New SEO Trends: Google Enhances the User Experience

What are the new SEO trends? 

Back in 2020, Google began incorporating new metrics for measuring website loading time and overall user experience: Web Vitals. By summer 2021, these metrics would become part of their core algorithm update, which means they would be used to assess the overall user experience. Read about how Google has enhanced the user experience.

SEO trends 2022: Core Web Vitals

There is a subset of metrics every site owner should focus on, called Core Web Vitals. According to Google, “Core Web Vitals is a set of real-world, user-centered metrics that quantify key aspects of the user experience.”

Each Core Web Vital metric looks at a specific piece of the page experience puzzle and together they help both Google and the user make sense of the perceived site experience. Core Web Vitals are available in all Google tools that measure the page experience.

User experience affected by a wide range of criteria, including load time

How hard can this be? You click a link in the search results, and the corresponding page appears. But we all know that’s not always how it works. Pages (and images) have increased in size; the addition of JavaScript has made them even harder to load. Even with our speedy internet connections and sophisticated devices, waiting for a webpage to load can be a drag. More often, we move on.

Google SEO trends

But loading times are only part of the equation; the harder part is defining and measuring the overall user experience. This is about how a user experiences all those optimizations. A website well could load quickly, but it still may not feel fast, and the overall user experience may not be positive. 

According to Google: 

“Great page experiences enable people to get more done and engage more deeply. A bad page experience could stand in the way of a person’s being able to find the valuable information on a page.” Google still seeks to rank pages with the best information overall, even if the page experience is subpar. Great page experience doesn’t override having great page content. However, in cases where there are many pages that may be similar in relevance, page experience can be much more important for visibility in Search.”

The Core Web Vitals will evolve, but for now, Google identified three specific focal points:

• Loading
• Interactivity
• Visual stability

These focal points correspond with three new metrics:

• LCP: Largest Contentful Paint–This metric tells how long it takes for the largest content element you see in the viewport to load.
• FID: First Input Delay–The FID looks at how long it takes for a browser to respond to an interaction first triggered by the user (clicking a button, for instance)
• CLS: or Cumulative Layout Shift–This is a new metric that measures the percentage of the screen affected by movement—for instance, does stuff jump around on the screen?

These core metrics transcend load time. The Cumulative Layout Shift is about how all of the elements on the page work together. Do all of the images and text load together so you see the full page at once rather than its individual parts?

Combining new metrics with existing ranking factors

The launch of Web Vitals was noteworthy on its own, but Google stepped it up. Google is going to incorporate these new metrics into their existing SEO ranking factors to help with ranking pages. 

Web Vitals helps make up the page experience ranking factors, including:

• Mobile-friendliness—whether or not your site is optimized for mobile.
• HTTPS—is your site using a secure connection?
• Interstitial use–does your site stay away from nasty pop-ups?

These new user-centered metrics take into account everything a user experiences on a website to try to come up with a more holistic view of your site’s performance.

New insights provide more comprehensive analysis

Of course, this is just another way for Google to get a sense of how good your site is and it might be easy to overstate the importance of this particular update. It’s still going to be impossible to rank a site with a great user experience but crappy content. While the quality of your content still reigns supreme in getting good rankings, the performance and perceived experience users have now also come into play. 

Latest SEO trends 2022

Put these new SEO trends to work for your company. Contact Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and content marketing specialists.

What’s the Best Way to Do Keyword Research

I recently watched a YouTube tutorial on keywords and online ads—some of these guys are really smart, and I’m always up for learning something new–but the guy who was doing this tutorial hadn’t done any research on his keywords. He just used his company name and tacked on a few words to make up each keyword phrase. Unbelievable. This guy was completely missing the most important part of doing PPC campaigns: KEYWORDS! 

So now of course I was curious, and I researched his keywords to see how they ranked, and not surprisingly, they all fell in the “Low”, range, which means that no one is even searching for the terms he’s using! There were no costs associated with his keywords because no one is searching for them. He totally missed what is the most fundamental part of PPC/online advertising. 

What is keyword research?

