Essential SEO Guide. What it takes to rank your website post Google Penguin 2.1 & Hummingbird updates. November SEO Melbourne Experts

Transcription

1 Essential SEO Guide What it takes to rank your website post Google Penguin 2.1 & Hummingbird updates. November 2013 SEO Melbourne Experts

2 About the Author Brett Hardiman is Managing Director at PUNCH digital & SEO Melbourne Experts and passionate about online marketing. Brett has over 14 years marketing experience working with some of the world's leading brands including Toyota, Mercury and Pacnet. With extensive digital marketing expertise across Social, Search and Strategy, Brett can show you how to best leverage the latest technologies to engage consumers, while achieving rapid business growth. Brett at: Or call

3 Introduction: If you haven t been up to date with the latest Google updates named Penguin 2.1 and the most recent Hummingbird update, this ebook provides an overview of these updates and how to achieve success in the new SEO era. Over the past 18 months, Google has significantly changed the way that they rank websites. By substantially changing the search algorithm, they ve not only changed the factors they use to rank sites, but also changed search engine optimisation forever. The rollout of the Panda, Penguin and Hummingbird updates have seen many in the search engine optimisation industry get found out. Google s reason for overhauling their algorithm was simple: to rid the net of spammy sites and return the organic listings back to websites that are high quality and authoritative. In the past, the algorithm was being artificially manipulated into thinking a website was of high authority because it had thousands of links all linking back to it. Google s recent crackdown on these links has seen websites that were generating rankings from this style of strategy get penalised. So what does it mean for you? If your business has previously had spammy, low quality backlinks built towards it, they need to be removed as soon as possible. The change in the algorithm has made sure that any link building campaign utilising low end spammy linkbuilding is now not only ineffective, but could be harmful. White Hat SEO is now the only way to legitimately rank your website using a sustainable strategy. Search engine optimisation is a long- term proposition. Ranking a website can take time and to achieve results you must focus on quality content and relevant backlinks to your site. SEO is worth the effort as the brand exposure and traffic to your site that a high- ranking position will bring cannot be beaten. If you re interested in understanding just what it takes to rank nowadays on Google, read on.. 3

4 With Google s recent updates, this is what they expect your website to have: 1. Quality. High quality, well- written content is crucial to your website s success. Your website content needs to be well written and articulated with the end user in mind and not just search engines. 2. Updates. Changes and tweaks to your meta data such as your website title and description. This should not be over optimised, yet still include your main target keywords in a natural way. 3. Speed. Ensure your website loads quickly and is responsive as Google is cracking down on slow loading sites. 4. Diverse content. Websites that have rich content such as optimised images, videos and infographics are seen to be adding more overall value. 5. Link Building. When it comes to building links, Google is seeking natural links that come from a variety of sources not just 1 or 2 types of links. 6. Link types. Google really favours techniques like guest blogging, which involves writing an article about a specific topic and have it published on relevant blogs. Another type of linking is local directory links such as True Local, Aussie Web etc. You then add a clear, well written description about your business in this link. 7. Content Marketing. High quality content marketing that engages your target audience is paramount to your business. Google is cracking down on spun and poorly written content that is mostly used by outsourcers. Marketing your content via different channels such as social media platforms and participating on relevant forums is a great way to build natural and relevant links. 8. Diverse Anchor text. This is the keyword that is used in a link going back to your site. It is very important not to over optimise your anchor text. Having more than 20% exact match anchor text is dangerous to your link profile and what can get you penalised quickly. 9. Link diversity. You need links built to multiple pages not just the homepage. Keyword mapping to specific pages is important to ensure the whole site gets the benefit from links being built to it. 4

5 And don t forget to focus on your target audience / customers It s critical to remember that at the end of the day, it s all about your target audience. Write great content that engages and inspires, solves a problem and that is so good that others will share it across the web. Add something valuable to the net and you will be rewarded. About SEO Melbourne Experts SEO Melbourne Experts is an Internet marketing agency committed to assisting small to medium sized businesses in achieving online success. We offer online solutions tailored to grow your business by developing a strategy that drives visitors to your website, and enquiries through your door. Our objective is to assist your company to leverage the web to attract more customers while maximising your Return- On- Investment (ROI). We approach the web from a business perspective, not a web developer or designer s point of view. It s not about the technology; it s about understanding your core customers, your business objectives and developing a plan that delivers you results. Our services include Internet Marketing Strategy, Website Design & Development, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Pay- Per- Click advertising (PPC) & Google Adwords, Local Business Marketing and Social Media Marketing. For more information please call or visit us at: 5