How to "Do" SEO in 2020
With its recent January 2020 Core Update, Google caused some shifts in the search world. Particularly targeting the health and finance categories, these websites saw big changes in how they were being ranked and for what keywords. While most of these changes affect larger brands and websites with larger traffic, it does have a trickle down effect to smaller businesses as well.
So, with all these changes and updates, how does a small business “do” SEO in 2020? Especially when most of the news points to things major brands are doing, it can seem really confusing and out of reach for small businesses.
There’s tons of articles everywhere about things you “should” do when it comes to SEO. But these seem really confusing and overwhelming, and they don’t really talk to you about how to incorporate them into your overall marketing strategy. So today we’re going to break it down a little. Instead of focusing on overwhelming “To Do’s”, I’m coming at this from a different angle. We’re talking about how you, as a small business in 2020, can rock SEO with an actual strategy.
Commit to a long term strategy - I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again, there is no magic bullet when it comes to a successful SEO strategy. You’re never going to be able to launch a website and skyrocket in search in just a few days. Any SEO strategy that’s worth its weight takes time and attention.
Boil it down to the basics - Instead of looking at SEO as this abstract idea with a million tasks, let’s boil it down to the very basics. Basic good website practices like updated content, fast load times, and making sure your site links in and out to reputable sites, are all key in not only having a quality website but gaining traction in the SEO environment.
Write content for actual people - We talk about this a lot when it comes to creating content. A lot of times people focus too much on keywords and links, and sacrifice the readability of their content. While yes, the content you’re creating should be based on certain areas you would like to rank higher for, your focus should be creating content that actually helps your customers. As algorithms become more sophisticated, bots are seeing through keyword stuffed content. Not to mention, the whole point of creating content is to drive relationships with current and potential customers. People are online trying to find answers, get information, or entertain themselves, not read a list of keywords.
Make your website easy to use - Your website should be easy for a user to navigate. Instead of throwing together a bunch of pages with keywords, focus on making your navigation easy and informational. Your website should become a place to showcase your brand and be a pleasant experience for users. If it’s too hard for them to get the information they’re looking for, it doesn’t matter how much traffic you drive, it’s not going to convert.
Make your site fast and secure - If you don’t have a secure site (https://) you’re automatically losing out on traffic. Add on to that slow load times, and you haven’t created a very safe and usable environment. Google favors websites that value the customer experience (see a trend here) so keep your image sizes down, your code clean and your site secure.
Keep up your links…. real ones - Don’t fall for those companies that claim they can batch out massive amounts of directory links. Not only are they website that aren’t driving any traffic, but Google disregards all those junk ones anyways. Focus on building relationships with other websites, bloggers and content creators to gain valuable back links. And don’t forget about social media. Blog content is great for sharing and driving traffic back.
Moral of the story? SEO in 2020 is all about basic best practices. Should you keep SEO specific “tips” in mind? Absolutely. But your main focus should be on the real people who will be driving your brand and sales.