3 Pillars of SEO: How to Get Found on Search

Search engine optimization, otherwise known as SEO, drives traffic to your website, enhances user experience, and is instrumental in generating qualified leads, all by obtaining search engine result prominence. While this strategy is in constant flux, there are three pillars of SEO that create the foundation of any well-considered effort to boost brand visibility and improve search rankings: technology, on-page, and off-page. Search engines like Google will scan your content and links to assess the level of discovery, relevance, and authority associated with your site. Let’s discuss a few ways you can leverage these three pillars into search engine optimization domination!

Technical SEO 

Your site’s technical features and abilities are the first indicators of quality, and the first pillar of a strong SEO optimization strategy. Technical abilities encompass any element or solution used to increase customer satisfaction and ease of use for your site. Using technology, there are countless ways to drive traffic to your site, increase lead generation, and thus, satisfy customers.

Site Speed

How fast your site loads is a major indicator of the quality of your site and chosen content. Statistically, websites with a load time of 2 seconds have an average bounce rate of 9%. A marginal increase in load-time, from 2 seconds to 5 seconds, sees the bounce rate rise to 38%!  Google will take note of a high bounce rate, and will adjust your ranking accordingly, so it really matters how fast your site loads! To ensure you make the cut, consider deployment of load-time reducing technology like compression, redirect reduction, browser caching leveraging and using a professional content distribution network.

Mobile-Friendliness

Mobile phones have overtaken PCs as the device of choice for internet access, browsing and even online shopping. Mobile phones, in a myriad of styles and formats, have become a one-stop-shop for all things internet, causing potential customers to puzzle over why your text, products, screens and buttons are cut off, or extend beyond the edges of the device. It’s incredibly critical that you SEO optimize your website for easy mobile phone and device viewing and use, to avoid forcing customers to seek out a new device to  view your content, or more likely, a different mobile-friendly business site.

User Experience

At the heart of SEO optimization strategy is user experience (UX). While SEO prioritizes search engines, your UX targets your website users and customers. These two elements should work in concert to ensure that every visit to your site is easy, intuitive and transparent. Did you know that 52% of users say they will abandon a site due to something as seemingly simple as aesthetics? Users know what they want, and are spoiled for choice – making your focus on creating an excellent user experience, of critical importance.

HTTPS: Secure site

The cyber threat landscape, awash with ransomware, malware and viruses, has forced a significant shift in the way we prioritize our data privacy, and our expectations of companies who we trust with our information.  Using an “HTTPS” site and purchasing an SSL certificate, signals to search engines and customers that your site is safe to interact with, and that you can be trusted with their vital personal or financial information. Your decision to prioritize site security can also be used in your SEO strategy and marketing material, serving as an organic draw for network-security-conscious users.

 On-Page SEO 

On-page SEO encompasses everything users see and interact with on your page. Search engines prioritize well-constructed websites, with clear and original content, but this content can’t be created randomly. There are a few strategies you can use for your on-page content to ensure it is top-rung and at the top of the search engine results.

Keyword Research

Keyword research is the SEO process of discovering the most commonly used keywords, when users are seeking out information via search engines, and incorporating those keywords into your original content. Search engines scan for applicable keywords within your content, moving more artfully and keyword-optimized sites to the top of the search page. Thorough keyword research can be a valuable source of useful queries, data and ranking difficulty, elements proven to attract the attention of search engines, and users alike.

Understanding Search Intent

Understanding ‘search intent’ is determining what keywords users are turning too, and what their overall intention is. Most searches are performed by users seeking out information on general products and services, not your particular company or site. Start your search engine optimization strategy by incorporating broad search terms into your content, and bare down into more specific phrases and keyword variations. Finally, cap off your content with specifics about your product or service features, explaining why and how your product or service meets user needs.

Content Strategy

A good content strategy is the process of regularly creating unique content, targeted at meeting business goals and customer needs. For example, if one business goal is to drive more traffic to your mobile site, focus on creating content and links that promote awareness of your targeted site. If your focus is on the success of a new product or service, use your SEO content to draw reader interest and inform them about your offerings.

