Why SEO Matters
Of 2023 marketing budgets, SEO accounts for about 23% of investments.
Almost half of surveyed marketers plan to increase investment in SEO in 2023.
Simply put, SEO directly translates into tangible results. It works with paid channels and helps maximize all other paid advertising investments.
SEO Overview
SEO lives and dies with consistency.
SEO can differentiate your business and marketing, but breaking through the clutter is challenging. If not consistently managed, organic results will be less than desirable.
- Foundation: Most marketing efforts lead to an organic search regardless of the channel.
- Focus: SEO supports the bottom of the funnel, specifically the advertiser’s website.
- Expectation: Enable your natural online presence to become your business’s lead and traffic driver.
- Challenge: SEO takes time; organic results need to be gauged over months, not weeks.
AUTHORITY
The discoverability, relevance, and power of your backlink profile.ON-SITE
Technical aspects of your website include URL structure, canonicalization, markup, and many more.CONTENT
All the parts of your site that are visible to search engines and users, including paragraph copy, blogs, descriptions & everything in between.Evolution of SEO
The silver bullet to quick SEO success…
★ There isn’t one!
Capturing Organic Search share and engaging relevant users cannot be achieved with one big splash but by executing several best practices consistently.
It’s not sexy initially, but the results will speak for themselves both short and long-term. Remaining steadfast in your plan will pay dividends over time.
Early Days
Black and White.
SEO Pre ~2015 was much more methodical. Search engines used metadata in a specific way. Content followed a similar structural pattern. Links were being purchased and built throughout the web. Google told you how to respond to algorithmic updates.
It was the Golden Age.
There were flaws in how Google and other search engines rewarded websites because they succumbed to the “organic manipulation” occurring throughout the web. User experience was not a priority, and more people were searching from desktop devices than mobile devices.
Did you know? The total number of websites on the internet in 2015 was 863,105,652.
Today
Be Consistent.
SEO Post-2015 thrives off of consistent execution and analysis. Search engines have prioritized mobile user conversions. Official search quality guidelines are referenced as ranking algorithms are updated.
There’s a connotation with SEO that it’s slow, takes too much time, or doesn’t work. This connotation has generated a stigma that often deprioritized SEO within a business’ marketing planning process.
Did you know? The total number of websites on the internet today is >1,500,000,000.
Tomorrow
Adopt to refine.
2023 and beyond offer new technologies, including generative AI, such as ChatGPT and Google Bard. These will continue to impact search and search strategy. Additionally, they are significantly increase the speed of day-to-day processes.
They aren’t a crutch, so if you’re using AI, be sure to recognize that search engines generally catch up to those attempting to manipulate search results.
Did you know? Both Bing and Google have adopted AI tech and plan to integrate it into their search engines (check out Bing Chat!).
Current Hot Topics
AI for Content Generation
While search engines have not discredited the use of AI to generate content, they have set parameters around how it’s used.
Appropriate use of AI or automation is not against our guidelines. This means it is not used to generate content primarily to manipulate search rankings, which is against our spam policies. – Google Search Central
Search engines continue to develop their spam-fighting technologies, which may include AI content detection capabilities.
Potential Uses:
- Content ideation and outlining
- Process and workflow development
- Technical knowledge explanations
- Social post content creation
- Code writing and troubleshooting
AI Content
How Marketers are currently using it today
How to Stay in Front of Trends
Treat SEO as an operational activity.
- Know the landscape
- Prioritize conversion
- Develop SOP for SEO
- Execute consistently
1. Know the Landscape
Get to know the space
First Consideration
“SEO takes time” is a common phrase that means you should think three months ahead.
- Competition is your #1 ranking factor.
- Search engines are changing the rules by the day – know the rules.
- How is your audience searching online?
- Where does Organic Search fall into the consumer journey for your product/service?
2. Prioritize Conversion
Measure appropriately
Second Consideration
Focusing on ROI is great; search engines want to see searchers take action.
- Ensure organic strategy is tied to valuable actions directly and indirectly.
- Utilize funnel exploration (formerly funnel visualizations) in GA4 to know where you’re losing your customers.
- Identify micro conversions.
3. Develop SOP for SEO
Be regimented in your approach
Third Consideration
Avoid creating more issues while trying to fix them. When developing new content or pages:
- Consider whether the
- content could impact the SEO of the website.
- Conduct keyword research to assist in outlining the content topic and subtopics.
- Analyze comparable competitive content.
- Develop a “playbook.”
4. Execute Consistently
Bring those procedures to life
Fourth Consideration
Again, think “operational” – it’s necessary to stay ahead and avoid deteriorating performance
- The overall investment in SEO is increasing, which means a more competitive search market.
- Foster an SEO mindset with stakeholders.
- Incorporate Organic Search metrics within reporting discussions.
Creative Growth
Create for impact.
- Knowing how important a diverse media mix is to a holistic advertising strategy, do you have the proper creative to fully maximize the media dollars being invested?
- Are special initiatives on your roadmap, and do you have the proper creative specialty lined up to support your effort? If not, results can fall flat on something that a great deal of time has been invested in.