Online advertising is an auction. You’re bidding on words/phrases. In some ways, it’s an equalizer—you can bid against the big guys where your bid is as good as anyone else’s. But doing comprehensive keyword research to understand what words/phrases you can afford to bid on is critical to your campaign’s success. 

Keyword research:

• Is the process of finding and analyzing search terms for online optimization (SEO). 
• It can identify the popularity of queries and their ranking difficulty—which translates to their cost per click (CPC) and the bids’ affordability for you. 
• It helps identify the keywords for which your audience is searching.

 

How to do keyword research for Google ads

Keywords have evolved. Keyword research tells you what topics people care about and how those topics rank with your audience. The operative term here is topics—by researching keywords that are getting a high volume of searches per month, you can identify and sort your content into topics that you want to write about. These topics will then dictate which keywords you target. It’s the intent behind those keywords, and whether or not a piece of content satisfies the intent.

How do I do my own keyword research?

Make a list of important, relevant topics that are indigenous to your business. Ideally, you will have five-ten information buckets of topics. If you’re a blogger, your blog’s categories should directly translate to your topics and are a great place to start. Fill those buckets with related keywords and keyword phrases. Get creative. Do some googling to find related words. Or use the thesaurus in MSWord to get started thinking about this.

You’ll want to plug your keywords into a keyword tool to narrow down your list. There is a range of proprietary tools on the market that come with a pricetag. You’ll see references to Semrush, Moz and Ahrefs, for instance. All are very good products that do a lot in the SEO space. 

How to use Google Keyword Planner

I use Google’s Keyword Planner. I really like that it’s free, and Google owns the search space, so it makes sense to use their free tools. Enter your keywords/phrases into the search field in Google’s Keyword Planner, and you’ll get a results screen that shows a wide range of data—the number of monthly searches for that term, competition, and pricing for the keywords and phrases you’re considering.

I start by sorting on the Competition column. You want High search volume results—maybe Medium. Forget Low—if no one’s searching for that keyword, why bother? Look at the next two columns to the right and you’ll see projected prices for words at the top of the page and the prices at the low end of the page. Forget about the low end—they’re meaningless. You’re interested in the high-end prices. Time for a big reality check. You’ll find that people are paying a lot of money for a chance to be on page one of a google search—and that, of course, is the holy grail, our true north. Page 1 of a search.

The best way to do keyword research

Identify your budget and decide how much you’re willing to pay when someone clicks on your ad. Look at the top of column prices and eliminate those words that are way too costly—you’re going to find that it’s a lot of these, so you’ll have to get creative about identifying your keywords and building your ad. Keep drilling down to find new words and new combinations of words that are a fit for your business. Continue to work the keyword planner until you find a group of keywords/phrases that are a good fit for your ad marketing goals and fall within your budget. 

Pay attention to the phrases that Google planner spits back at you while you’re doing keyword research. Learn from them. Some of these keywords provide industry insights of which you may not have been aware. Use these and/or combine them with other words and do another search. For each keyword/phrase, look at the competition and top-page cost. Continue this process of identifying potential keywords and running this test. Copy the words/phrases that meet your specs—relevance and affordability–so that you can use them in your campaign. 

Keyword research can be time-consuming and frustrating

This is just an example of how the results screens pick up words and come back with results—often irrelevant ones. I was looking for keywords for one of my clients who owns a small storage/moving business. His business is entirely rental. People use his services on a short-term rental basis only. Google keyword planner kept throwing back phrases about moving and storage containers for sale. What? This gives you an idea of how Google works—it recognizes a relationship between rent and sale and “sale” words show up on the result screen. Keep trying new word combinations, stay diligent until you identify enough words to create your campaign.

Try to include a mix of short terms and long-tail keywords

Long-tail keywords, or longer phrases, will have a lower monthly search volume. While they may have lower search volume, they also will have more qualified responses. More words narrow the qualifications—and the quality of your responses. These are the people who are at the bottom of the sales funnel, ready to buy.

Keyword research can be confusing, but it’s the most important part of your online advertising (PPC) campaign. Getting this right is essential. Contact Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and content marketing specialists.

What's the Importance of Offpage SEO?