Internal Linking

Creating internal links between your content is a great way to drive traffic from one page of your site, to the next. Both users and search engines scan for links to relevant and reputable content. Once your content has captured Google’s attention using internal links, customers can use these same links to navigate your page, products and other content. A great content strategy comes in here, as content should always be complementary, informative and should help drive sales leads by giving customers new ideas and product options.

Off-Page SEO 

Off-page SEO refers to any user or company activity outside your website, aimed at building search rankings on search engines. Link building with outside links is an easy association to draw, but off-page SEO is considerably more complex. Good examples of off-page SEO include posting as a guest on an outside blog with internal linking to your page, or even submitting personal comments on another post or article.

Backlinks

Backlinks are also referred to as inbound or incoming links. While forward-thinking business owners are creating links to outside sites and content to boost their search engine results, other businesses will be seeking you out in hopes of doing the same. Backlinks from other sites are a beacon of confidence, and show your users and customers that your content is safe, informative and helpful to others – one of the most ringing endorsements your site can get. Your SEO content strategy will also play an important role here, as unique and original content is significantly more likely to attract traffic, over slip-shot, irrelevant backlinks that are bought, not earned.

Local SEO

Incorporating local SEO into your search engine optimization strategy is proven to attract loyal local customers to your business. Almost half of all Google searchers have a ‘local intent,” meaning customers are seeking out businesses close to their physical location. Many businesses are taking advantage of technology to leverage local SEO, into long-term success, using paid software or even open-source options like Google My Business, a free tool for organizations to manage their online presence. Local customers love tools like this, as it allows you to edit and verify your business information, an element customers consider a good and transparent business strategy.

Search engine optimization is a complex and ever-changing process, requiring a great deal of time and focus to learn and use effectively. Luckily, with little effort and a few Google searches, you can discover anything you need to know about the three pillars of SEO, and how they can enable a future-proof and successful business.  For more information about top-to-bottom, successful SEO strategies, contact Apogee Results today!

Social Media Strategy: Facebook Marketing Tips

Social platforms and technology are constantly evolving so it can be frustrating trying to keep your social media strategy up to date. Facebook marketing is not just about showcasing visually appealing content. It’s equally as important to get said content in front of the right eyes.

Below are some Facebook marketing tips to add into your strategy this year to get the highest return on your ad spend. 

1.Diversify Your Content

Videos remain one of the highest performing ads on social media and can easily be adapted for use in some way for nearly any industry. Keep videos as concise as possible! Depending on the placement 15 seconds or less might sound short but is ideal for grabbing and keeping the viewer’s attention to the end. Facebook offers many ways to get creative and if you don’t have the means to produce a high-quality video ad, you can start small by using Facebook’s creative studio to create a slide show and enhance it with stickers, text, or effects. You can also advertise a collection of products or services in a catalog or carousel ad.

Creative fatigue often occurs after the audience has been over-exposed to your content. Canva is another easy way to create more engaging images, videos and even GIFs, using colorful layouts and customized templates. The best way to avoid a fatigued audience is to have multiple assets ready to swap out, even if it’s just new colors, different ad copy or call to action. Whatever you decide to start with test early and often, what people want to see can change quicker than you think.

If you’re struggling to know exactly where to start to reach your goals, Facebook Business offers a wealth of resources from creative guidance to optimization tips backed by case studies. 

2. Engage The Audience

Great Facebook marketing goes beyond a pretty picture or fun video. Whether it’s creating a poll, or quiz, or hosting a giveaway or contest, consumers love being able to interact on a deeper level than simply liking or following.

• Go live and give customers a glimpse behind the scenes to foster customer relationships and build brand loyalty.
• Ask questions and listen. Offer customers a chance to feel valued and heard.
• Don’t just rely on influencers, your own customers might be showcasing their support and feel overlooked.
• Don’t be afraid to build credibility by sharing relevant or useful content from other brands who post in your niche.

Be proactive when it comes to generating buzz and encouraging users to engage on your page by adding some level of interaction with your post. 

