Master 5 SEO and Content Marketing Shifts

19-Sep-2017 01:31 PM Digital Marketing

Google has thrown a lot of challenges for marketers in the last five years. While some marketers have struggled to adapt to these massive changes, others are thriving because they have learned to stay ahead by focusing on content and quality.

As we head into the latter part of the year, here are five SEO shifts that you need to master:

SEO to 'SEO and Content Convergence'

Even though SEO is an important part of content marketing, it isn't enough to guarantee that people will find and engage with your content.

Ensure that the content creation is based on data by defining the audience, engagement and conversion metrics that matter to your brand. Foster a synergy between search, content and social media. And finally, maximize your Search Engine Results Page (SERP) footprint by creating and optimizing high-ROI content like articles, videos, and infographics.

Mobile to Mobile-first

We've come a long way since the early days of mobile adoption when the experience of rendering website on tiny mobile screens was terrible. Today, it's a piece of cake, and it's mandatory. If you want to capitalize on mobile micro-moments, your brand must be mobile-ready.

As a marketer, you need to accept that this is a mobile-first world. Ensure your mobile website is SEO fast and furious. Follow technical mobile SEO best practices and focus on creating content that mobile users want and will find valuable.

From Text to Voice

According to a survey by comScore, 50% of all searches will be voice searches by 2020. Voice search will only continue to rise with the existence of virtual assistants like Siri, Cortana, Alexa, etc.

Try to be 'the best voice' out there. Identify high-intent keywords, and optimize content that answers these questions (who, what, where, when, why, how) to ensure that your brand is found in the changing SERPs. Get smart about intelligent agents. Make sure your content is aligned with the intent and interests of customers at the right moment of the decision journey.

From Local to Hyperlocal

Hyperlocal marketing will soar in 2017. This is an excellent way for brands to capitalize on "near me" searches and answer the immediate needs of their prospects.

You need to own local search to make sure that critical contact information that people search for is prominent or easy to find (e.g: name, address, phone, directions). Optimize your Google My Business page, create localized content and landing pages to monitor the performance of your local keyword rankings. Finally, understand the intersection of local and mobile. People who do local searches on smartphones have a higher intent of making purchase decisions than those doing local searches on other devices.

From Data to Machine Learning

Google relies in part on machine learning to make sense of the massive amounts of data to deliver the best possible search results for users. View data as a source of truth. Go beyond the "what" of data to understand the "when" and "why" of analytics.

Utilize AI & machine learning which will help you spend less time analyzing data and more time to create personalized content that will engage and influence prospects and customers. Finally, define metrics that matter to your brand to track your progress, iterate and improve your content production and organic search optimization.

It's important to not just look at where Google is today, but where Google is heading over the next six months, next year and beyond. You need to adjust to the changing ways and adapt accordingly. If you don't, you'll turn to dust!

If you're looking for help with SEO optimization, get in touch with us!