SEO Trends to look for in 2013

SEO Trends to look for in 2013

Social

Social has always played a role in SEO, but its influence on search engine page results is expected to increase in coming months. For a business, this means integrating social media into daily practices. Get “Likes” on Facebook. Go after “+1s” on Google. Stay active on Twitter and get those Retweets!  It also means creating content that people want to share, and that ties into the next SEO trend for 2013…

Quality

People don’t share cruddy content. Yes, everybody already knew that! But now the search engines are also “learning” to be more

discerning. Their algorithms are being adjusted to place higher-quality content above sites that employ archaic or spammy SEO techniques. This is good news for entrepreneurs…it means they can boost their results without having to learn complex SEO tactics.

Context

Search engines – Google in particular - now examine the context of keywords in your overall site. For example, let’s say you operate a site dedicated to donuts, and on this site, you feature one page about a different topic, like cosmetics. Google’s algorithm is getting savvy enough that it may skip over your donut site in favor of one that’s dedicated exclusively to cosmetics. It takes into account the content site-wide. The lesson is to be mindful of your site content and your message. Once you decide on your message, add the appropriate keywords across your site. Tie it all together in a way that makes sense.

Localization

It’s a big buzzword these days, and it gives SMBs like your clients a nice nudge above the competition! Localization’s taking over online marketing in general (check out some of the findings from the CMO Council to learn more), but it factors into SEO especially. Remember to use city- or neighborhood-centric keywords in blog posts, social updates and website content. Also advise your clients to make sure there’s a link to their site on Yelp and other business review sites.

Authority links

Okay, so links have always been valuable when it comes to SEO. But with all the emerging emphasis on context and content, people are beginning to realize how important outbound links are. We know inbound links are important to SEO – after all, that’s your traffic! But word on the SEO beat is that outbound links are starting to matter. So add links to sites with authority or credibility, like Wikipedia (see what we did there?).

We hope these up-and-coming SEO trends will help you and your clients prepare for 2013. And no matter what year it is, you can always count on Customer Care if you’ve got any questions!