SEO Secrets Industry Influencers Want You to Know

Every business with some sort of online presence, whether it’s just a website or a profile on every social media platform, needs to continuously change their search engine optimization efforts.

SEO trends and strategies are constantly changing and it’s important for companies to keep up — otherwise, they’ll get lost in a sea of competition. So what are some of the best SEO secrets for businesses to know in 2019?

Focus first on user experience

If businesses are looking to boost conversions, lower their bounce rate, and improve their overall SEO performance, then they should be focusing heavily on user experience. After all, consumers are the ones that determine whether or not a website, and the company, is worth their time.

This is why companies absolutely have to consider the user experience when designing their site — websites should always be easy to use, have plenty of informative content, and have a great design. If this is done, then users will be more likely to convert.

Use title tags (and use them properly)

Title tags are one of the most important aspects of SEO — and one of the most forgotten about. Title tags tell the search engines what the content on the page is about and they show up in search results to tell consumers what kind of content they’ll find if the click the link.

Oftentimes, companies choose title tags that they think will attract attention, but that doesn’t necessarily match the page’s content. This can result in the page showing up in unrelated search engines, which is bad for both the company and consumers. Instead, title tags should be short, under 55 characters, and use relevant keywords to help boost rankings.

Links: quality matters more than quantity

When it comes to link building, many companies make the mistake of trying to get as many links as possible. But instead, companies should be focusing on quality link building. Having a lot of links on a page can actually do more harm than good, especially if the links are to or from low-quality sites.

Link building actually involves building relationships rather than links. A company should interact with similar businesses and other industry influencers. From there, links can be shared but the relationship will be more meaningful. Having quality links to and from reputable sites will improve rankings and credibility but networking should always be a goal, too.

Consider incorporating more long-tail keywords

Choosing the right keywords is one of the most challenging aspects of SEO. Companies need to continuously check their keyword rankings, which keywords their competitors are using, and how their use of keywords is impacting their overall SEO strategy. But with the growing popularity of voice search, businesses need to add a new type of keyword to the mix: long-tail keywords.

In the past, long-tail keywords weren’t used as often because when people make online searches, they tend to use short, incomplete words and phrases. But when someone is using voice search, they speak like they normally do, which means titles and content with long-tail keywords are going to show up in the search results.

If businesses want to ensure they’re reaching their audience no matter what kind of search tactic they’re using, they should start to incorporate long-tail keywords into their content.

Navigating search engine optimization is not an easy task, even for companies who have been doing it for years. Because the online world, and the way people use it, is always changing, companies need to adapt. Keeping these top tips in mind will help businesses improve their rankings, increase conversions, and get seen by their target audience.