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Why Backlinks Are Critical for Your Online Success

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article, Why Backlinks Are Critical for Your Online SuccessEach and every day, more people are creating websites for business and other purposes. The cyber-world is getting quite cluttered. It is more important than ever that your website is visible to interested eyeballs, But, how can you ensure that your site is even seen online at all?

One way to do so is by creating a strong backlink campaign when building out or revamping your website. Indeed, if you are serious about building a top-notch website, you may choose to work with a backlink service.

Website Backlinks: A Primer

To make matters as simple as possible, backlinks are hyperlinked connections from one website to another. A backlink, often just called a “link”, is an encoded pathway for one site to communicate electronically with another. You can think of them as roadways, using the transportation analog, or neural synapses, using the brain physiology model.

Links are easily seen on a webpage as a highlighted text string referred to as an “anchor text“. You can click on it and you will be quickly directed to another page on the web. It may be an internal link to another page on your site. But, in the case of a backlink, it will connect to another site in cyberspace.

Why Backlinks Are Important

High-quality backlinks make your site rank higher with the search engines like Google and Bing. Indeed, before your website site can rank, it needs links. The search engines use backlinks to “crawl” the web and make internet connectivity a reality. The better you help the engines with their operations, the better they will reward you.

Your reward comes in the form of high ranking on the search engine result pages (SERPs). You want to rank near the top for each of your keywords. Indeed, if you are not ranking in the top few pages, your site is essentially invisible.

Not all backlinks have an equal value to the search engines. Some are much more valuable than others. If you have a backlink to a popular, high-volume site, this will curry much more favor with Google than a link to a small site that is never seen. That is why high-quality links are of utmost importance.

If you have a site that has more than one page, be sure to practice deep linking. This is when you have backlinks not only to your homepage but to other pages on your site. For example, let’s say you have a site about coin collecting and you are in the business of buying and selling various coin types. You’ll certainly want links to your pages on dimes, quarters, and halves as well as your home page. Search engines love sites with deep linking and reward them with a higher ranking.

Why You May Need a Backlink Service

Hyperlinked connections from another website to yours can and do occur organically, but at first, the process can be excruciatingly slow. Because link building is so important in raising your site’s online visibility, it is often prudent to work with an SEO-savvy backlink service. A quality backlink service is up-to-date on the ever-changing SEO best practices. You want them working for you.

Tips for Finding the Best Backlink Service

These days, it seems like everybody and their brother has a shingle out on the web posing as SEO experts and site builders. The same is true in the areas of link building. Some of these are excellent firms, others are less scrupulous or savvy. How do you pick the best backlink-building service if you need one?

Here are several tips that will help you ferret-out the very best backlink service providers:

  • Will they evaluate your site content for quality as part of their service?
  • Will they assist you with internal link building as well as in the generation of quality external backlinks?
  • What do they know about SEO?
  • Can they provide a list of super-satisfied customers?
  • Are all costs and fees spelled out upfront?

The online world has become complex and busy. Quality backlinks will help your site will actually be seen.

Tips to Choose the Best Keywords for SEO In 2021 and Beyond

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |Keyword Search|Tips to Choose the Best Keywords for SEO In 2021 and BeyondMore than 50% of consumers use Google to research their purchase items before buying. The search engine uses those search keywords or phrases to find related results. If your business doesn’t appear on the first page, you will not get much traffic.

How can you pick the right keywords for the best converting traffic? You must begin your keyword search with the proper tactics in mind. Following are some tips that will help you choose the best keywords for SEO.

Examine the Search Intent

Search intent helps you to discover what keywords to choose based on why people search. You can divide these into three categories:

  • Navigational – The consumer wants to find another web page
  • Informational – Researching a specific topic
  • Commercial – Wanted to make a purchase

To pick the right keywords with the best results, you require to think like your consumers. For example, searches like ‘buy cheap water purifier’ are different from ‘water purifier broken queries’. One keyword is a commercial key phrase, and the second one is informational.