Increasing your organic traffic takes more than onpage SEO

That’s the easy stuff that you likely have nailed by now. You’re doing all the right things to increase your organic traffic. Things like: 

• Writing really good content. 
• Developing metadescriptions that include your focus keyword. 
• Identifying keywords and phrases and using these in your headings and subheads, in your titles and metadescriptions.
• Creating smart inner links among your pages. 
• Optimizing images by labeling them with your company name and the image’s description and providing descriptive alt tags. 

But this isn’t enough. You also need to be doing off-page SEO

Off-page SEO is an essential part of a successful SEO strategy—it’s the activity that’s OFF your website’s pages. It’s your total online and offline presence. It’s your social media sites where you’re posting on a consistent basis. It includes podcasts and the reviews you’re getting on your Google Business Profile. If you’re not into endless self-promotion, asking for reviews can be uncomfortable. Get over it. All of us are reading reviews these days before making both big and small decisions. 

What is the importance of offpage SEO

What’s most important about offpage SEO is understanding that it’s the activity that takes place OFF the webpage. It’s the stuff you’re doing away from your website to build your brand. 

Off-page SEO includes brand building and PR. That’s getting out in front of the public. Pitching articles to local publications or industry newsletters. Looking for opportunities to be a guest blogger or speaker. It includes networking, meeting people and growing your presence. 

According to Whitespark’s 2021 Local Search Ranking Factors report, reviews can influence both the Google Local Pack and Local Finder rankings as well as local organic rankings. You do want to be part of local search and show up on Google’s Local Pack. Podcasts are part of offpage SEO, just as influencer marketing is is. 

You’ve seen the Local Pack a gazillion times

You didn’t know it was a product in the search space. Let’s say you’re going to be in Athens for a month and you’re looking for cafes with wifi near your airbnb. (My local search for the month of May.) You’re served up a map with three listings, your location and that of three cafes. This is your Local Pack. I found a delightful little café in my neighborhood that became my go-to home with yummy food and friendly people, thanks to Local Pack!

GBP ranking factors guidelines

• Relevance: Complete and detailed business information will help Google better understand your business and match your listing to relevant searches. 
• Distance: How far each potential business is from the location terms used in a search. Google prioritizes by location. 
• Prominence: Your overall online presence. More reviews and positive ratings will improve your local ranking.

Reviews are another important component of offpage SEO

A Google Business Profile (GBP) review well may be one of the first places a user encounters your name and brand. 79% of people said they trust reviews as much as a personal recommendation from friends or family. Your GBP acts as a mini-website or citation that is displayed on the right-hand side of the Google search results page, which business owners can manage. It’s building a relationship within the Google environment. 

Feedback from your clients will produce more keywords and phrases—your company name shows up again and words about your services. It’s always a good thing to be drilling down into this big, robust Google network. That’s why I believe in using these Google tools. You can use a vast inventory of proprietary apps for just about everything, including keyword research. But Google owns the search space. Using their tools means that you’re in synch with their way of doing things. Take advantage of this.

We can help optimize your website. Contact Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and content marketing specialists.

Google Ranking Factors 2022 

I recently read an article recommending we blog four-five times/week. That’s crazy. I don’t know anyone who has the resources to produce four or more quality articles/week. I try to blog once/week, but we all know how that goes–sometimes it just doesn’t happen. 

Is publishing content related to ranking?

While I’ve always believed that the more you publish to the online space, the likelier you’ll show up in a search, I have no documented proof for this. But Google recently conducted an SEO hangout to discuss content and rankings. Specifically, “If I add content every day will I increase my rankings?” 

How do I rank my content?

Posting daily or at any specific frequency doesn’t help with ranking better in Google search results. But the more pages you have in the Google index, the more your content may show up in search results. The key equalizer is the quality of your content and getting that content indexed.

Ranking factors in SEO

Google bots are constantly crawling the internet and indexing content. They’re looking for your headings and subheadings, for H1 and H2 tags. But Google doesn’t crawl all content. If the content isn’t crawled, it’s not going to be indexed, which means it’s not going to get ranked. Part of the reason Google might not crawl that content is the overall quality of a website. 

