes.

c. Images

1. Images help to capture the attention of your visitors.
2. You can drive traffic to your site through image optimization. Placing keywords in the “alt text” and image title can help boost the visibility of your blog posts.

d. Meta Tags

In the meta description, include your targeted keywords and make sure they are relevant to your post and meaningful.

e. Write Engaging Content

1. Your keyword should be the focal point of your content.
2. Tailor your content to meet the preferences of your readers. Engage your audience by asking for and answering their questions.

3. OFF-SITE SEO

Activities that take place outside a website to increase its search engine visibility are called Off-site SEO. Off-site SEO strategies help to achieve higher ranks in SERPs, i.e., Search Engine Results Pages, and this can provide better visibility which increases links, social mentions, site visits and higher page rank. The most widely used Off-site SEO technique is Link Building. A website with links to other sites tends to rank higher in search engine results thereby getting more exposure than its competition. For example, if you referenced an article on your blog and a reader shares or likes the link from another website, the user’s action will help boost your ranking on Google. Though link building can bring great results, it must be done in moderation. Spamming links can get you penalized by Google as its algorithm updates Panda, Penguin and Hummingbird are designed to hunt down spam.

a. Social Media

A professional setup of your Social media profile helps to enhance SEO. Businesses can get a lot of visibility through social media especially when they get endorsements from industry influencers who retweet and share their links.

b. Link Building

Social bookmarking is also gaining popularity as a method for link building.

c. Blog Writing

Another easy way of getting backlinks to your site is through guest blogging on sites with Do Follow Link. However, one should not engage in guest blogging just because of getting more exposure to one’s website.

d. Live Videos

According to Portent’s post, Video SEO in 2017 Best Practice Guide, “video right is more important than ever. The rewards are greater than ever, and the competition is only increasing from here on out (at least until everything is VR). This post will outline the basics of Video SEO and its implementation”.

Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, Periscope

1. With live streaming, many organizations can create an environment for better interaction with their customers.
2. With the use of live streaming as a marketing tool, you get more feedback on your products from your clients, and your brand gets more exposure.
3. Youtube and Facebook are some of the live streaming sites that can be used to gain more visibility. They offer many ingenious functions that can help you grow your business.

e. Email Marketing

1. Through email marketing strategies, companies can enhance their SEO scores.
2. Emphasis should be on content promotion, building reputation and recognition of the brand, drive to RSS, social media interaction, on-site engagement, and inbound links.

f. Youtube Ads

1. With Youtube, your preferred customer base can be accurately targeted.
2. With over 1 billion unique viewers every month, Youtube offers a goldmine for advertising
3. Advertising on Youtube is Pay Per Click using Adwords for Video from Google, and this gives you the freedom to choose your budget.

g. LinkedIn Ads

1. LinkedIn is a great platform where businesses build connections, trust, and visibility.
2. It offers a ready audience for almost every industry and profession.

h. Facebook Ads

This is one of the most popular advertising platforms on social media. The company has an innovative culture which has seen them coming up with features like the chatbot messenger. Targeted Facebook Ads provide data capture, call to action buttons and promise very high rates of conversion as many users view the site through their mobile phones.

i. Voice Search

Statistics show that daily, 41 percent of adults and 55 percent of teens make use of the voice search feature on their mobile devices. This type of search is gaining more popularity and can be used effectively to improve SEO.

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