Preferably, you must offer content on all three areas to finish your call-to-action (CTA). Your keywords are going to target different landing pages or website pages devoted to those search phrases.

For informational searches, you must offer some unique content related to that phrase. Blog articles are brilliant for this kind of search, and they can contain various key phrases. However, you need to link that content to your contact forms or product pages.

Similarly, commercial or transitional intentions are somewhat easy to focus on, but these are also extremely competitive. So, make sure that you analyze the search Intent for selecting the right keywords.

Use More Long-tail Keywords

When you do a keyword search to target, you should consider long-tail keywords. Today, since there are so many main players and international brands in the SEO world, it can become hard for you to stay competitive in search results. But long-tail keywords can help.

Long-tail keywords are particular and detailed search queries. For example, if you are an eye specialist, you may want to target the phrase “best family eye specialists in your location” as opposed to just “eye specialist’.

Long-tail keywords incline to have much lower search volume than short, broad keywords. But these keywords also have much lower competition and higher conversion rates. It is because long-tail keywords determine specific search intent.

Find the Best Tools

If you face difficulty in developing long-tail keywords, you can use the keyword tools to find long-tail keywords. And you may even use Google’s autocomplete feature to know more about the long-tail-phrases that users or consumers often search online. It will give you a quick idea about which searches are trending.

Start by writing a general keyword into Google search. Sticking to the eye specialist example, you can type the phrase “eye services.” Then, instead of tapping the enter button, take a look at Google’s autocomplete-results. It will get you a good idea of some prevalent longer tail keywords you can target to help users find your products or services online.

To sum up, doing the right keyword search will greatly impact your business website rankings in 2021. So, follow the tips mentioned above and don’t hesitate to ask for help from professionals when you’re stuck.

Can You Do SEO on Your Website Without an SEO Audit?

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |SEO Audit|Can You Do SEO on Your Website Without an SEO Audit?What Is an SEO Audit?

It does not matter if you want to SEO your own website, or if you want to use the services of an SEO agency. In both cases, you will need a thorough SEO audit. But what is that? Well, it is a method used to get as much SEO information about a website as possible. The more information you get from the SEO audit report, the higher the quality of results you will get in the future from the SEO methods. There are several types of information that you should expect to get from this method.

  • Technical audit. On the internet, you will find agencies that provide different types of audits. But most of them are incomplete, and they provide you with information about only one part of your website’s SEO. The technical audit checks the technical parameters of your website. The main parts that need to be checked are the links on your website, its loading speed, and the device compatibility with other websites.
  • On-site audit. The on-site part of the SEO audit must offer you information about the content used on the website. Several factors must be verified. The first one is the originality of the content. Every piece of duplicate or plagiarized content will be penalized by search engines. The second factor is the relevancy of the content. It must be relevant to your industry. And the last factor that must be verified is the engagement level. The more engaging the content is, the better the results that it will produce.
  • Off-site audit. The last part of SEO is for off-site. A reliable audit must check the authority of your website in the industry as well as the renown that it has. To have high authority, you need to have backlinks placed on other websites in the industry. If your articles and links can be found on high-authority websites, then your authority will rise as well. As for your website’s renown is based on the number of backlinks and websites where they can be found.
  • Business assessment. The last part that needs to be found in the SEO audit report is the business assessment part. Nowadays, SEO strategies must be personalized. So, the agency must learn as much information about your business as possible. And it must also research your competition and the best keywords that you should use. All the information obtained from the audit can be used to create an SEO plan that will take care of every SEO related task for your website.

What Benefits Can You Expect from an SEO Audit?

Now that you have a general idea about what an SEO audit is, you need to know the benefits that you can expect from it. It provides a large number of benefits. But only a few of them are notable and easily seen.