I worked with a client who had a really awful website with terrible blogs that she copied and pasted from other sources. These blogs were maybe 300 words or so, not the 750-word count that we recommend. There were no images, no headings or subheads with the requisite H1 and H2 tags that Google looks for. She made no effort to insert snappy intros, opinions or experiences that would have personalized them. These were examples of content that is likely not being indexed. 

How long does it take for new content to rank on Google

For websites that have just launched, Google doesn’t know if the quality of that content is good. It could be a site with a big database and thousands of pages—Google does like quantity, after all. But Google will be cautious about crawling and indexing those pages until it’s sure that the quality is actually good. 

February 2022: Google’s John Mueller’s advice on getting content indexed

According to Mueller, “Internal linking is very important for us to understand what you would consider to be important on a website. For example, being linked from the home page is usually a sign that you care about these pages, so maybe we should care about them more.” He also suggested focusing less on quantity and more on the quality of content. “Making sure that it’s easy for us to recognize the important content on a website is really good.”

More from Mueller: “I’ve noticed that readers can become obsessed with discovering new content when they are highly engaged with a topic. In my opinion, content can be like eating popcorn when the reader has a strong engagement with the topic – they can’t stop reading and keep coming back for more. People who are engaged with a topic will click through when they see an article on their important topic in the search results.

Making sure your site can be crawled by search engines is key

There are tools that can analyze crawlability, including Screaming Frog. It will evaluate crawlability and metadescriptions. It can also find broken links and duplicate content–Google hates duplicate content. 

There’s more, of course. We’re content marketing specialists. Contact Top of Mind Marketing to talk about Google ranking factors and your website.  

What’s the Difference Between a Pillar Page and a Landing Page?

Pillar pages and landing pages have completely different functions, but they can work together to help generate leads and show up organically in search engines.

What is a pillar page?

A pillar page, or content pillar, is part of a larger pillar-page strategy that provides in-depth coverage of a topic. The pillar page strategy is supported by subpages and blogs that provide relevant information on the same topic. It’s hierarchical, with all content rolling up to the main pillar page topic. Search engine crawlers prioritize websites with this kind of topic-organized content. It can help you rank for important inquiries. 

What is pillar page SEO? 

Pillar page SEO means identifying keywords you want to rank for and using these throughout your pillar page strategy. This is what it’s all about. Use those keywords in your headings, subheads and other text. Be sure to assign H1 and H2 tags to these headings. Be consistent—use these words throughout all of your online accounts.

Landing pages focus on a single topic: Lead generation

Unlike pillar pages that provide comprehensive coverage of a single topic, good landing pages can focus on a single objective—lead generation. A landing page is a dedicated page on a website that you land on directly from an external source such as a paid ad or email. It’s highly targeted, persuasive in nature, designed to connect with a predetermined audience. Landing pages can be constructed for SEO purposes to capture organic search traffic. They can also be used with paid advertising through search engines or social media.

Landing pages in a marketing campaign

Landing pages are usually accessed by a link from a paid ad or email. Traffic from paid ads has high commercial intent and is usually ready to complete an action. The page must be ready to fulfill that need. 

A landing page should be providing:

• A unique proposition. Define what makes your product so appealing and enticing. Why should the user take action? Use the proposition in the headline to gain attention and encourage the user to read the supporting copy. Follow best practices for writing headlines and subheads. Short, crisp, attention-getting headers. Easy to read fonts. Use an image that’s descriptive, one that helps define your further your proposition. 

Just one thing. Make sure you’re promoting one thing. I see this a lot. It quickly becomes confusing and dilutes your messaging. Make sure you’re promoting one product or one service.

• Call to Action (CTA). The most important part of the page. Make your CTA button obvious and stand out. Include a CTA above the fold and repeat at the bottom of the page. 
• 
  
• Benefits of the offer. Don’t sell features, sell benefits. How will this make the user feel? How will it make their lives or jobs easier, save them money, etc. There must be a visceral appeal.
• 
  
• Social proof. Word of mouth and social approval offer trust. People are risk-averse and reviews are now a fact of life. None of us makes a purchase these days without reading the reviews. We’re reassured by others’ positive experiences.

Can a home page be a landing page? 