3. Get Creative With Custom Audience Targeting

Now that you have the right content you want to tap into the right audience. There are certain types of campaigns that can and should be tailored to appear to different audience segments based on more than the usual demographics like sex, age, location etc. Getting more granular with your targeting can be extremely beneficial when it comes to spending your ad dollars in the right places. Facebook has many options to target based on major life events such as graduation, engagements, travel plans, birthdays, and more.

While LinkedIn remains the most accurate career-based targeting platform Facebook reigns when it comes to extensive interest and behavior-based targeting. Interests and hobbies range from veganism to League of Legends lovers and from small business owners to winter sports fanatics. You can even create layered audiences, and exclude certain criteria. For example, targeting Engaged Online Shoppers while at the same time excluding those who live too far from your area of service.

Think about who your audience has proven to be and if there are any new segments you are interested in reaching. No matter how incredible your ad is, if you show it to the wrong audience, it will be just as effective as the mediocre ad that’s gets in front of a more relevant audience.

4. Expand To Lookalike and Retargeting Audiences

Lookalike Audiences are the next step in tailoring your perfect audience, once you have a good Custom Audience strategy in place you can expand your reach to include people with similar traits and common interests. Here is where you can upload customer lists that include phone numbers or emails that can be matched to corresponding Facebook accounts and then mirrored in a lookalike group.

One of the most important audience targeting features in Facebook Ads is the Pixel. You or your developer will need to install the Facebook Pixel directly on your site to begin receiving events and start retargeting. Even if you have limited customer information available or only have a small Facebook following you can still use lookalike audiences to show your ads to people who have recently viewed your website or looked at specific pages or products. Retargeting allows people who are already familiar with your brand to rediscover what they love and continue converting in one way or another. If you are already running video ads, you can create an audience based on who has watched the most of a certain video and move them down the sales funnel. Differentiating ad strategies between the people that are new to your brand and those who have already heard of you before is key to keeping loyal customers coming back and piquing the interest of new ones. 

Conclusion/Tracking Success

The most successful Facebook ad strategy for you will be one that is diversified, personalized, and comprehensive. Don’t forget to identify your measures of success early on and utilize a multifaceted tracking approach.

As of July 2021, Facebook got rid of its own analytics dashboard so there is no way to view data directly from the pixel in Facebook. They also warn that some metrics may be skewed or unavailable due to the new privacy settings in the most recent iOS update. To compensate for this, they have a Conversion API that allows you to set custom conversion events on your site to track, in addition to the pixel. If you have access to Google Analytics and are already running other paid ad campaigns it will be beneficial to at UTMs to any content with external links, especially anything you are paying for. Facebook has also made it possible to add the pixel via Google Tag manager, allowing you to create a more comprehensive view of your customers’ journey in Google Analytics.

When it comes to creating the most successful targeting strategy for your brand, only you can figure out which of these tips will work best. One size does not fit all. Learn from others in your niche and allow time to A/B test multiple elements within your audience segments to find which garners the best response.

5 UX Best Practices that Benefit SEO Rankings

User experience is a crucial component of your site’s design and marketing strategy that is often overlooked. UX impacts every aspect of your marketing campaign: from acquisition to conversion, particularly as it pertains to SEO. 

In SEO it’s important to pay close attention to metrics such as bounce rate, average session duration, pages per session, and click-through rate to track how users engage with your site. Google considers these user engagement metrics to determine the quality of your site, which directly impacts your site’s organic search rankings.

Optimizing your site for UX not only keeps visitors on your site longer, it can also vastly improve your organic search visibility. Let’s take a look at 5 UX Best Practices you can implement to boost your organic search rankings:

1. Keep Your Site Navigation Simple

Your site’s navigation is crucial to UX, particularly for sites that sell products or services. It’s important that your products, services, resources and anything valuable to the user is easy to find. Therefore, your site’s navigation should be as intuitive as possible. 

In order to achieve this we recommend the following practices:

• Group Similiar Pages Together:
  The first thing to consider when determining your navigation is your site’s architecture. If your site contains a lot of pages, we recommend grouping similar pages together so you don’t overwhelm the user with too many options. Make sure that each page listed on your navigation provides its own value. It’s also important to be mindful of the title you choose for each page: we recommend using titles that are both succinct and descriptive.
• Make your Navigation Responsive:
  Just like the rest of your site, you want to make sure that your site navigation is responsive for mobile users. If your navigation is too large to fit on a home screen or too small to click on, users are likely to spend less time on your site.
• Less Clicks:
  The fewer clicks it takes to get to the page users are looking for, the better. Be mindful of your user’s navigation path and consider how many clicks it takes to get to your most popular landing pages. We recommend placing links to your most popular pages in the navigation or immediately on the home page.

