Category: SEO

Contently: Revisiting SEO, 7 Keys

Search engine optimization (SEO) might now be a dirty term to some people, an outdated strategy for driving traffic. Especially with the rise of social media and Google’s 2011 Panda update and shifting algorithms, which are designed to reward content such as original long-form pieces and penalize those shady SEO gamers.

In “7 Keys to Great SEO For Content Marketers” blogger Dori Fern writes about the most important SEO practices in 2014.

What’s at the top of Fern’s list? This:

1. Original, engaging stories always win. This is the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth most important key to SEO. Publishing stories that people are compelled to share, link to, and write about is simply the most organic path to great SEO.

Google’s practically begging you to do so. Last August, after discovering that a large share of users were searching for in-depth, original long-form content, they gave high-quality, “in-depth” articles a prioritized place in search results.

Read the entire article, including the other six keys

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5 Simple SEO Tips

Search engine optimization, commonly known as SEO, does not have to be overly complex and intimidating for the average business person or communications professional. So says Katie Evans, who offered a handful of basic tips in the January/February issue of Marketing, a Seattle-area trade publication.

Evans says that rising in the search engines is doable for anyone who follows these simple steps:

1. Identify the keywords and phrases that bring customers, clients and readers to your website or blog.

2. Use the keywords and phrases at your site–in copy, titles, behind photos and in the meta-tag section.

3. Start a YouTube account and post videos. (They don’t have to be perfect.)

4. Write at your blog every day, even if just a few sentences or paragraphs. (Alas, I don’t post here on a daily basis, but I do follow this advice at my golf blog.)

5. Write articles for http://www.ezinearticles.com. (This can be a good strategy. Also consider guest posts at other blogs.)

As Evans says in her closing, “You don’t need a ton of money to succeed on the web; just a little time and knowledge. See you on Page 1 of Google.”