Friday, July 05, 2013

15 experts on SEO tips for 2013


2012 was eventful to say the least. Last year I did an interview on SEO tips for 2012. This year is no different. I asked 15 trusted experts in the SEO community about the changes we saw last year and what we can expect in 2013. This is a must read for anyone working with SEO.

The experts :

What do you think we as SEOs should focus on in 2013?

Joost de Valk

For a while, people seemed to think that :

  • A) SEO could impact their bottom line within 2 weeks and
  • B) they needn’t think of the results of their SEO campaigns in 2 years

    I hope that’s changed now. Your SEO campaign should focus on getting results in 1 or 2 years and take faster improvements as a bonus. On badly SEO’d websites a good SEO can still get tremendous results in a short period, and getting some nicely target links from high-profile sites can still boost rankings, so don’t stop doing that, just think about whether Google will still like what you’re doing in 2 years.

Good SEO always went hand-in-hand with good UX, great content and a good site structure, but many people took shortcuts to prevent having to work on that. Well, that time is over. SEO no longer stands for Seemingly Effortless Optimization, but for Seriously Effortful Optimization. Get to work. The first thing I’d do is look deeply at your site and get all the basics right again. Then see what you could do to make the site more worthwhile for your customers and prospective customers, while keeping SEO best practices in mind. Some SEO’s see that as giving in and agreeing that Google has won. I don’t care, I just want to help my clients make more money.

Trond Lynbø

The difficulty will be to keep the ‘main thing’ the MAIN thing! Many clients think SEO is only about higher rankings and greater search volumes. But from an SEO perspective, rankings are just a consequence, not a KPI. Obsessing over a symptom will misdiagnose the disease. 

Many site owners want to do the minimum possible, yet expect awesome results. But the days of ‘quick fix SEO’ are numbered, if not already over. It’s time to see SEO from a different angle, with broader, wider focus. To step back, rather than blindly rush to implement new tactics. To decide where you want to go, and act on a strategy-driven plan.

In 2013-2015, your strategy will be key to survive. Get help. Be ready to pay for this help. Remember, even excellent SEO cannot compensate for a poor product. You must set yourself apart from the crowd with a great offer that adds value to your target audience, both collectively and individually. Know your customers. Understand them well. Research and analyze their needs and problems. The better you can read your buyer’s mind, the greater your chance of success.

SEO itself will grow more complex in 2013, with more data to analyze, and changing usage patterns (e.g. mobile devices). That’s why my best tip is to step back, evaluate and analyze your business strategy, then figure out exactly where you’re headed.

Having relevant content alone won’t be enough in 2013. With an emphasis on ‘authorship’, Google has signaled its focus on identifying quality content. Semantic Search and the Knowledge Graph will be of paramount importance in the coming year.

Google is shifting tracks to become an “answer engine”. The strategic SEO train is leaving the station. Will you be on board? Be smart. Keep your focus. And dominate the SERPs in 2013 – and beyond!

Geir Ellefsen

I think it’s time to stop thinking small about SEO. SEOs need to look at the big picture. Don’t get stuck on small details. Build better web sites, get better at social and focus on content. Do remarkable stuff:)

Barry Schwartz

SEOs should continue to focus on building our unique quality content that naturally attracts links but should also spend more time focusing on social factors.  Obviously, Google+ is going to be big, it isn’t that big right now, but Google is betting a lot on it.  Facebook and Twitter are huge drivers of traffic and consider them to continue to grow in influence and thus search engines will consider them to be a growing factor of trust and relevance.

Ross Hudgens

I think we should learn how to be better content marketers. We were SEOs, now we have to be content marketers in order to survive. I don’t think we need to learn content strategy in most verticals, but we need to know how to apply content marketing to the content strategy being implemented by teams – without contradicting said strategy – to most effectively get movement in the search engines. And of course, conversions as well. If we solely focus on marketing content and do it well, tons of other stuff will take care of itself.

Jon Cooper

We should focus on identifying what we do that scales, assessing it’s legitimacy as a long-term tactic, and adjusting as needed. More & more algorithmic changes like Penguin will happen, and it’s up to us to not be on the bad end of the stick. Because algorithms detect patterns, and because patterns are usually from something repeatable (a la scalable), we have to focus on things that don’t leave footprints. That’s why “scale” is going to be less and less about tactics and more and more about process.

Neil Patel

In 2013 SEO won’t be about gaming Google, it will be about building a “real business”. If you can create a good product or service people love, write content that benefits others, and create a good user experience, you’re site is more likely to get rankings in the long run.

Bas van den Beld

In the next year this will be a trend which without a doubt will continue. Google will try to maintain and grow their grip and “SEO” will be much more about optimising in general than before. SEO’s should, as should other marketers, focus on integrating all the channels and trying to make a change within companies to not just think about SEO as a channel but as part of the integrated marketing campaigns. Again, something which has been going on for a while, but which should be done much more.

Marcus Tandler

Building up authority as an author and becoming a credible and competent source within your niche. Try to become an expert in your industry, share specialist advice and engage with your community. This will help a lot getting your own stuff in front of like-minded people and the linkerati within your industry. Share and you will get shared!

Jason Acidre

SEO, as a marketing practice, has grown bigger over the years, as the more it evolves, the more it involves different signals to achieve better search visibility.

Next year, it’s imperative for us SEOs to focus on a diversified approach for our campaigns, through appropriate integration of different inbound channels. All the signals generated through these efforts can help build a solid online brand presence (seeing that Google is favouring brands more and more).

And in turn, these actions (diversified approach to optimize for search, social, engagements, conversions, user-experience and brand recognition) can help improve search visibility and will allow the brand to compete for highly competitive keywords.

Applying the Pareto Principle (80% output from 20% input) on every aspect of implementation is also important. Make the most out of every implemented idea (ex: building evergreen content for links, social shares, traffic, lead generation, branding and eventually rankings).

The more we focus on quality (to achieve maximum results), the lesser tendencies of putting our campaigns at risk of spamming, over-optimizing and/or over-populating the web with crappy guest postings.

Basically, I recommend SEOs to focus on online brand marketing by being everywhere (particularly on the right distribution channels). I believe that search engines will put more weight on brand-related signals next year.

Will Critchlow

I really liked Dr. Pete’s answer to this which was diversification. I like this not only at a tactical level (reducing the reliance on a single traffic source or marketing method) but also at a strategic and personal level. I like it as a way of building a competitive moat and also as a means of personal development.

Aaron Wall

2013 will for many be a year where we end up having to focus on broader & more holistic marketing efforts that reach people at many points, rather than being so focused on just the search channel. It will also be a year in which some of the “can’t lose” platform plays begin to use their Google rankings to really push back at Google in ways that perhaps gives Google pause. For example, the biggest online retailer is now adding 3rd party brand controlled pages on their site & is running a distributed online ad network that is already above a billion Dollars per year in revenue run rate. Facebook and Twitter might also try to encroach on search too.

Andrew Knibbe

At Flippa, we expect 2013 to be more of the same with respect to back-link and content quality trumping all. SEOers would also be advised to see if the role of social media becomes a larger influencer of search engine results in 2013.

Scott Polk

In 2013 the focus should be on:

  • Developing Content that attracts Relevant Organic Links
  • Social Signals – Do not build your own Facebook, but use their technology to create your own micro-social communities
  • More Authorship
  • Build Engaging Content and ShareBait, then market the hell out of it

Tags : Search Engine Optimization,Nilesh Patel SEO,Nilesh SEO, SEO Services in Ahmedabad

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