I don’t wish this on anyone but sadly, it happens, and I’m confident this is not the only case.

The best way to be Google-safe and to build a thriving online business is to simply ignore Google. Yes, that’s right. This might sound a bit strange, especially coming from someone who makes a living selling SEO services. However, I am also a business owner and the more I learn about business management, the more I realize that if a business finds itself in that situation, it’s because it is too dependent on search engines.

The underlying cause of this reliance on organic search results might be attributed in part to the fact that business owners tend to think of this traffic as “unpaid.” Once they start a website and get organic visits (mistakenly considered “free” visits), they realize the power of SEO and start educating themselves about it and demanding more of it. But this traffic is not free at all, and in competitive niches, it is even more expensive than PPC advertising. Soon, they end up with SEO budgets and an increased reliance on Google search results.

I challenge you to stop obsessing about organic visibility and start thinking of organic traffic from any search engine as a gift that may come or not, and which could go with any new search algorithm update.

In this article I am not going to share any SEO “secrets” with you – I apologize if that’s what you were looking for – but rather, I will discuss different traffic sources upon which you should split your online marketing efforts on. After all, no one likes to check his or her organic rankings and traffic constantly.

Of course, I am not saying that organic traffic from search engines is bad, rather, I am suggesting that an online business will be safer if its revenue is coming from a variety of sources. This is not SEO best practice; it is “business 101,” as some would say.
This is the divide and conquer concept applied to business planning. In plain words, it means not putting all your eggs in one basket. Here are several traffic sources to diversify to:

• Paid search
• eMail
• Direct
• Referral
• Feed
• Social

Paid Search

The most common paid search traffic source is pay -per-click platforms like AdWords, but there are others you can try too, such as Yahoo! and Bing or second-tier search engines. Banner advertising is also something to consider for branding purposes and re-marketing.

Email Marketing

Ask the online marketing veterans and they will all say the same thing: The secret is in the list. True, and enough said. If you don’t have a plan to collect email addresses from visitors, go ahead and implement one, or several.

Direct

Direct, or type-in, traffic is actually an indication of how successful you are at building a brand. Direct traffic usually has high conversion rates and good profits. While existing customers often drive a large portion of a company’s revenue, they are not easily gained. Good products and services are requirements, leading to word-of-mouth and direct traffic. So make sure that you do a good job.

Referral traffic

These are people clicking on links found on other websites and landing on your website. Aim at getting your expertise in front of your audience. This can be accomplished by publishing research and white papers, important news and press releases, or sharing documents on third party websites. You should also experiment with engaging in relevant forum discussions, Q&A sites, and comment marketing.

Feed

This is your blog-driving traffic. Of course, this means you have a blog, and that you publish great content to which people subscribe. Publish as often as you can to educate and impress your target audience. Keep doing it for a couple of years to reap the full benefits of blogging. This continual content publishing won’t be easy. In fact, it will be one of the most difficult parts of your so-called “content marketing,” but after about 20 months (according to some research), it will start paying off.

Social

Some swear by it, others say it’s a waste of time. Don’t believe anyone until you test it for yourself. Be prepared to spend a good amount of time to connect with your target market properly. Social media success is not something you can achieve overnight (unless you’re a Bieber or Kardashian) and is quite demanding.

Some personal advice – never try to sell your services on professional social networks like LinkedIn. Instead, sell your expertise.

How do you allocate time and resources for each source?

This can be figured out based on conversion rates for each source. That means you have to drive sufficient traffic from each source first to draw statistically significant conclusions. Each industry and niche will have its own figures.

Conclusion

As a business owner, you do everything possible to achieve success and to continue to make sure that your business becomes more and more successful. The last thing that you need is to have anyone or anything get in the way of that. If you see that an entity such as Google is hurting rather than helping your business, you must figure out a way to succeed in spite of it.

Rather, this article will look at where search engine optimization is heading in the next few years. After 11 years in the industry, I’m confident I’ve got enough knowledge and experience to voice my opinions about the course and future of SEO. And here’s what I think:

1. The first major component of SEO – on-page optimization – will remain just as it is.
2. The second major component – link building – is going to die. Sorry to write nonsense like this, but I want your attention.

Let me explain.

On-page SEO

This will not change soon because the technology behind building websites will not change very soon. Take a look at where we were 20 years ago in terms of front-end development, HTML 4. Have we evolved very much since then? Not at all, considering that HTML 5 has not yet been embraced by most of the web programmers, and structured markup is a phrase that makes developers go “Huh?!”

As long as there are developers that lack strong marketing, search engine, web analytics and business acumen at the back end of a website, on-page SEO will be there, and we’ll have our bread and butter.

And even if there are developers with such great skills (please introduce them to me, I would like to know them), they are only humans. Errors will be made, and there’s always (or there should be) someone who should audit the website and make sure that all of the pieces go together and stay in place. And that person can also be a search engine optimizer.