2. Optimize for Search Intent

Considering the user’s search intent will not only keep users on your site, it can also be compensated by Google. Content that effectively answers commonly asked questions often appears in the People Also Ask section of Google. Additionally, pages that contain title tags and meta descriptions that are optimized with search intent in mind are more likely to have a higher click-through rate.

The following practices can help you be mindful of search intent:

• Use Keywords that Target Search Intent: An effective keyword strategy is one that targets both broad and specific search terms. One way to target both in a single key term, is by pairing broad, high-volume keywords with search intent.

• Answer Questions:  Answering questions is a great way to show off your company’s expertise. It also enhances the user experience depending on how you present the answers to commonly asked questions. We recommend including any questions in a header tag and answering the question in inverted pyramid style: which means answering the question as thoroughly as possible within the first couple of sentences. This makes the answer easy for the user to find and increases your chances of appearing in the People Also Ask section.

3. Use UX-Friendly Page Layouts

Creating quality content doesn’t just mean answering the user’s question, it also entails presenting the content in a way that is digestible.

Use of the following page elements will can improve your site’s usability:

• Make Content Digestible No one wants to read a continuous block of text, even if it does include all of the answers you need. After all, you’re trying to skim an article on the internet, not write a research paper. Including visuals, infographics, organized headers, and breaking up your content into small paragraphs are great ways to make your content more digestible or skimmable.
• Use Headers Using keyword optimized headers is great for SEO, but it also helps readers easily find the information they are looking for. 
• Leverage Visuals Visuals, such as images, videos, and especially infographics are an infinitely valuable resource. They capture the reader’s attention and reiterate the message you wish to convey in a more effective manner. Infographics can help condense your content in a way that is much easier to understand.
• Include CTAs Including calls to action throughout your site encourage the user to remain on the site, and play a crucial role in your site’s conversion rate. CTAs can be as bold as a “Sign Up Today” button or as subtle as a “Contact Us” button. Both of these options are a great way to encourage the user to engage more with your site.
• Write in Inverted Pyramid Style This means placing the most important and relevant information at the top and using the next few paragraphs to elaborate on any points. It’s especially important to include the most relevant information first when you are answering questions in your content or creating content for a core page of your website.

4. Optimize for Mobile Usability

With Google switching to mobile-first indexing two years ago, it’s now more important than ever to optimize your site’s mobile experience. This is especially true for sites that offer local services and e-commerce sites as users are more likely to visit those sites from their phone. 

We recommend the following practices to optimize your site’s mobile experience:

• Implement a Responsive or Mobile Design The difference between a mobile design and a responsive design is that the mobile design changes the layout of your site almost entirely, while a responsive design simply makes your site adaptable to a smaller screen. Making your site responsive to a smaller screen ensures that crucial information on your home page or navigation isn’t cut off. On the other hand, creating a separate design for mobile, ensures that your site is optimized for an entirely different experience as is the case for mobile vs desktop browsing. Both are great as long as you consider the following mobile usability elements: readability, font size, spacing, and buttons.

• Keep It Simple Your site’s mobile design should focus even more on simplicity than your main site’s design due to a reduced screen. It’s important to consider readability, font size, spacing, and including buttons that are easily clickable.  

5. Improve Your Page Load Speed

It is especially important to improve your site’s speed now that Core Web Vitals are a ranking factor. Users don’t want to sit around and wait even a few seconds for a site to load. This is an important ranking factor that also affects the user’s experience and therefore, directly impacts key Google Analytics metrics. 

