Web pages must contain a minimum number of words, feature targeted keywords and highlight local modifiers to ensure they appear prominently in relevant, organic search results. When choosing keywords, be specific without being obscure. Never try to optimize for a single word: instead, think of a string of words that …

To ensure the best web browsing experience possible, the software engineers at Google created a search ranking algorithm that thinks like Internet users. Facebook and Twitter are two of the highest traffic referral sources for some sites, so be sure that you have profiles and are active regularly on both …

As a digital marketer, one of the most frequent questions I get asked is “how do I get traffic to my website?” Google regularly refreshes its search engine algorithms. These are called “Google updates.” These updates improve search results by gradually optimizing the specifications for website quality and relevance. At …

I spent years and years focusing on doing nothing but building backlinks. The social hit and I had to change my focus. Now links are back as number #1 again, but honestly, did they ever really stop being the top factor? If you do decide to use an image as …

When a search engine spider crawls your website it cannot rate its design nor measure the level of your customer support or the services you offer. It can only read and grade the content on your website and the way you have managed your backlinks. Hence, there is a huge …

If it’s been just a day or two since you made your website and are not appearing on the SERPs, then you might consider submitting your URL to Google (If you haven’t already done). If you still don’t appear on the SERPs, relax! Google takes some time …

Maybe the most fascinating thing about search is how quickly and regularly it changes. What we’ve covered here today may be replaced by something entirely different a few years or a few months from now as technology continues to evolve. Another way to find places you can build links …

Find a niche directory you have never heard of before that you feel is honestly listing unique, useful Web sites. Promote that niche directory through links and comments on your own sites until you see improvement in its Compete, Quantcast, and Alexa metrics. Google delivers results based on the geographic …

Hopefully your website is laid out in a way that allows users to easily find the content or pages that you want to promote. Link exchanges, link outreach, blog commenting, forum commenting are all good ways to get high quality backlinks for your site. Getting links from high powered domains …

In the past, Google has stated that the country within which a website is hosted is a very small factor in their international ranking algorithms. So try to have servers set up in your target countries. For example, if your company is based in the UK and you have a …

Good quality takes time to create. It takes time to implement. And it takes time for Google to acknowledge that quality. To be a part of the party, make sure your business website uses structured data markup. A blog is one of the easiest ways to create a regular stream …

To do the broken link-building method, you must find broken links on a site that is relevant to your niche. You then contact the webmaster with the broken link and recommend your site as an alternative to the broken link. You should see improvements in website traffic, a key indicator …

The more a site is appealing to humans, the more search engine like it. Websites with straightforward navigation tend to win over visitors than those with a messy URL structure and content organization. Using keywords in your content allows you to reach better more diverse audiences, including niche audiences. The …

The key to a successful list post is no more complicated than including a large number of quality items. RankBrain and other machine learning systems examine user behavior to deliver the “best” search results possible. Unfortunately, what’s deemed best for one query might not be the best for another …

Anyone with a site that provides useful content and has the right network can now drive organic traffic. You can use your blog as an informal platform for giving insights into your thought process as it relates to your business. You can review products, offer personal opinions (be careful, of …

Make sure you spend time optimizing the content on your website. Good website content is easy to read by visitors and consistent when compared against both the title and tags listed with the story. Otherwise, search engines may rank your content poorly, making it more difficult for you to find …

Some directories cost money in order to be accepted into their listings. Once again, while some of these can pass legitimate value, others pass little and aren't worth your time or money. Producing content that ranks well is clearly an important part of writing for SEO. But it’s also …

While there’s no denying the power of paid marketing channels such as Google AdWords, establish your organic presence and you will likely find your most profitable marketing channel. Understanding how your website visitors find you will help you determine if your SEO, marketing or networking efforts are paying off …

Today, due to the way backlinks are evaluated based on different industry-related ranking factors, it is less quantity focused and more about the quality of sites from which the links are coming. While doing a backlink audit, analyzing toxic backlinks and removing them can be a lengthy and tedious process …

Use your website to communicate your value proposition and your general marketing messages (known as “high-level messages”). If there is one page which should be optimized for generic keywords, it is your homepage. When you've selected your focus keyword, ensure it is found in your title tag, h1 tag, meta …

Add structured data markup in your website's code to include vital business information for Google to find and showcase. Essentially, try to keep in mind that Google no longer works by trying to match the search terms exactly in your content. You can see this yourself when you search Google …

The total number of backlinks can often include many links from the same referring domain or multiple referring domains. It’s common for referring domains to link back to your content if it is relevant, authoritative or useful in some way to their own domain. Great images compliment great website …

There are ways to do a bulk search on a list of URLs to check if any of the pages contain a link to yours, but if you're checking this on a daily basis, it's probably just as fast to do a quick manual check. Analyze search engine rankings and …

Although search engines can read text, they can’t read an image. That’s where “alt tags”, or “alternative text”, comes in. What it boils down to is that the exact strategy you’re using for on-page SEO -- creating relevant, high-qulity content for a human audience -- should also help take …

Company blogs have been proven again and again to do wonders for businesses. Among other things, having a company blog will improve your SEO and allows you to become seen as an expert in your field. When it comes to out-competing competitor pages, you are going to have to look …

When dealing with search engines, the term ‘relevance‘ describes the extent to which the content of a website corresponds to the search term used. The key to boosting visibility and SEO is staying active. A big part of Search Engine Optimization is optimizing your website to make it easier for …

Authority is measured by the quantity and quality of inbound links to your site, as well as its technical performance and structure. Using social media for your business has numerous benefits, but it’s never been more important for SEO than today. Search engines are measuring social signals such as …

Join popular online forums and post valuable comments and discussions with links back to your site. This can get others to do the same if they like what they see. If you tried to optimize an article for a certain keyword, but it’s getting more traffic for a different …

Understanding your audience and the entire consumer journey so you can be visible at the moments when it matters most is mission critical now. Quality content rules the digital landscape, yes — but what’s often forgotten is that even the best and most authoritative content needs to be built with …

Good content is important, but it also needs to rank high on SERPs if you want to reach a wider audience with it. While you can’t always control who links to you, successful SEO often includes promotion and outreach. This includes reaching out to other sites, influencers, and bloggers …

Beware, excessive linking, either internal or external can lead to the exact opposite results. Make sure that every link serves its own purpose in your content. Search engines decide rankings on what is called the results page. You will sometimes see me use the term SERP, which is the acronym …

Historically, traffic from search engines has been about a very singular pursuit -- that of rankings. A DoFollow link is a link which passes on “link juice” to the website it’s linking to, which is essentially a vote or point to the linking site. The alternative is a NoFollow link …

When optimizing for search traffic today, marketers can’t think just about rankings. They need to be holistic in their approach to the visibility and appearance of listings. A holistic approach to organic growth often requires buy-in from internal stakeholders that may have little previous experience, or even worse – suspicion …

Link reclamation can help you get fresh links by finding broken links to your site and having the publisher fix them. A lot of SEOs will tell you to fix the foundation of your website, meaning the template. I think content is the foundation of the website and your template …

Social media sharing has become immensely powerful, and you simply can't afford to ignore it. Make sure that every element of every page's URL is clear and descriptive, and include simple ways for visitors to share what they've discovered with their peers. A good search agency will help you to …