  • Solve the problems. The first benefit that you can expect from an SEO audit report are solutions for every problem that was detected. Without it, even if you use a top SEO strategy, the results will be mediocre. Why? Because all the problems will drag your website down, and it will not be able to rise even with the best strategy.
  • Optimized strategy. The second benefit is an optimized and personalized strategy for your website. As mentioned above, every business is unique. And a reliable SEO agency must be able to detect al the unique parts that can be used in the strategy to increase the results that it produces.
  • Increased traffic. The third benefit will come after the problems are solved, and the strategy is being implemented. Your website ranks in search engine page results will start to rise, and you will get more and more traffic for your website. And the more people are visiting, the higher your chances of getting new clients are.
  • Increased conversion rate. And lastly, a good SEO strategy combined with high-quality content will also increase the conversion rate of your website. This means that a higher percentage of your visitors will become leads or customers. This is the final goal of SEO. And only an audit can be used to ensure that all the content on your website is optimized. And it produces these types of results.

StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |SEO Audit|Can You Do SEO on Your Website Without an SEO Audit? How to Choose a Reliable Agency Based on the SEO Audit!

Probably the most important use of an SEO audit is to find a reliable SEO agency. Keep in mind that SEO is a long-term process. So, you must find a reliable partner that can take care of it for you. So, you can use the audit of an agency and deduce its skill levels from the SEO audit report. But before you do that, you should follow 3 steps to narrow down the options that you have.

  • Find all the options. The first thing that you must do is to find all the options that you have. So, you can use a search engine like Google to look for all the SEO agencies that you can find on the market. The more options you have, the higher your chance to find a reliable partner at a reasonable price.
  • Check the results. Next, you need to verify the results produced by the agencies. Most of the time, you can find them on the agency’s website. And you can use the search engine to check the credibility of the results. Also, you should only verify the newer ones. If they are older than 6 months, then they are not relevant anymore. And you can keep in mind only the agencies that produced the best results.
  • Get some first-hand reviews. The last step is to find the contact information of the agency’s clients. You need to communicate with them and get some first-hand reviews about the agency. This is the best method that you can use to find out how the collaboration with the agency will end. If the clients of an agency are happy, then you will most likely be the same.

Top 5 Tips To Produce The Right SEO Content

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article, Top 5 Tips To Produce The Right SEO ContentThe world of SEO is always changing, as Google’s algorithm acts as a black box: no one knows what is coming next.

Being an SEO professional is all about adapting your digital marketing strategy according to the right web design. Focusing on those factors that are determinant, the phrase “content is key” summarizes all. High-quality content can be one of the top factors that will make you stand out of the competition, helping you rank higher within the SERP. However, a common crossroad that most SEO experts encounter is related to quantity versus quality. Is it better to have tons of content, and make your pages/posts larger for the shake of it, or maybe is better to make posts shorter but straightforward? We will share some light on how you can produce quality content to make it the cherry top of your SEO cake.

1.Identify your Audience and their Needs

While it may seem like a simple and straightforward tip, a lot of businesses write content just for the shake of it. The main goal of writing a piece of content is to create awareness and value for a chosen topic.

On the other hand, if you write blog posts and articles with the sole intent to promote your products or services, people would feel that their needs are not taken into account. You should ask yourself: is my blog covering a wide range of topics? Are we answering those questions that targeted and future customers are asking to themselves? Therefore, you will have to conduct extensive research into your target segment to determine what are you missing in your content.

If you push the right buttons, your site will stand out of the crowd and will enable you to rank higher then your competitors.

2. Schedule your Content Using an Editorial Calendar

Creating an editorial calendar will help you organize your content. It will dictate you when to publish new content or which blog posts you want to update. Just make sure that you stick to it, you must create blog content on regularly. Some features you might want to take into account are:

  • Use a calendar app. E.g. Outlook or Google Calendar. Calendar apps are great for reminders and to organize your daily schedule. It will also enable you to share the editorial calendar with your marketing team, so everyone can collaborate with it!
  • Keep an eye on your competitors’ updates. If you want your content to be relevant enough, check on the competition to see what kind of content is creating, and when are they doing it. This will help you simplify the whole process of engaging with your audience and will keep you at the same level than the rest of the bloggers.
  • Create special features for your site. Add some originality to your blog here: create categories, weekly updates, contents etc. Try to be engaging at all times.