• Simplify Your CSS and JavaScript This means removing any unused CSS and JavaScript or minifying these files. There are a number of tools that can help you find unused code and condense your CSS and JavaScript files. 
• Optimize Images It’s important for both SEO and UX that you use high-resolution photos that don’t take up too much space. We recommend using images that are no larger than 100kb and a minimum resolution of 300 PPI.
• Avoid Sliders Including sliders on your site may seem harmless and a good way to make sure the reader sees all of your content. However, sliders do more harm than good as they can affect your site’s speed. They often take too long to load and keep your visitors from reaching your site’s main content right away.

Creating a pleasant user experience is a goal that is often overlooked but should not be underestimated. Optimizing your site for UX keeps users happy, improves conversions, boosts your search rankings, and can even reflect well on your brand. These are just a few adjustments you can make to vastly improve your site’s UX.

Digital Marketing Knows No Borders: Digital Marketing in China

In February of 2020, I found myself, along with many other China-based expats and Chinese tourists, returning to the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic. As I boarded a plane in Oslo, bound for Hong Kong – the last stop before my final destination of Shenzhen, I clocked the nervous giggles from Western tourists, and the worried looks in the eyes of the locals, headed home, and unsure what they would find. When China opens back up to travel, a move projected to be in early 2022 in time for the Olympics, business will return – just as it always has, and the key to the Chinese market? Digital marketing.

Just as the immediate reactions of the passengers on the plane were strikingly different, digital marketing in China is strikingly different than anything you’d find in the USA or any Western country. China, as a country, has very specific tastes, cobbled together in a mesh-work of complex, yet traditional influences and preferences. Yet, for a country so steeped in tradition, China often leads the way in innovation – with such a large population, it would be difficult to not produce some absolutely world-creating creators and businesses.

Join me on a journey of personal experience through the sometimes hilarious, often fascinating, and complex world of digital marketing trends in China – and this one ex-expats take on them.

Rise of Influencers

One influencer who has gained a great deal of traction in China, was a young man who sets a table for 4 on his stomach and chest, and then rips the table cloth out from between his body and his dishware, leaving himself naked with a strategically placed teacup covering his private area. This guy became a sticker. No joke. Many influencers in China are simply influential because they are rich. If you decide to work with a Chinese influencer, expect the unexpected. Also, expect to get what you pay for. A less expensive “influencer” might work for peanuts or donations, but big money attracts big money and that’s where you need to go!

3rd & 4th Tier Cities

Don’t dismiss “smaller” Chinese cities in your digital marketing strategy! We have all heard of Beijing and Shanghai, but how many times have you heard the name Shenzhen, a city of 17.5 million people, or Guangzhou, a city of 18.68 million? In a list of all Chinese cities and their population, the smallest city I’ve personally visited in China is Suzhou, with a population of around 1 million. As a banana for scale, the largest city in the USA is New York City, NY, with a population of around 8 million. With population like that, what is considered a tier 3 or 4 city (tiers based on business density, city-level flexibility, citizen vitality, diversity and future projections) like Hulin, Linhai and Zaoyang, likely has a market for your product, and customers or investors with real money.

Digital Aging Population

Over 30% of the Chinese population will be over 60 years old by 2050. Real talk – this market will be huge. The aging population of China have been using smart phones for longer than most of the world, and live in a culture so engrained with e-commerce, some have never set foot in a grocery store. In Shenzhen, the food delivery system was so fantastic, you could almost guarantee delivery of any dish in town within 30 minutes of placing the order. China during COVID saw the delivery industry booming, as motorcycle delivery became the only way to get food for those in quarantine, or with ultra-restrictive community rules. Many communities were responsible for securing themselves during the pandemic, a job they took seriously. These consumers will have locked and loaded credit cards and tons of purchasing power – so don’t underestimate how important understanding Chinese tradition and the aging process is, when marketing to this stacked, yet discerning group.

Short-Video Content

Short term video content has been all the rage in China for years. Unlike in the USA, China relies on a very specific messaging service called WeChat, for most of its business and personal communications. WeChat is even linked directly to bank accounts, for easy payments using your mobile phone. Even taxes and train fares are paid using WeChat, and thus, short-form video content is the advertising material of choice. Because a great deal of digital marketing is done via WeChat and QQ, the other large China-based messaging application, you will typically see many more emojis than you would see in other countries. Remember, videos forwarded on WeChat are tracked, and content deemed to be inappropriate can be removed at any time – so do your research on both what WeChat videos are trending, and how to stay well within the WeChat acceptability guidelines, to avoid having your account removed or blocked. Also, remember to use appropriate emojis in your advertising material. For example, a smiley face emoji is not necessarily a smiley face in China. Figure that one out for yourself.

