In our rapidly changing, Search Engine Optimized world, it’s imperative that businesses keep up with the latest SEO best practices to continue to build their brand online and in the digital domain.
Search-engine optimization tactics change over time — some would say every time a Google exec sneezes. Midway through 2014, it’s a perfect opportunity to review how SEO has changed this year and to evaluate whether your business is staying current. Here is a list of five new SEO trends from Digiday that will keep your SEO strategies top of mind:
1. Go mobile first – Having a website optimized for mobile devices will provide more SEO value than ever. Google gives added value to websites that are mobile-friendly. By making a business’s online presence more powerful and increasing its website’s SEO value, good “responsive design” can help it stay ahead of its competitors.
2. Content is still king – Good content will always provide decent SEO value for a business. Although many people hear content and automatically think of blog posts or whitepapers, there are other components such as videos and infographics that can be used effectively while earning high levels of engagement and adding SEO value.
3. Don’t forget to be a good neighbor – Although obtaining quality inbound links has always been a focus point for SEO professionals, the practice has sometimes hurt branding efforts. Remember both link building and effective branding should complement one another to maximize benefits. Reaching out – using proactive PR to raise awareness of your website – is an important part of strengthening SEO presence and brand image.
4. Social media is more important than ever – While the popularity of your business’s content on social media will not directly affect overall rankings, having positive social signals does help SEO. This is particularly true on Google Plus, where content is more likely to be higher in an individual’s search result if they are in your circle on Google Plus.
5. That’s right, Google Plus – Google Plus offers more value than just helping your content rank higher in search engine results for the people who have you in their circles. This is particularly true if your business distributes a lot of interesting content regularly. Correct implementation of Google authorship adds a nice author visual that Google pulls from Google Plus — dramatically increasing click-through rates for content featuring the image.
Frappe Mic | Starbucks Adds Luster To Brand With Scholarship Program Starbucks will provide a free online college education to thousands of its workers, without requiring that they remain with the company, through an unusual arrangement recently launched with Arizona State University. The program is open to any of the company’s 135,000 United States employees, provided they work at least 20 hours a week and have the grades and test scores to gain admission to Arizona State. For a barista with at least two years of college credit, the company will pay full tuition; for those with fewer credits it will pay part of the cost, but even for many of them, courses will be free, with government and university aid. In a low-wage service industry, Starbucks has for decades been unusual, doing things such as providing health insurance, even for part-timers, and giving its employees stock options. These innovative programs continue to make Starbucks one of the most valuable brands – and workplaces – in the land. For this new scholarship program, Starbucks takes a frappe-influenced Golden Mic! Each week, The Spin Cycle will bestow a Golden Mic Award to the person, group or company in the court of public opinion that best exemplifies the tenets of solid PR, marketing and advertising – and those who don’t. Stay tuned – and step-up to the mic! And remember … Amplify Your Brand!