3. Assign Keywords to Search Intent

One of the most common mistakes that people make is to fill up their content with a lot of keywords, just because they want to rank for them. If you overuse keywords into your content, Google will not be happy with it, as the searcher is always trying to find content that is tailored to a keyword. If the content you produce focuses on improving the search volume for your keywords instead of providing value, Google will penalize the readability of your blog.

This is why mapping keywords to search intent is so important: is an easy step but is not that difficult to leave it behind. Therefore, you may want to perform a Google search for your keyword and see the results that the SERP displays. For example, if you want to rank for “best SEO tips”, you should map your keyword to a “best SEO tips 2020” blog post, or a related service website.

StrategyDriven Online Marketer & Website Developer Magazine

4. Update your Evergreen Content

First of all, make sure that you know what evergreen content is:

  • Searchable
  • Easy to share
  • Non-time sensitive
  • Enduring

Once you know which post/article you want to update, you may want to prioritize those posts that have earned more engagement. Check on the metrics: use ahrefs to see your top pages and pick up the right topic. Then, identify that data that is eligible for being updated, and reshape it: give it refreshment by adding some relevant information. Moreover, include internal and external links to your new content. This way, you can add new additional pages that are relevant to your article, which will add new value to your piece of content. Last but not least, remember to change those old and outdated images for new and shiny ones.

5. Focus on Quality AND Quantity

If you do have the resources to create as much quality content as possible and you can write several high-quality blog articles in a short period, just do it! However, if you cannot afford it that way, focus your attention on the 80% rule: put 80% of your efforts on quality and 20% on quantity or vice versa. Furthermore, it is harsh to put a 50%- 50% focus on both, as you will have to focus on relevant topics or publishing every day. Last but not least, identify which your overall goals are: are you looking to engage users and offer them new pieces every day? Or are you looking to create high-quality, unique content? That only depends on you, but I will try to focus on both at the same time.

About the Author

Laura is an SEO Executive working at MintTwist, a London based digital marketing agency.

Localised Vs Generalised SEO Campaigns: What’s Best For Your Business

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |SEO Campaign|Localised Vs Generalised SEO Campaigns: What's Best For Your BusinessFor your business to be discovered online, it’s important to ensure that your website is optimised for search engines, and this is where SEO comes into your marketing strategy.

Without an SEO strategy, your business could be missing out on valuable traffic, so it’s important to consider how you’re going to structure your SEO strategies and campaigns.

Many factors come into play when you’re looking to do SEO for small businesses, particularly if you’re looking to attract international, national or local customers. The type of customer you’re trying to attract will play a role in deciding whether you should focus your SEO efforts on a general SEO campaign or a localised SEO campaign.

To help you decide on whether a localised or general SEO campaign is right for your business, let’s take a look at some of the common factors to keep in mind if you’re weighing up whether to run a localised or generalised SEO campaign.

Local SEO vs Generalised SEO: What Are the Differences?

Both general and local SEO focus on improving your search ranking in online search results so more people can find, contact and buy from your business. While both types of SEO have similar aims, there are subtle differences.

The main difference being that general or traditional SEO is the process of increasing both the quantity and quality of organic traffic to your website, not specifically from a particular area. While local SEO focuses on specialised solutions that help you connect you with searchers in your local area and attract local traffic to your website, but also physical locations if your business has them.

Should You Focus on General or Local SEO?

The first question you should ask before deciding on whether you should run a general or local SEO is making sure that your website is optimised with SEO best practices in mind.

After you’ve done this, you can decide on the type of traffic you want to attract to your website. Ask yourself these questions before deciding whether you should focus on local or general SEO:

  • Is your business located in one particular town or region?
  • Does your business serve customers locally, nationally or internationally?
  • Does your business have one or multiple physical locations?

If you run a local business, then your primary focus should be on ensuring that your local audience can find your website. If your business is national/international or you don’t have any particular location requirements for your business, then focus on a more generalised SEO campaign.