Theoretically, your homepage is a landing page. But it has too many functions to be focused on landing page conversion. The home page usually exists as the portal, enabling a user to navigate to other pages. Despite the trend toward minimizing navigation, I don’t get it. Why make it difficult for users to find what they’re looking for? 

Unlike your homepage, a landing page is designed to convert visitors into leads. Landing pages are the gatekeepers to your most valuable content offers. Landing pages map to the sales funnel. 

• Awareness
• Discovery
• Evaluation
• Intent
• Action
• Loyalty

Aside from delivering on the promise and intent of the query, the organic landing page must also make the brand and offer clear. 

Ask us about how a pillar-page strategy and landing pages work together to help improve your ranking in search engines. Contact Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and content marketing specialists.  

What Is a 10X Pillar Page?

That old “content is king” thing is so over. In its place are pillar pages. It means creating a content pillar page strategy. It’s both a methodical and creative approach to content development. I believe that organizing information is a creative process, so once I started creating a pillar page strategy for my own digital marketing content, I found that I loved the symmetry of this.

Let’s start by defining pillar page content

It starts with a single page of substantive content that’s an in-depth overview of your business—or if you’re doing multiple pillar pages—of one topic. This will be comprehensive and authoritative; generalities drill down to subpages with more details or illustrations.

Your goal: Create a 10X content pillar page

A 10X pillar page is a single webpage that is ten times better than any other resource out there covering this topic. This is the motherload. More creative, informative and easier to access. This means that it can be seen across devices and it offers solutions. When I write about a topic, I think in terms of providing information that helps people do their jobs—new tools and insights, better approaches to old dilemmas. This 10X pillar page has to be strong, standalone content around which you can build the rest of your website’s content.

One more thing to keep in mind: Word count

Part of this exercise is about ranking in search engines, and search engines need content so they can start indexing the content that we’re uploading to our websites and social sites. Your pillar page needs to be in the neighborhood of 3000 words. Sound like a lot? It is, but remember that you’re providing comprehensive information about which you’re an authority.

Creating topic clusters, or subpages that roll up to pillar pages

Once your pillar page is in place, it’s time to start developing the topic clusters, or subpages and blogs, that will provide more details about that topic. These are supplemental materials that support your pillar page. A subpage provides the opportunity to expand on what you’ve highlighted on your pillar page. It also needs to be fairly comprehensive—think 2500 words. These subpages take the form of text, infographics, videos, a guidebook or ebook. This is where you get creative and attract your users. They can be fun and entertaining, and tell a story.

Creating another layer of content with blogposts

Blogposts are another layer of content that link to the subpages of your pillar page strategy. These can be very specific to one topic. Blogs are informal, temporal and can be extremely topical. They can also be shorter than pillar pages and subpages, at 750 words. None of those 350 word blogs—those just don’t provide enough words for Google to chew on. Blogs should link to subpages. You should also be creating an inner linking strategy that helps keep users on your site, drilling down to read more content. Look for content or topics among your pages that is relational and create these inner links.

Subpages need to link back to the pillar page, strengthening value for both the user and search engines. Internally linking your supporting material to your core pillar creates the organizational structure that search engines like.

Subpages: What goes on a pillar page?

An estimated 84% of internet users are looking for content that provides a solution. Our attention spans are pathetically short. We want something that is personal, that reaches us on an emotional level. We love stories and want to be drawn in. Think about how you can work yourself into your descriptions. Provide case studies where appropriate.

Getting started with a pillar page strategy: Evaluate existing content

It starts with some analysis. Take a look at your Google Analytics account to see what pages your audience is coming to most often, paying attention to your bounce rate and where they’re entering and leaving your site. Look for drilldown through your site.

You don’t have to start from scratch. Do you have existing content that can act as either the pillar page or subpage content—or at least the starting point? I reorganized my own site and realigned the content. I also hunkered down and did some serious content development, which is going to be the case with most people who are adopting a pillar page strategy. Those word count requirements mean that content needs some beefing up.

Review your blogs; keep the good stuff and sunset the dated posts

Identify those blogposts that can be redirected and linked to your pillar subpages and those that should be either updated or sunsetted. I had some old blogs that went back for nearly ten years and many were dated and stale. I dumped these, and kept others and incorporated them into my pillar page strategy.

