4 Tips for Effective SEO in 2019

The world of search engine optimisation is constantly evolving. Many of the techniques that were effective 3 or 4 years ago are now redundant. The problem is, Google is changing its search ranking algorithm which makes it almost impossible for webmasters and developers to keep up with the latest changes. To make things simple, we've compiled a list of four tips and techniques for staying ahead of the SEO curve in 2019.

 

Improve Site Speed

Google has been using site speed as a ranking factor in their search algorithm since 2010. Since then, it has continued to place an emphasis on site speed when determining search rankings. Google Places an emphasis on-site speed for two reasons. Firstly, a slow page load speed means that search engines are able to crawl fewer pages with their allotted crawl budget which can adversely affect indexation rates. Secondly, page speed is also important from the user experience perspective. Pages which have a slow load time are significantly more likely to cause the user to navigate away from the website and seek information elsewhere.

 

Increase Engagement

Engagement refers to your sites ability to retain users. The reason that engagement is considered an important factor in SEO is that the longer a visitor spends on your site, the more likely it is that your site is providing value to that user. Google uses this information to form a decision on how valuable your website is and where it should appear in the search rankings. In SEO terms, user engagement can be measured using two key metrics:

 

  1. Dwell Time: How long a user spends on your website
  2. Bounce Rate: Whether a user views more than one page during a visit

 

To learn more about engagement come out what the terminology means and how you can use it to improve your website's search engine appearance, you can get in contact with Safari Digital.

 

Focus on Quality Content

Quality content is the most important factor in delivering a successful search engine optimisation campaign. Too many marketers and webmasters get caught up in creating content that Google is going to enjoy without consideration for how this is going to affect the user experience. Content needs to provide value above and beyond SEO. Google engineer Matt Cutts encourages webmasters to find a balance between technical writing, while also ensuring that the average person can understand it.

In simple terms, produce content that people want to read firstly, and optimise it so that search engines can understand it secondly.  Websites that are over optimised to deliver an easy crawl experience for Google robots may enjoy short-term success in the search engine rankings. However, over time, Google will be able to decipher a website that is providing a poor user experience through metrics such as high bounce rate and low dwell time.

 

Create Link-worthy Content

It's no secret that backlinks still play an important role in search engine rankings. In fact, according to the latest research from Moz, backlinks account for as much as 50% of how websites are ranked in the search engine results pages.

Focus on creating content that is a magnet for links. Link-worthy content can be divided into 3 easily distinguishable categories.

 

  1.  Informational: This typically includes content driven by events such as news
  2.  Educational: Content that can be included in Educational articles or cited by authoritative sites as part of an article.
  3.  Entertaining:  Content that plays on the emotions of readers

Creating content that is engaging, relevant, and deserving of links is something that takes time and research. However, despite an initial outlay of time and effort, SEO and content marketing professionals shouldn't underestimate the power of creating content that naturally builds links. instead of creating content and then actively hunting for links from authoritative sites, link-worthy content kills two birds with one stone.

 

Conclusion

The truth is, SEO is one of the most time-consuming and complicated aspects of digital marketing. Mastering search engine optimisation takes time and effort and is a highly specialised field.  for businesses looking to grow their digital footprint through organic marketing, they need to become experts in the field or hire someone who has dedicated their professional life to learning everything about Googles search engine ranking algorithm.  unlike pay per click marketing campaigns, SEO provides residual benefits over time that will be noticeable for years to come.