SEO — Hive

Hey, hope you’re well?

I thought I’d let you know that the next couple of emails I’ll be sending out are going to be longer than usual.

Because, there’s a whole conversation going on about SEO right now, and I think we should be part of it in the most detailed, valuable way possible.

82% of Marketers report that the effectiveness of SEO is on the rise.

And that’s simply because Marketers are continuing to get better at it. There’s a greater understanding of what makes search engines tick when it comes to SEO.

Everyone knows you want Google on your side. Let’s face it; you need to focus your SEO strategy around it.

Google receives a staggering 63,000 searches per second, which is a ton of traffic that we could be making the most out of.

But there is a 5 ‘hit’ limit for most users when they do a Google search.

This means, we’ve got to get our content to the 5th spot and upwards to really make the most out of that traffic.

I think it’s fair to say everyone seems to have the basics of SEO nailed. But now it’s become a case of fine-tuning, testing and tweaking our SEO strategies, to get the best results.

So, I thought this week; I would share with you 3 SEO maximizing tips.

I want to make them as accessible and ‘doable’ as possible, so they’ll be pretty different and require various levels of upkeep, knowledge, and commitment. But then, at least, it means there’s something for everyone to try.

#1 Tip - Strengthen Your Social Signals.

Besides driving traffic, building a brand and a following, social media can actually help your SEO rankings, to the point where it’s now considered one of the most important deciding factors.

Using social media, produces social signals for your website, which in Google’s eyes, is ‘proof’ that your webpage is still active, and will be beneficial to anyone who lands on your site.

They don’t want someone landing on a suggested page, to then find it’s inactive and gathering dust.

Social signals are made up of a webpage’s shares, likes, and overall interaction level.

A lot of businesses don’t even realize that there’s a link between social media and SEO but, if Google’s partnership with Twitter (it’s added tweets to search results) is anything to go by, then clearly Google is prioritizing social media in its SEO selection.

So, what social signals do Google pick up on?

To name a few..

FB shares
Mentions on sites like Reddit, Tumblr, etc
Number of tweets/retweets/followers/mentions
Google +1s
Essentially the logic is this: If your page is getting large numbers of visitors and interactions, it must be genuine and hold value.

Which is justification for a top 5 ranking.

So, how do you go about increasing your social signals?

As always, strong content is the way forward. Despite the numerous marketing techniques, gadgets and different software available out there it always comes down to your content quality.

But besides that, there are a few tips and tricks to make your social signals so strong; Google simply won’t be able to ignore them.

#1: Use ALL popular social media sites (FB, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram)

Exposure and accessibility is key. Audiences vary across all of the ‘big’ platforms. Use it to your advantage.

#2: Post daily if you can, or as frequently as possible.

This will help you keep at the top of people’s social media news feeds where most of the engagement happens.

#3: Use Images.

They increase interaction rates and get your posts noticed. Make sure they’re of good quality though and don’t just put an image in a post for the sake of SEO. Make a judgement call.

#4: Run contests.

Everyone loves a freebie or to be a winner. Ask people to ‘like, share and follow to be in with a chance of winning X’. You’ll see your engagement soar.

#5: Create Partnerships.

Share each other's content, or produce original content together. As long as the partnership makes sense, it’ll work.

#6: React.

If something isn’t working on your social media or you’re not getting the level of engagement you’d expect, listen to what people are saying about you/your brand and adjust your approach accordingly.

#7 Review.

There are loads of apps out there that let you track your social media's likes, shares, retweets, and keywords associated with your brand.

To name a few: Buffer, Tweetbot, BuzzSumo, and of course Google, FB, Twitter analytics.

You’ll be surprised at how much your SEO ranking can increase when you start to focus on your social signals.

And the added bonus in all of this is that you’ll also increase traffic straight from your social media as well as from Google.

Ok, I think that’s about it for today. I’ll let you return to your day, I’ll be in touch tomorrow with Tip #2! :)