Every time a search engine finds your website next to your competitors, it tells them that your company is in a related niche. The authority of the website or webpage linking to your site is also key. A few high authority links are far more valuable then many from low quality sites. Content syndication is the term used for the tactical republishing of your original article on another third-party website. It’s particularly useful if you’re a smaller publisher or an up-and-coming writer who wants a larger audience. The focus of many website owners has definitely gone social. I focus a lot on Social Media myself, but the reality is the social media craze has also left the SEO window wide open.

Claim and finetune your Google My Business listing

The key is to consistently deliver value so that people come to your site for answers. And this is also ironically what will get other good sites to link to your site. This is the perfect example of ‘emergent SEO’. Keyword research helps you identify keywords that appeal to a target audience and expand the reach of your content. When you use keyword research tools, it helps you identitfy what kinds of content users are looking for on any given topic. Always make sure to prioritize time for keyword research. Organic search is a powerful channel for getting new customers, but SEO isn’t a one-time investment, and it won’t magically fix your marketing challenges. As search engine algorithms adjust to accommodate the change in content, likely towards video, it will be important for marketers to optimize their content accordingly in order to best increase overall organic traffic.

Arm yourselves with an SEO strategy

Google AdWords have a brilliant – and completely free – keyword planner which allows you to search for new keyword ideas while checking out real search volumes. If you’ve got a specific idea for a blog post in mind, use the tool well before you start writing to find a few popular and relevant keywords to include. Social media platforms have all but taken over, and when it comes to SEO, they are a huge part of the strategy for any campaign. Links increase the authority and trustworthiness of a page to search engines, which increases the overall authority of that website. 95% of the U.S. Internet browsing population accesses search engines each month. Furthermore, the U.S. online population makes an average of 37 search engine visits per person per month.

Optimize websites for search engines

Evergreen topics have long lasting value, so when looking at the trend, it should be pretty consistent throughout the year. Traditionally, these tend to be slightly more competitive, but have a much longer lifespan for being relevant. SEO helps to ensure that search engines can locate, index, and serve your website’s content to visitors in an efficient manner. Make sure every page of your site contains at least several hundred words of helpful, well-written, relevant content; and optimize all your title tags and meta descriptions while you're at it. Gaz Hall, a Freelance SEO Consultant, commented: "Whether it is writing the most useful article about a certain topic, or ensuring that your eCommerce system is easy to use, it is important to make sure site visitors have a positive experience, because only then will they stick around."

Go great or go home

Content is king when it comes to SEO. You can’t have an SEO campaign without content; it’s the fuel that makes SEO work. The problem with directories: A good directory’s intent is to categorize the internet into different categories/subcategories, while providing links to good websites in those categories. Although there are legitimate directory websites, many were built solely for the purpose of building links back to webpages without consideration of link quality. This is the wrong way to build links. Gaining backlinks is tough, as it involves convincing a website to share your website with their audience. It’s a hustle to pitch your proposition to these websites, which usually is a guest post, sponsored link or asking if they would link to a resource on your site. Google tends to prefer Featured Snippet content that begin logically as an answer would.