Share your expertise on social media

So now you’ve got this great content but no one knows it’s there. Start using your social media sites to share your expertise! Post to your Linked, Facebook and Instagram sites. Social becomes part of your overall pillar content marketing strategy.

Take the time to develop your pillars

Rethinking your goals, reorganizing and retrofitting content is a process. Take your time and do it right. Once complete, you will have created a stronger foundation for your website that will allow you to keep growing and building out your content.

Once you’ve created one pillar page strategy, you’re going to find that you will want to create more—further breaking down your authority into another grouping with a new pillar page hierarchy. Now you’ve got the tools and expertise to do this.

Ask us about developing a pillar-page strategy for your website. Contact Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and content marketing specialists.

How ADA-Compliant is Your Website?

Would it surprise you to know that some big brands have been sued over website accessibility? Think Amazon, Burger King and Hulu.

Public and private sector construction projects must meet ADA Title II and III requirements to make them accessible to those with disabilities. While the ADA doesn’t clearly address the question of web accessibility, our websites are often considered as part of our businesses.

Some 25% of U.S. adults live with disabilities

Many websites lack accessibility features. That means millions of Americans are struggling to use the web—that’s a lot of missed opportunities. ADA-based web accessibility lawsuits are steadily increasing—there were more than two thousand filed in federal courts in 2019.

Things you can do now to optimize your website

I recently worked on a client’s website to optimize it for accessibility. There’s a lot that you can do yourself—you don’t need to be a techie.

1. Add alt text to all of your images

Images and other graphic elements can be an accessibility barrier to blind users and those with impaired vision who often have to rely on assistive technologies such as Screen Readers.

Alt text fields are where you can key in detailed descriptions of images

With alt text, those with limited vision may not be able to see the image, but they will be able to see the description and understand what this image is contributing to the story. Alt tags are important for everyone—we’ve all pulled up content on our phones or other devices where the image doesn’t show up—but the alt tag still communicates with us. One more thing: Be sure and label your image file with more descriptive data.

A word about infographics

Some of these are very detailed, with tiny text that’s nearly impossible to read. Think about your audience as you create these.

2. Enlarge font sizes

People with low vision often can’t read small text sizes, and they have to use specific font settings when browsing your website.

Offering an alternate style sheet with the ability to enlarge the font size without breaking your page layout makes it easier for them to read your content. Make sure your call-to-action buttons have a larger font size and are clearly visible to people with impaired vision.

3. Color contrasts become important

Color and contrast become important elements for those with impaired vision. Create a high contrast between the foreground and background.

Avoid using:

• Thin fonts—they’re hard for everyone to read—not just those with impaired vision
• JavaScript features that prevent visually impaired users from increasing the contrast
• Reverse type—white text on dark background
• Italics. Very difficult to read
• Combinations like green text on red background and vice versa

4. Focus on keyboard navigation

Those who are visually impaired can’t use a mouse, so keyboard navigation--HTML links, buttons, and form fields have to be deployed to make your website keyboard-accessible.

Call me to talk about making your website more ADA accessible. Top of Mind Marketing.

Is SEO Free on Google?

I can’t tell you how many times I hear this question: Is SEO free on Google?

The more I learn about SEO, the more aware I am of just how confused people are about SEO. They start reading and quickly become overwhelmed. Understandably. There’s a gazillion applications that promise and they promise to eliminate your SEO dilemmas and help you show up on page one in search. Each application promises to make it easy. But if you’re new to this, nothing’s easy.

Unfortunately, these applications often address only one function

These gazillion applications may be specific to analytics, keywords, ranking, site loading time, etc. They may or may not have an associated fee and/or a free trial. Who besides me signs up for the free trials, doesn’t really get a chance to test a product, forgets to unsubscribe and ends up paying for year subscription to something I really don’t have time or interest in using. It makes me crazy—I hate paying for something I don’t use. You can’t possibly take all of these apps out for a test drive and make reasoned decisions about which to incorporate into your marketing program. Enterprise applications like HubSpot and Semrush are great, but they come with a big price tag.

