Changing Concepts in SEO and Why Your Company Needs to Keep Up With Them

The SEO today is strikingly different than the SEO of last year, the SEO of last month and even the SEO of last week.  That’s the beauty, and the challenge, internet marketing; just as one method becomes standardized, Google jumps in with a changed algorithm or a new security feature that throws previous SEO strategies out the window.
While keeping up with every single change, update and piece of news can seem overwhelming, it is possible to stay well-informed and up to date with SEO news by following internet marketing leaders on Twitter, subscribing to popular blogs and maintaining a running dialogue with other SEO professionals.  Blogs and twitter can provide you with more detailed information regarding specific algorithm changes, but the following broader concepts are good ones to keep in the back of your mind when applying SEO strategies and making intelligent business decisions.

• The Influence of the Millennial Generation

Any technologically-based field, such as internet marketing, is likely to be dominated by the Millennial Generation.  Millennials, those born between 1981 and 1993, are taking over the Boomers as the most dominant generation and this means a couple things for your company.  First, Millennials are likely to be the largest demographic working at a digital marketing agency, so putting their extensive educational background and technologically-savvy minds to work in the most effective ways possible is an important factor for any SEO manager to take into consideration.
Secondly, these tech-savvy Millennials are likely to make up a huge percentage of your target customer base, so be sure that you are doing the necessary research to most productively implement your SEO strategies.  Millennials are notorious for being up to date with current trends and technology, so if you want results, your SEO company needs to be as well.

•  The Necessity of SEO on Mobile Devices

In today’s world of smartphones and tablets, webmasters who simply optimize their webpages without taking mobile devices into consideration are destined to be behind the curve when it comes to site traffic and search ranking.  According to Google, almost 80% of smartphone users use their phones for shopping, so it’s irresponsible for retailers not to optimize their mobile sites just as heavily as they do their other sites.
This does not simply mean transferring analytics data and formatting from your desktop site to your mobile one; use data, formatting, linking and keywords unique to the mobile site requirements and focus for the most effective optimization.

•  The Importance of Yelp

Having social media pages is important for any business’s SEO prospects, but business pages like Yelp cannot be ignored either.  When Apple dropped Google as its Maps partner for iOS6 and partnered with Yelp instead, it indicated a change in how search results would be obtained and displayed.  While Google focused on encouraging businesses to create new Google+ Local profiles, Bing instead decided that the information present on Yelp was already more than sufficient.  So if someone searches using the map feature, the Yelp profile may be the only information available, representing major changes in SEO.
Plus, creating a strong Yelp profile for your business can assist you in Google searches as well.  Yelp is a very high domain authority site and allows a link, making it a no-brainer for businesses looking to move up in the rankings.

• The Transition from Keywords to Content

In the fast-paced world of digital marketing, even the age-old SEO basics are beginning to change.  While editing title tags and mixing up meta descriptions used to be all that you needed to do to see instant rank changes, this method no longer guarantees an SEO win.  Searchers, like the Millennials, are getting more technologically-intelligent and expect more from the sites they search, so constantly refreshing page and site content is crucial to stay competitive in the SEO world.  Regularly add in new products, news and features to your sites to ensure that they have the highest chances of moving up and gaining traffic as possible.
These are not concepts that can be applied to a site with a single click of the mouse; that’s what makes them even more valuable to your SEO strategies.  These are broader concepts that should be the driving force behind any and all decisions you make regarding how and why you implement your SEO strategies.  Neglecting to consider them can have disastrous results for your company, so apply them early and consider them often.
Acknowledging that these suggestions are likely to become accepted SEO rules in the near future will also drive your search to the top of its game and provide you with the best possible results.  Keeping up with changes in the internet marketing field and trying your best to anticipate the changes and rule shifts that will occur next is the best way to serve your clients and stay in step with the millions of forward-thinking searchers.
 
Author Bio:  Meredith Kimelblatt is an Internet Marketing Consultant at Rise Interactive, a digital marketing agency focused on traffic generation and web analytics.  Learn how Rise can convert your traffic to customers.