On-page SEO is something managers, CEOs and business owners will like because this is something they can control, as opposed to not always being able to control external links and darn secret search engine algorithms, which create confusion and anxiety with executives. You control your own pages, and if you the work, you can actually influence the rankings based on your own assets.

Link Building

Actually, I am serious when I say link building is going to die. But to be more accurate with my prediction, I need to clarify that the way (the strategies) we used to build links will be a thing of the past. The influence of links and anchor text will continue to diminish to a level where links won’t take be the majority signal for rankings (that won’t be for a few years though).

A. Link building – the way it’s done by most SEOs – will die (ok, ok, replace die with change).

B. Links will weigh less and less in the ranking algorithm.

Strategies will change

As you probably are aware, the Penguin update targets unnatural links (and let’s be honest, are “built” links natural at all?).

Google’s mission is to provide the best possible search experience (and results) to its users. To accomplish that, Google fights search engine spammers, whose only purpose is to rank at the top for “money terms,” using techniques that are meant to “play” Google. To get those rankings, spammers usually build large quantities of backlinks to the target website, using the targeted anchor text in those backlinks.

But the game is slowly changing in favor of Google and the white hat marketer. One by one, Google is targeting and devaluing those links that are prone to being manipulated. It started with the no follow attribute to fight the biggest spam of all time – blog commenting. Then it went for social bookmarking sites, press releases, and article directories.

All backlinking strategies that can be easily manipulated will have no weight in the rankings algorithm in the near future.

Your strategy will have to shift from quantity to quality, from links that are easy to get to ones that are hard to get. Make your backlinking strategy hard to replicate, and you will win.

Links will lose their weight

PageRank is the backbone of Google’s algorithm, and at the same time, it is its biggest flaw and target. Google knows that and tries to turn the volume down a bit (more) on it. Instead, Google tries to add other cards to the mix: semantic analysis, personal authority (AuthorRank), social engagement metrics (PostRank), user behavior (SERP bounce rate) and sentiment analysis for user-generated content.

Puzzled by the above terms? Well, I left them unlinked on purpose: I want you to manually copy and paste them into a search engine and educate yourself from various sources rather than just one.

Here’s an example of how the analysis of this page would go in the near future (if not already):

1. Google will crawl this page and understand its meaning using semantic analysis (search engines, link building, SEO).
2. By extracting structured data, Google will find out about the author of the page (Traian Neacsu).
3. Using AuthorRank, Google will make the connection between the author and Pitstop Media (the company co-founded by the author).
4. Without any direct link from this article to Pitstop Media, Google will still associate the extracted terms with the business (through the connection between the author and the business) and will give pitstopmedia.com a bit more weight for those terms.
5. The website will start ranking for keywords, which have never had any backlink anchors (or even keyword mentions) on the site.

Conclusion

When people first started to pay attention to SEO, they may not have realized how important it is to business. The concept of its importance and its impact became clear very quickly and at this point, many people understand why optimizing your content is critical to the success of your business. It is much like the necessity of being involved with social media. When it comes to search engine optimization, it isn’t a question of whether you should be involved because that is a resounding “yes.” It is a question of which tools you use to make sure that your content is optimized in the most effective way possible.

These are my thoughts on SEO and the future of SEO. Let’s hear yours.

We are pleased to provide you with the insightful comments contained herein. For a free assessment of your online presence, let’s have coffee.

You are at the mercy of the search giants policies, updates and algorithm changes. Going by the recent trends, both can be rather unpredictable.

While it is a fact that bigger, more established brands have it easy on Google, smaller businesses too can establish their brand names in niche areas through SEO services that yield steady, consistent results. The following are some of the most recommended tried and true practices:

When it comes to branding, look and feel matters

In order to create your brand recall value, you need to build a brand that your visitors and potential customers can recognize and remember. Take inspiration from the well-known brands that exist in the market and try to model your branding initiatives on similar lines. Design a memorable logo, follow a consistent color scheme for your brand’s online and offline activities and add catchy slogans and tag lines wherever appropriate.

Branding transcends into keywords too – Key in the right words

Branding your website doesn’t stop at just redesigning your online space and crafting a memorable logo. Include your brand name and your unique selling proposition, even within your keywords as you optimize your website. In addition to targeted SEO keywords about your products or services, ensure that you include selected keywords that relate exclusively to your brand.

Depending on how much you want to push your brand, you can either place the brand name at the beginning of the title tag (for SEO branding) or at the end (for traffic):

SEO Keyword | Brand Name – this puts more SEO emphasis on the keyword

Brand Name | SEO Keyword – this puts more SEO emphasis on your brand

If you put the brand at the end of the title tag remember that Google displays only about 60 characters in the search result pages; longer titles will be truncated. Keep your title tag relevant to your website’s content and the products and services that you offer.

Here are some rules from a good article on title tag optimization:

-If you have a well-established brand (i.e. Amazon), you may want to have the brand at the beginning of the title.

-If you are trying to build a brand and your efforts are sustained by SEO, the brand name will be the first word.

