Danner's Thoughts: October 2015

Pop quiz, hotshot:

Experience is to a resume as _____ is to an SEO effort.

If you guessed "content", pat yourself on the back! You can toy with all of the frivolous technicalities of SEO as much as you want, but if you're missing compelling content, don't be surprised if your efforts are wasted.

Or as my great uncle Clayton used to say: "You can put lipstick on a pig, but it still stinks."

Duane Forrester, Senior Product Manager of Webmaster Outreach at Bing, released the following video in cooperation with Stukent.com to provide novices like myself the quick-and-dirty of how SEO works, and why, at the end of the day, good content should be your foremost concern. If you have the time, watch it! If not, continue to my highlights below.

Why is content so important?

Let's take a step back and think about SEO holistically: the entire point is to improve your website to make it more relevant to searchers. To quote Duane, "Everything a search engine does is guided by what the searcher responds to." In short, websites are a customer driven effort.

So - what happens when you create lackluster content but have manhandled all of the code on the back-end to get amazing click-through? You'll probably end up with an equally amazing bounce rate. Which, in turn, will have today's top search engines degrade your site's ranking.

Alternatively, if you make great content but lack the sophistication of an Alexa-top-100-site webmaster, then sure, you won't grow as fast or by as much as you could. BUT - you will get an audience, you will create buzz, and you will get shares. You'll create enough momentum to give yourself time to get to the technicalities.

Content is what provides value to visitors to your site. Search engines are designed to gauge that value and reward it with high rankings.

Where should I begin?

"Write what you know" has never been truer than in this age of information overload. If you've been tempted to simply use syndicated content or spin other content with your own flair, know that you are unlikely to build any type of following or community. Search engines punish these practices because searchers don't seem to care for it.

You need a niche. Per Duane:

Owning a niche is like putting a crow bar in a small crack. Over time that crack opens up and you can see more of the world ahead of you. That's the power of owning your niche.

Pick a topic that you have unique experience in. Share that experience and knowledge often and freely. Where startups need a unique selling proposition, you need a unique follower proposition.

Again from Duane, here's a short list of things you can do to be your audience's subject authority:

Know the topic inside and out
Engage your community
Share useful content freely
Be consistent and useful
Market your strengths
Be a go-to resource
Learn to spot trends in data

Oh, and don't forget to be humble. You're not an authority until other people say you are.

Lastly, don't be afraid to add a little personality to your writing. Try the different "voices" that make you you and see what resonates with your audience.

What should I write?

This is where technique comes into play. Sure, you could listen to your heart, but wouldn't you rather listen to your audience, make educated guesses, and see results?

Both Bing and Google have keyword tools available that will key you in on what your readers are searching for when they find you. This information is gold and should inform your content decisions. It can help you uncover new niches and refine your site's focus. It can provide inspiration when writer's block comes-a-knockin'.

Speaking of writer's block, you should write frequently (horrible segue, I know). If you're strapped for time, once a week should be your bare minimum. Information has a shelf life and search engines know it.

How can I get an audience other than searchers from search engines?

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

Or for you, humble reader: if a person writes an article and no one is around to read it, does it even matter? You will probably feel like it doesn't when it happens to you.

Never fear - there are more tools than ever to get your content out. While search engines are the best, using your personal and professional network through social media is a great option. And in so doing, you will likely impact the success of your SEO efforts as well.

Search engines like shared content for the following reasons (italicized items are per Duane):

Signals topical authority
Real-time - engines want fresh content, fast
Integrated social signals influence click actions of searchers
Social signals are becoming more prevalent relevance indicators for search engine rankings

You may think "I don't have time to measure and manage a bunch of accounts on various social media websites!" Congratulations, you're not the first to think this and the market has provided many, many solutions. Per Duane, here are some of the best:

In Summation

Discover your unique follower proposition by finding the niche that only you can speak to. Create quality content that engenders a loyal audience, and listen to that audience with a search engine keyword tool to create more targeted content. Share your content on social media to build an audience that ultimately creates a virtuous cycle of more audience data and better content targeting.

Related Stories You May Also Like...

The new meaning of "brand", savvy social strategy, and targeting locally

Branding isn't just for digital artists

Alright, so you ARE going to need a digital artist to create your logos and the look and feel of your website. But that is far from the entirety of what "brand" is. During my internship at Dell over the summer, I had the chance to participate in a discussion led by Karen Quintos, the CMO, and she stated:

A brand is a promise you make and keep to your customers.

The pros at Entrata agree: a brand comprises not only the flashy signage for your company but also how people experience the company overall. Google describes it like this:

The new era of branding is spilling out onto the web. Reviews about company interactions are everywhere, from Amazon to Yelp. Great companies like Autozone are teaching their customers how to use them as a trusted adviser to their car problems, while others like "Rockauto.com" are behind the times in only offering products at low prices. In the 21st century, branding is measured by engagement and participation, not by sales alone.

Social matters, and maybe not in the way you think

Rand Fiskin, SEO expert extraordinaire, recently ran a series of online tests and found something pretty odd:

Even when participation is low, the outlier businesses are more active on at least one social channel than their peers.

In English: websites performing better relative to their peers seem to have an abundance of posts on social media. It doesn't even matter if participation (like reviews, user dialog, etc.) are greater on another site, search engines view activity as the most important ranking criteria when weighing social factors.

This doesn't negate the need for branding, however. If two sites are social-media-workhorses and are always posting new content, the one that interacts with its customers will win out. Especially if the site is creating content about real customers and their experiences with their products or services. Google rewards human-ness! So be human!

Google My Business: The Best Free Tool You've Never Heard Of

Have a website? Own a business? Not heard of "Google My Business"? Cancel your plans for the next 15 minutes and follow these steps; they'll make a world of difference to your professional endeavors:

Go to https://www.google.com/business/
Verify your business location (search to see if it already exists first: Google hates duplicates)
Populate your listing with details, like the appropriate business categories
Add professional pictures. The more the merrier! Don't forget to add:

A caption
A URL
A phone number
An address
A geo tag
Enabled location sharing
Detailed file name

Create a YouTube channel and add it to your business
???
PROFIT!!!

In A Nutshell

Think about your business as a whole and what you want customers to say about you. Get online to see what they are saying, and bridge the gap in service or product quality to get to your ideal state.

Get active on social. Make a goal to post things frequently. Involve your customers in the conversation.

Start using Google My Business. Take a boatload of pictures of your company, its product, and its location. Create a YouTube channel and make a goal to create content frequently there as well.

Danner's Thoughts

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

SEO techniques are not nearly as important as this one thing