Long Form & Mis-directional Content

A trend many are surprised to see is a more long-form, and some would say, mis-directional content. Chinese tradition is passed down through stories and ancestors. As a culture, they are very attached to story-telling and myth creation. It stands to reason they would use this form of storytelling in their advertising and marketing material. But why do we often find Chinese advertising mis-directional? This likely stems from a hybrid cultural and translation issue. When translated directly from Chinese to English, the wording is often devoid of solid verbiage like “will” and “wont,” in favour of more fluid words like “can” and “might.” In China preferrs subtlety and nuance in their communication. It tracks that what the West might see as “mis-directional content,” would actually be just a poor and lazy translation. Remember – if you are considering advertising in China, emphasize using both correct and clever Chinese language, something you will pay a premium for, but is well worth the money.

We can expect to see more of this e-commerce cooperation between our two countries as the pandemic moves further into our rear-view mirror. It’s also your opportunity to break into a large, profitable and wealthy market! Do your research, and achieve your dream of taking your business international with a bang.

Pictures Provided by World Traveler and Apogee Content Writer Greta Tasedan.

 Why is SEO a Long-Term Strategy?

This piece will be divided into three main reasons why SEO is a long-term strategy: constantly changing market, new competitors, and google/search engine updates.  This piece concludes with client data showing why the investment in SEO is worth it. 

3 Reason’s SEO is Long term

A Constantly Changing Consumer Market

As discussed in this Forbes Article, the MP3 is a great example of this.   Few people remember the release of one of the first MP3s the Rio PMP 300 player from Diamond Multimedia.  Apple didn’t join the iPod market until 2001 but when it did, they were consistently impacting the evolving SEO market.

Apple started their 2001 debut with the headline “1,000 songs in your pocket” and continued to evolve from there as the MP3 Market became more competitive.  When it became not only storage that was important, Apple started to focus its marketing efforts on the wide variety of colors it offered (to beat out its competitors like Zen).   Then there was size, picture ability, videos etc..

No matter what market you’re in, the way consumers search for your products or services will change over time.

Different Competition

While consumer search behavior is ever changing, the competitive landscape that companies face is also everchanging.  As these competitors create more content online your company must produce content that will better answer searchers queries.  Every time a new content piece is released by a competitor, they may start to out rank you, draw in more traffic, ect.  This is why you’ll hear people say “content is king.” 

Search Engine Rules       

Google and other search engines are updating their algorithms constantly to ensure people are not gaming the system and to produce the best search results for consumers.  Google and other search engines goal is to help users find what they’re looking for in as few clicks as possible.  This means they need to find places for improvement and innovation.  Companies must keep up with current trends to ensure they get the best rankings possible. 

Moz gives SEO’s a running tally of all the updates Google puts into effect: https://moz.com/google-algorithm-change

So YOY what are the results like when you invest in SEO?

Within the eCommerce Space:

Client above JBL results:

• Cart abandonment Rate down 87%
• Conversion rate up 200%

Client below PGA Tour Superstore, Results:

• 19% increase in SEO traffic year over year
• Transaction increased to 45,000 a 32.9% improvement.
• Total SEO revenue was 7.7 million.

Within the B2C space:

Client Bug Master, Results:

• Revenue from organic sources increased by over 22% year over year
• Form Fills increased 80.31% year over year from October 2018 through June 2019
• Phone Calls increased 19.81% year over year October 2018 through June 26th 2019

More Examples here: CASE STUDIES

8 Tips to Improve SEO:

1. Improve technical SEO

2. Improve Page Speed and Experience

3. Develop a Keyword Strategy

4. Develop Keyword Focused Content

5. Create Quality Content that Answers User Queries.

6.Employ Internal Linking for Target Keywords

7. Build External Backlinks

8. Always Test and Look for Improvements.