-If your brand has some recognition that you can still place and your campaign goal is to drive unbranded traffic, the brand name can be placed at the end of the tag.

- If your company name is not well known or if you don’t care about branding, don’t put your brand name in the title at all

A Cohesive Brand Strategy Pays Off

Build your branding efforts to spread out beyond just your website. Incorporate your logo and color scheme on all other aspects of your company, including newsletters, e-mail campaigns, press releases, etc.

The future of SEO lies in leveraging not just keywords but your brand name as well. Google’s latest updates and anti-spam policies have made the search engine’s preference for branded websites, as opposed to smaller, unbranded or nearly anonymous ones, quite clear.

Your Link Profile Must Include Branded Anchor Texts

There is no denying that SEO keywords-based anchor texts are still relevant; however, in terms of rankings, branded keywords have also become equally important. Your link profile, therefore, must include branded links leading to your website. Not only will this give you brand recognition on Google but it will also give you SEO leverage by making your link profile seem natural.

At least 20% of your anchor text backlinks should contain your brand name.

Use Social Media

No online branding exercise today is complete without social media marketing. The important thing to remember here is not to go overboard. The idea of social media is networking and information sharing, so focus on that and adopt a subtle approach when it comes to promotional posts. For instance, if you want to share a blog that plugs your products, promote it as a buying guide for people seeking those products.

Another advantage of social media is that it can bring you traffic irrespective of your Google ranking. Creating a buzz in social networks will also make your brand more recognizable.

Conclusion

Branding is no longer an exclusive game for the big boys club. In today’s competitive markets (both online and offline), even small businesses need to get their branding right, if they want to survive and grow. If you follow the simple practices outlined here, you will succeed.

We are pleased to provide you with the insightful comments contained herein. For a free assessment of your online presence, let's have coffee.

Obviously, the level of your social networking will determine how effective your social media marketing and content marketing can be. Some, who manage the social media campaigns properly, have shared testimonials of how they doubled traffic, or even more.

In this article, you’ll learn 5 tips to boost traffic with social media marketing. After all, this is what inbound marketing is about—merging social, search, email and news to produce quality results.

Offer helpful advice

Offering helpful advice can help a marketer achieve tremendous results.

When you offer good advice in terms of quality content and value, people will fall in love with and share your content via social media channels, such as Twitter and Facebook. Don’t plead with your target audience to trust you, just earn it with your helpful advice.

Stay abreast of hot trends

A company that doesn’t keep in tune with happenings around their industry/niche is trading creativity for something else. Current news reveals a lot about the geographic environment, the business and what you stand to gain.

Each time you tweet about hot trends, your followers would be inclined to retweet and promote it. Every effort to get your message across to people in a timely manner will affect the ranking for your website, no matter how little.

Bad news can also get you many social fans and sharing, but it’s just that. The conversion rate will be low and discouraging.

Tip: To get news about what matters to you, subscribe to Google Alerts and read press release sites and get the alerts as they happen.

Capture your audience

People who follow you on Twitter are your audience already. They can spread the word for you.

However, those people landing on your site from your social media efforts are strangers to you. A stranger won’t go the extra mile to promote your business.

The best way to capture your audience is through opt-in subscriptions on your site.

Not all conversions happen at the first visit on your site, and if you don’t get your audience’s emails, you’re missing the target. In order words, organic traffic is a waste if you can’t convince them to join your email list. No matter what others will say, email is social media too, so don’t ignore it!

Be consistent

Almost all of the steps mentioned so far needs a fuel to run. Be consistent – that’s my best advice. It takes time to get result in any worthwhile project. Be it social media or search engine optimization.

The focus is on quality and epic content, coupled with a well-structured list building system.

Keep sending people to your landing pages and convert them to subscribers first, then refer them to your social media accounts. Over time, the efforts you put into collecting leads will pay off handsomely.

Build sociable links

How do people share articles and websites? The best way to garner plenty of links to your website is to make it sociable. In other words, make your content easy to share.

Make sure your social media buttons are well-placed. What a group of people can achieve is often faster and easier than what a single person aims for. Create articles with tips which are easy to use right away. Make it practicable, entertaining and unique. Creating an ‘ultimate guide’ is a great content marketing strategy that works.

Rather than struggling continuously to build links to your website pages, you can encourage other people to do it for on your behalf. Solve their problems, create content that’s easy to share, make people laugh, add humor or make them worry about a concern or any other emotion that will trigger a social share.

Takeaway

Social media marketing done right takes time and patience. However, getting others to share your content in web 2.0 sites is one of the best tactics for increasing traffic and boosting sales. It is also very rewarding to see your content being shared publicly, getting published on worthy sites and the news and, yes, even scrapped by other sites.

What do you think? How do you handle you current social media efforts? Let me know in your comments.

See you at the top!

We are pleased to provide you with the insightful comments contained herein. For a free assessment of your online presence, let's have coffee.