Have you ever looked at old and outdated websites in disbelief – wondering how on earth customers responded to it? It’s easy to do this, as what was considered to be cutting edge years ago is now considered outdated. The world is constantly changing, as are the people living in it. This means that how we market to them – and help them to find information online – is changing too. So where does this leave Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)? We’ve all scrambled to keep up with Google’s latest changes and the number of articles screaming ‘SEO is Dead’ are endless – but when, if ever, should we call it a day? The answer to this is complicated, as SEO is in a constant cycle of death and rebirth. Here’s what this means for your business.
SEO Yesterday
Do you remember the tactics adopted by SEO experts in the past? Link building was pursued obsessively, with quantity outweighing quality. There was the perception that the only spot that counted was number one on search engine results and that anything less would mean the redundancy of your website. Cramming in keywords haphazardly and repetitively was considered good practice. Other popular tactics included creating dozens of web pages and posts for the sake of having a more prominent website. While all of this might have worked in the past, it no longer does. Search engines are no longer prioritised over people and today, creating content that will answer user’s queries is the name of the game.
It’s apparent that when people say that SEO is dead, they’re referring to the old way of doing it. Thankfully, a new one has taken its place.
SEO Tomorrow
If your business wants to master tomorrow’s SEO, here’s what you need to keep in mind:
- Think Long Term
All SEO you undertake should be part of a long relationship with your business. There’s no such thing as short-term SEO anymore. You need to think about the future and how your actions today will impact your results in a month, six months and a year. This strategy will impact how you view content as well. The content you create now should never be discarded. Instead, you should focus on updating and relaunching old content with new links, statistics and more.
- Quality Beats Quantity
The days of churning out keyword crammed nonsensical blogs are over. Focus instead on lengthy, detailed articles on expert areas, avoiding generic or common content topics. This is not to say that you should ignore search engines but rather that you should focus on long-tail or niche keywords that relate to issues instead of simple sales-oriented ones.
What Does This Mean?
If you feel like the moment you get the hang of SEO it changes, you aren’t alone. Managing a successful SEO strategy is not something you have a crack at. It requires experience and should only be deployed by highly skilled individuals that are dedicated to this craft. To learn more, book a consultation with the Team at Sprocket Digital.
