The first thing to understand about SEO is that it is not a magic wand. Like most things to do with computers, SEO is ruled by the law of GIGO – or if you put garbage in, you will get garbage out. Now for a little history lesson. Back in the early days of search engine optimization, there was a very widespread practice called keyword stuffing. This was a practice where a webmaster would insert a number of search terms, whether or not they were pertinent to the business, in order to bring in raw traffic. While this did indeed result in clicks, it did not result in appreciable conversion. People would reach the landing page, discover it had nothing whatsoever to do with what they were looking for, and they would hit the back button to return to the search page.
Eventually, Google began to revise its bots practices in gathering search terms in order to weed out black hat SEO practices such as keyword stuffing, redirects, page swapping, link farming and spamdexing. These practices are still very much in use, generally by spammers who promised to triple your profits if only you will let them design your page. It helps if you think of Google as a very strict judge of conduct in their courtroom. In short, Google can find you in contempt and you can kiss your search engine ranking goodbye. Here are five current tips that can bring you positive results.
1. Information in a box. You may have noticed recently that when you are searching Google, there is an entry above the search results and sometimes below paid ads. This is called Google’s rich answer box.
Search Engine Journal notes that mobile users are driving the demand for fast delivery of timely and relevant content. Optimizing to bring your content to the top of the heap – not just to the top of the search engine ranking – requires a multipronged approach. You will need to select a topic that is tailored to the interests of the people you’re trying to reach and then create quality, in-depth content, and use clearly defined lists or how-tos. You will need to integrate this with your other SEO practices as well.
2. Keep it fresh and focused. Content is still king, but it needs to be focused on your primary keywords and phrases. You can’t rely on articles or blog entries written last year to keep them coming back for more. Nor should you ever duplicate copy to other sites. Generate fresh content on a schedule that will keep your clients and potential clients coming in. Nor should you try to generate a landing page for every one of your search terms, you want to bring traffic in to the top of the funnel, and let them find their way through.
3. Keep it focused and local. People are not looking for an attorney 3000 miles across the country, but right here in their hometown or county. Prominently feature the location of your practice and surrounding towns in your SEO, and include search phrases. Search phrases can be, “Broward County bankruptcy attorney,” or “how do I create a living trust in Florida?”
4. Do your keyword research. Take a good look at your local competition and try to find out what you can about their current SEO strategy.
5. Alt text is your friend. If you use images in your content, and you should, optimize your photos for the search engine bots to find. If you use alt tags on your images, they will appear in the search engine rankings as well.
Since SEO is an evolving science, driven by the user experience. Letting your SEO stagnate should never be an option. Just as the modern law office evolved from Rolodexes, fax machines, and telephones, SEO has to change with the times and technology. There are more mobile users than ever before, and that number is only projected to grow as people take the Internet with them on their phones and tablets There are some new tips in here for 2016 that everyone, not just a law office, needs to take into account.
4 Step Studio is an online marketing agency that specializes in website design and redesign, SEO, social media and more. Our team of experts focuses on helping small business get found online, while educating them on what will make them successful in the digital world. To learn more about what we can do for you, visit our website at www.4StepStudio.com
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