What to do? Stick with Google’s free tools

There well may be other products and applications that are better or easier to use, but frankly, nobody knows search and algorithms better than Google. We may love to hate them, but this is their house, and they make the rules. Best of all, Google apps are free. Use these apps to evaluate your site load time, analyze your web traffic, identify keywords and develop your ad campaigns. Keep it in house and it remains free. Together, these apps can be overwhelming. Instead, learn to use these one at a time and you’ll begin to see how Google’s suite of free SEO tools will enhance your understanding of how to show up in search. That’s what it’s all about.

Google owns the search market, and SEO is free on Google

• Google PageSpeed Insights. Track page speed for both mobile and desktop devices. Page speed is critical. If your site takes too long to load, everything else is irrelevant. 
• Google Analytics. This application will track your website traffic. If you’re testing a new campaign, check GA to see if users have hit your landing page and if they’re drilling down to other parts of your site. Make adjustments and recheck GA. 
• Google Keyword Planner. Keyword research is simply learning what types of words and phrases generate the most audience interest, clicks, and linger time to improve your website’s ranking. Keyword research is fundamental to building a Google ad campaign. But I use it when I’m starting a new website project--I want to know what words/phrases I should be using when developing content for each page. I also use it when writing blogs. I want to know what words to be using in my headings and subheads to assign “H” tags for better search engine indexing.
• Google Business Profile. Google has really gotten behind its Google Business Profile (This can be confusing: Formerly Google Business Page and Google My Business). It’s now uber accessible—even from Google Maps. Encourage your clients and colleagues to give you a review on your GBP—send them a link. Keep this page updated with your blogs and add new images. You really want to be taking advantage of this free tool.
• Google Search Console. This Google tool gives users a snapshot of their site's performance, including organic search traffic, link data, and issues impacting the site’s performance. While any marketer can benefit from using it, this tool is really for those who are SEOs—those dedicated to improving search results. But you don’t have to be an “SEO” to use this site. We should all be invested in improving website performance.
• Google Trends. Another free Google tool. Trends culls data from Google searches and allows users to compare things like the frequency of search terms compared to other similar keywords, different geographic regions, or across language barriers. You can sort the data by category, type, region, or time period. Use it to identify seasonality—the best time to be rolling out a product based on historical data. Use it to avoid using trending keywords with fading popularity—these trends will show a spike that quickly fades. 

Is SEO Free on Google? Yes. SEO can be completely free using Google’s suite of SEO tools. Contact Top of Mind Marketing to evaluate and build your SEO strategy.

Local SEO: Leveraging Google’s Powerful Search Tool

Nearly half of all searches have a local intent. How many times have you added “near me” to a search query? That’s local SEO at work. Besides the convenience of identifying local service providers in our own little ‘hoods, we like to support our local businesses. It builds community.

Local Pack is another Google search tool

To help connect users with their location results, Google has changed their algorithm to accommodate location in its search engine results page (SERP). Another handy search tool is Google’s Local Pack--connecting users to specific local businesses they’re looking for.

You’ve used the Local Pack; you just didn’t know it had a name!

You’ve seen the Local Pack a gazillion times—you didn’t know it was a product in the search space. Let’s say you’re going to be in Athens for a month and you’re looking for cafes with wifi near your airbnb. (My local search for the month of May.) You’re served up a map with three listings, your location and that of three cafes. This is your Local Pack. I found a delightful little café in my neighborhood that became my go-to home with yummy food and friendly people, thanks to Local Pack!

How do you optimize for local search?

• Claim your Google Business Profile (GBP). This has become nonnegotiable. It’s the most important thing you can do to boost your SEO value. 
• Add your business to local directories and industry listings.
• Get reviews and add them to your website. Include the local city for the person who’s giving the review. 
• Make sure your name and address are in your footer. 

GBP ranking factors guidelines

• Relevance: Complete and detailed business information will help Google better understand your business and match your listing to relevant searches. 
• Distance: How far each potential business is from the location terms used in a search. 
• Prominence: Your overall online presence. More reviews and positive ratings will improve your local ranking. 

