By now, you’re undoubtedly familiar with SEO and why it’s essential to your business, but as soon as you think you have Google all figured out, the algorithm changes. Some SEO strategies that stand the test of time include the need for good site speed, design, accessibility, and providing valuable and engaging information to your users. Not all strategies and best practices fall into that category.
We recently attended an SEO webinar hosted by SEO/Digital Marketing expert Neil Patel. The main takeaways from the webinar were:
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- Updates in Google’s AI algorithm and keyword search
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- Importance and effectiveness of successful blogs & content creation
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- Social Media Optimization (SMO)
In this two-part blog, we’ll highlight some key information from the webinar and our own experiences.
Google’s AI Algorithm updates and SEO
Google AI’s current algorithm is increasingly evaluating your website to determine if it satisfies search intent and meets users’ needs. Effective SEO will make Google AI recognize your site as an authority, leading to higher rankings in Google search results.
Since SEO strategies are constantly changing, what may help you in Q1 may hurt you in Q2. Updating SEO on your most popular pages, ideally, once a quarter, will help improve page ranking.
If you continually put off updating your SEO, outdated strategies could negatively impact your ranking and authority, as Google AI might interpret it as spam or irrelevant content. Even if you attract viewers to your page, you risk losing them quickly if they encounter outdated or inaccurate content or information that no longer reflects current trends or opinions on a subject or product.
Ways to improve website SEO
One way to improve SEO and your authority score is to remove pages not generating traffic from your site. You can use online tools such as Uber Suggest or dive into your site Analytics to identify which pages have low or no traffic and which are more popular.
The same goes for keywords. Review what users search for and how long they stay on the page once they get to your site.
Boost your authority with backlinks, images, and videos
Recent stats indicate backlinks factored in over 40% of Google’s authority this past year. Focus on highly authoritative websites that mention your business and add links from your site to those popular pages.
Google has shifted its focus to displaying results with images and videos. Although the AI section at the top saw a decline in impressions, it experienced increased engagement. As a result, prioritizing the strategic use of images and videos is essential.
Minor details, significant results
Although meta tags no longer directly impact SEO like they once did, they are still essential to consider. The title tag and meta description influence whether the user understands the page’s purpose and chooses your website or keeps scrolling. Key things to remember when creating your title tag and meta descriptions:
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- Fit the title and description within the allowed character count to avoid truncating
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- Create an appealing title and description with the use of proper keywords
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- Focus on what appeals to the human, not Google AI
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- Do not ask Google to generate this for you, as it may end up truncated and lackluster
Finally, don’t let your users slip away once you’ve successfully driven them to your page! If your user experience (UX) is lacking, you won’t see much traffic, and you risk them bouncing off the page immediately. Key factors affecting UX are:
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- Site architecture and navigation
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- Layout and design
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- Accessibility
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- Mobile-first indexing and responsiveness
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- Page speed and core web vitals
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- Content structure and quality
Although SEO is critically important for all websites, the most important thing to consider is that your content speaks from experience, expertise, authority, and trust.
