The New Year is in full swing, and no doubt, many resolutions have already bit the dust. (Most of us are doomed by February, in fact.) This is actually good news.
Given that most of us are on a quick path to ditching our well-intentioned, yet-charmingly-optimistic goals of fitness, health and wealth, we can soon get back to focusing all our energies on what really matters: SEO.
You think we’re kidding? We thrive on SEO and would gladly sacrifice our health for it. Research estimates that by 2020, SEO spend in the U.S. will reach nearly $80 billion. There’s not a second to waste on outdated SEO tactics, so let’s ring in 2018 by ditching these bad habits once and for all.
Avoid specific pages for each keyword variation
The days of creating specific pages for each keyword are long gone, thanks to the likes of Google’s RankBrain. Specific keywords don’t matter as much as overall themes; make sure to do your keyword research, but don’t get caught up trying to build pages around high paying keyword phrases. SEO is changing, but the need to write for humans first isn’t going anywhere.
Get a grip on your lack of mobile
Scolding someone for inadequate mobile optimization is a little like scolding someone for smoking these days. Yes, they’re aware of the problem, and harping on them isn’t going to convince them.
If you’re still struggling to adopt a mobile-first approach to your website design, we implore you to reach out for assistance. We’ll help get you up to speed.
Don’t put off auditing your website’s technical issues
It’s incredible how many on-site technical issues we’ve found in audits of our clients’ websites:
- Dead links
- Errors in redirect chains
- Domain configuration mistakes
- Duplicate meta content
Each of these issues is a known detriment to SEO. If you’re looking for straightforward, objective improvements you can make to your site’s schema (read: an easy SEO win), then start with the technical issues plaguing your page.
Accept that voice is the future of SEO
Voice search is one of the hottest emerging trends in SEO. From Siri to Alexa to Google’s Smart Homes, more and more searches are being made with voice technology. Optimizing SEO for voice is rather complex, involving coordinated efforts between mobile optimization and dedicated mobile keyword research, but the rewards are well worth the effort: Research by Gartner estimates that by 2021, the early adopter companies that optimize their websites for voice will increase their digital commerce revenue by 30 percent.
SEO is a resolution you can keep
Most resolutions are doomed to fail, but your SEO mastery doesn’t need to be one of them. Getting a handle on SEO is as simple as identifying your weak points, being proactive with corrections, and looking forward at what the future holds for SEO development.