Google’s Business Profile is becoming a workhorse

A recent article suggested that one of the very best things you can do for SEO is to get reviews on your GBP. Reach out to current and former clients and colleagues and ask them to give you a review—make it easy and send them a link. Forget Yelp. It’s just too annoying. Anyone can access your GBP from Google’s apps—Google Maps, etc. Keep this page updated with new business information; upload blogs and images.

Google’s really getting behind their new, improved GBP and making it seamless

Google’s making it easier for users to interact directly with businesses from their GBP pages to book appointments, get quotes for services and message directly. Without a GBP, you’re going to be missing out on opportunities in local search results and Local Packs. The Local Packs, especially, are a nice visual way to package search results. You really want to be taking advantage of Google’s tools.

We can help optimize your website. Contact Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and content marketing specialists.

Is Local SEO Free?

The answer: Local SEO can be free if you stick to Google applications

There are hundreds of SEO applications that promise they’ll help you get better rankings, more customers and more revenue. Some of these apps are free; many offer a free trial with a fairly hefty financial commitment when that trial ends. Do your research, but if you stick with Google’s suite of SEO applications, SEO can be free.  

Local SEO strategy

It’s up to you to do some research and decide which application(s) best meets your needs. Most of us don’t have the bandwidth or budget to manage our clients, our lives and also be ramping up to multiple applications—there’s always a learning curve. Choose one or two apps that will deliver the most functionality. Read reviews and check with friends and colleagues who may be using these apps. 

To start with: You may want to invest in a website checker—an app that will scan your site and identify issues that are impeding good SEO—missing H tags on headings, broken links, missing alt descriptions on your images and even unique metadescriptions for each page. These are the things that your web guy isn’t going to do. Small things, yes, but collectively these add up. 

Best local SEO tools

While Google makes us all crazy, it does offer powerful free tools. This is not out of a spirit of generosity; rather, we need these tools if we’re going to be doing Google ads—that uber-lucrative business from which Google rakes in an estimated $100K/day. 

You’ll find that the big enterprise SEO apps get expensive--Moz, HubSpot, SemRush, Ahrefs, etc. These applications are excellent, with great customer support. 

Can I do SEO for free?

Yes. You can go a long ways toward managing SEO, including online ads, with Google’s free suite of tools. The following list includes descriptions of Google’s tools. 

Local SEO for small businesses

·      Google PageSpeed Insights. This tool lets you can track page speed on both mobile and desktop devices. Page speed is fundamental. If your site takes too long to load, you’ll lose your audience and everything else is irrelevant.

·      Google Analytics monitors activity and data. This is all the data you need about your site--tracking traffic, drilldown and conversions. 

·      Google Keyword Planner. Conduct keyword research that’s fundamental to your content marketing strategy. Google’s keyword planner may be the best, consistent SEO keyword tool for both beginners and experts. Other apps provide this service, but they come with a pricetag. Frankly, Google owns the search space. It makes sense to be using its keyword tools.

·      Google Business Profile. A recent article suggested that one of the very best things you can do for SEO is to get reviews on your GBP. Reach out to current and former clients and colleagues and ask them to give you a review—make it easy and send them a link. Anyone can access your GBP from Google’s apps—Google Maps, etc. Keep this page updated with new business information; upload blogs and images. You really want to be taking advantage of Google’s free tools.

·      Google Search Console. This Google tool gives users a snapshot of their site's performance, including organic search traffic, link data, and issues impacting the site’s performance. While any marketer can benefit from using it, this tool is really for those who are SEOs—those who are dedicated to improving search results. Which, really, should be all of us. Why have a website if you don’t want people to find it?

·      Google Trends. Another free Google tool. How to use this one? Use Trend Predictions. This can be a simple way to help with your keyword research. Google has added forecasting and trend data for existing keywords to the Google Trends tool. If your keyword is expected to k in the next few months to a year, go for it and target that keyword. A good example: Let’s say you’re writing a blog post on “baking croissants.” If you’re using the pillar/cluster model for content (which we are), you can use the related queries section in Google Trends to generate ideas for cluster topics. I’ve just started to use this app. 

“Can I do SEO for free?” When this question comes up, the answer is “yes”. Google owns the search space. Using its search tools makes a lot of sense—that they’re all free is a very nice feature. Contact Top of Mind Marketing to evaluate and build your SEO strategy.