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Back in the day, SEO was quite a simple process consisting of three parts:
- Market and keyword research
- On-page optimisation
- Link building (off-page optimisation)
In 2011, it’s not that simple anymore. Depending on what niche or industry you are working in or rather what kind of site and business model you have, SEO can be a lot of things. SEO can or even has to consist of more disciplines.
Most importantly, local SEO/Google Places SEO or e-commerce SEO/Google Shopping SEO play a major role for many businesses today. Local businesses that also have an online shop need both.
On the other end of the SEO process there is landing page optimisation or conversion optimisation. An SEO process without it is not really complete.
That’s still not enough though, as without king content there is nothing to get linked to on your site or to rank for in Google, so a decent SEO process entails a content strategy. This might include:
- blogging
- infographics
- videos.
To spread these you need social media outreach and participation, as content does not spread by itself without some traction on social media. So a typical SEO process might look something like this:
- Market and keyword research
- Local SEO/Google Places optimisation
- On-page optimisation
- E-commerce SEO/Google Shopping optimisation
- Content strategy (planning, creation, optimisation, promotion)
- Social media outreach & participation
- Landing page optimisation/Conversion optimisation
- Website analytics and monitoring
These steps have to be undertaken for more and more sites. Even sites that aren’t considered e-commerce often use check-out forms or shopping carts. Many businesses that are not local by definition also have real-life brick and mortar storefronts or offices. So Google Places and Google Shopping SEO is not rare either.
Even video SEO for YouTube and beyond is mainstream now. There is also mobile SEO to make sure your visitors can reach your site using their smartphones or tablets.
Already overwhelmed? You don’t need to be. You still can stick to the old SEO model and succeed to some extent, but you can gain even more by expanding your SEO strategy to include all of the above mentioned disciplines.
I appreciate your article. It reminds me that I need to get some Video content on Google / YouTube for this has not been part of my SEO strategy.
I completely agree! You can add mobile optimization to the fray as well. For everyone who had their knickers in a bunch about SEO is dead obviously couldn’t look around at all the other opportunities around them. SEO has evolved and if you want to play the game, you have to evolve as well.
btw- LOVE Your Posts!
I think for every online business, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the core mantra of success in the business. It is the process by which a search engine optimizer brings a business website to rank highly among major search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. The process of SEO is very beneficial to drive more and more traffic to a website and that turns in to revenue. Unique content, relevant keywords and link popularity are the major factors to provide high rank in any search engine.
I agree SEO has evolved massively over the past few years, it has to with the like of the JC Penney and their search agency.
People will always try and game the system, and Google struggles to stay ahead of that curve.
One thing that always helps a site is great content, content is still king, but now it just hads to be seeded in more places for it to take effect.
SEO had evolved dramatically and we need to change our SEO strategy to adapt to this change to keep staying on top. Combining Social Media Optimization with traditional SEO is the next level in marketing.
Starting social media campaign for your business allows you to expose your brand name, service, product, event, and so on to your target market. Since almost everyone is now on twitter, facebook, etc., you’re business should be there too.