Developing a website may seem a daunting task, but developing a following or a mass of potential leads is even more trying. It takes time, it takes dedication, and, assuming that you are heading down the SEO route, it takes a strong understanding of how search engines work and what they look for.
Utilise advanced SEO techniques and you could develop a popular and highly profitable online business but if you get it wrong, well, at least you’ll still have a good looking design to look at.
Below are some of the more advanced SEO techniques that will come to the fore in 2012:
- Rich Media – Statistics and research continue to show that the more successful blogs and websites are those that share a good range of rich media sources with users. Text alone can become boring quickly, whereas sharing a relevant photo or video clip can help excite, enthral, educate, and convert your visitors. Make sure the content is relevant and good quality and you could even seed a viral campaign.
- User Generated Content – As well as creating your own high quality and unique content, you can also rely on your readers and visitors to assist. Invite your readers to write reviews, share their experiences, and even post their product related photos on your site. Your website visitors will become brand ambassadors as well as satisfied customers.
- Remove Duplicate Content – Following the furore surrounding the Panda update and subsequent data refreshes, it has become even more evident that Google dislikes duplicate content. Remove scraped content, add 301 redirects, and implement canonical linking SEO techniques in order to ensure that your content is deemed high quality and unique by the search engines. Your visitors will appreciate it, too.
- Leverage Social Media – 2011 was the year of social media, with the introduction of Google+ and the rise of websites like Pinterest. Expect more of the same in 2012 along with new features being added to Bing following their partnership with Facebook, and greater onus placed on Google+ results. Google is serious about social search and so should you be if you want to enjoy search engine success.
- Google+ – Google+ and Google Plus Your World will change the way that search engine results appear. Sites and pages that have a good following on the search engine’s new social networking enterprise are likely to enjoy improved search results. Currently, the changes caused by your Google+ profile may be restricted to your circles of friends but you can expect this to be rolled out across Google’s extensive and expansive search engine portfolio.
- Watch The Fold – Another change to Google’s algorithms this year was greater concentration on websites that are too ad heavy above the fold of the page. You can still use advertisements and they can still appear above the fold but don’t get carried away. Ensure that you have genuinely useful information placed up here because this is where the search engine spiders and your human visitors will pay the most attention.
- Mobile – Mobile Internet usage is still on the increase as more and more people now access websites and online services using a variety of different devices. We are no longer tethered to the desk or tied to a laptop with numerous tablet PCs, smartphones, and even mp3 players and media players affording us the opportunity to get online. If you don’t already, then optimise your website for use on the mobile web. Mobile usage is only going to increase further.
- Diversify Your SEO – There is no single SEO technique that will propel your website to the top of the rankings and this will become more evident throughout 2012. Some traditional optimisation techniques will remain effective but only if they are combined with newer techniques. Social and rich media, the mobile web, page speed optimisation, and current trends will play a considerably larger part in the world of optimisation in 2012.
- Keep Your Ear To The Ground – Last year was a baffling year for many SEOs. Mergers between major players led to new opportunities while huge algorithmic changes from some of the biggest search engines meant that even the well prepared endured one or two surprises. 2012 looks set to offer much of the same. Voice search will gain some prominence, social networks will chop and change, and numerous other SEO techniques will either fade away or come to the fore. The best SEO is the one that keeps their ear to the ground and reacts quickly to change.
There are certain SEO techniques that will remain tried and tested in 2012. Use ethical link building strategies to develop a good number of high quality links to your site and ensure that your pages are optimised for the benefit of web users as well as search engine spiders. This way you’ll not only enjoy improved search rankings and more visitors to your web pages but you’ll also witness greater conversion rates too; the perfect formula for online success.