Getting Started With Local SEO:

As we’ve already mentioned, Local SEO is the process of optimizing a website to generate leads, traffic and brand awareness from local searches.

Local SEO works particularly well for small businesses that aim to target its customer in a particular location or specific area. Local SEO also works well for brick-and-mortar businesses with physical locations, like supermarkets, dentists, a local electrician or a local cleaning company.

If you’re looking to get started with local SEO, then it’s good to be aware of some general Local SEO tips.

Here are three Local SEO tips to get you started:

Optimise for Google My Business

Google My Business is Google’s tool to help verify a business as authentic. Through Google My Business, you can claim and update your business information which increases your chances of showing up in Google’s Local Pack, Local Finder, Google Maps and organic search results.

You can get started with Google My Business here.

Make Your Website Mobile Friendly

Research by SlideShare indicates that up to nine out of ten smartphone users conduct local searches on their devices. With stats like this showing the importance of a mobile-friendly way you want to make sure it’s easy for prospects and customers to navigate your website.

An effective way to see the mobile-friendliness of your website is to drop your website’s URL into Google’s mobile-friendly testing tool. Google will then provide you with a quick answer on whether or not your website is mobile-friendly. You’ll also be provided with a screenshot of how your webpage looks on a smartphone screen and a list of recommendations on how to make the mobile experience better.

Add Location Pages To Your Website

If your business has more than one physical location, then you can create unique location pages for each physical location your business is in. Remember to include your business location address, phone number, opening hours, parking information and reviews/testimonials from previous customers in every location page you create.

For more guidance on creating SEO friendly location pages, check out this guide from Search Engine Journal.

What Is General SEO?

General SEO refers to using traditional SEO methods to increase the amount of organic traffic to your site. If a business has an international customer base or is looking to attract customers nationally, then local SEO is probably not too much of a concern.

If this is the case for your business, then you’ll want to take a look at running a more generalised SEO campaign.

Before you launch any type of SEO campaign, it’s important to keep in mind the type of customer you’re trying to bring to your website and the geographical area you’re looking to target.

While you may not be targeting a specific geographical area, it’s still important to be aware of national and international SEO best practices. After you’ve decided on the type of customer/traffic, you’re looking to bring to your website; you can begin the process of carrying out a more general SEO campaign.

Here are some General SEO tips to get you started:

Evaluate Your Existing Website

The first step to any general SEO campaign is to evaluate where your website currently stands in terms of SEO and how your website is currently found from a search engine. The best way to do this is by using a few different SEO tools.

Free tools such as Google’s Search Console and Google Analytics allow you to maintain your website and check it’s presence. Other tools such as Screaming Frogs SEO Spider and Moz Pro can help you get an understanding of how your website is ranking and what improvements you can make.

SEO tools can take a little while to get the hang of, so take your time to get used to each tool.

Start Thinking of Relevant Keywords You Want to Rank for

After evaluating your website, you can start thinking of ideas and researching relevant keywords to create highly valuable content for your customers and audience. To carry out keyword research:

  • Define relevant topics related to your business.
  • Check keyword volumes and see what your competitors are ranking for.
  • Start planning your content.

To carry out your keyword research use tools such as Ahrefs and Google Ads Keyword Planner.

Is a Localised or Generalised SEO Campaign Right for Your Business?

The most important factor that will decide whether you should focus on local SEO is if you want to grow local traffic to your website or physical business. Local SEO can be hugely effective for local businesses, and if a local business can get their local SEO strategy right, they may not have to compete with businesses from all over the internet in local searches.

If your business is not location dependent or your customer base is widespread, then a general SEO campaign will be more effective for your business. A more General SEO campaign allows you to focus on traditional SEO practices to ensure you’re attracting as much quality traffic to your site as possible.

There may well be some overlap between local and general SEO practice in your SEO strategy. Most likely, your business marketing plan will include a variety of different tactics, so don’t be disheartened if you need to test and optimise your SEO and wider marketing efforts as you move forward and find the best strategies for your business.