Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is talked about a lot between marketers. The reason it’s always in conversation is because of its importance. It ultimately improves the visibility of a web page or website in search results. Think of SEO as your company’s baseline for online success. In this post, we touch on SEO essentials, tips from experts and the future of SEO.
Essential Tools
After some research and feedback, we’ve compiled a list of SEO tools. These tools exist so that you may better optimize your marketing efforts. When using SEO tools for your business, you have the ability to become more productive and efficient in your search efforts. The options are endless when looking for SEO tools, so having an expert opinion helps to reduce information overload. Sage Lewis, Founder of SageRock Digital Marketing provided his list of SEO tools he uses the most. A few of his favorites are listed below:
- Xenu’s Link Sleuth for finding broken links
- Microsoft Advertising Intelligence for key phrase research
- Raven for social media
- Spyfu for Google AdWords specific keywords
- SEOmoz as an overall SEO resource
As more tools are introduced and technology gets better, some options may better serve your business. For now, our advice is to focus on keyword research and ensure your website is content rich. To achieve the best results in SEO – a combination of strategy, content placement and the use of SEO tools are required.
What does the future of SEO look like?
Most marketers have a solid understanding of how to improve both organic and paid search. However, with 50% of mobile users relying on their Smartphones for searching the web, new mobile features may pose a threat. For instance, the questions swirling the web right now involve the importance of Apple’s new feature, Siri. Voice recognition software is now gaining traction in the mobile space. Just the iPhone alone has raised the bar of importance on how these advancements ultimately affect SEO. Siri is touted for being an iPhone user’s personal assistant that can do anything you ask it to. This looks good and sounds good, but can mean big trouble for local SEO. 
How much trouble? Apple reported selling four million iPhone 4S models since its release. Going by statistics, there is a potential for two million iPhone 4S users to search the web via Siri. The problem lies in local search, where it may be convenient to ask Siri, it’s becoming less common to rely on the accuracy of search engines. Siri works by automating search for you, so it chooses how it gets that information. As stated in the article, How Apple’s Siri Could Destroy Local SEO, “Little is known about how exactly Siri collects and processes information, although it’s reasonable to assume that the program is drawing on well-cultivated public data sources, including Google Places, Yelp and similar sites.”
With Siri’s potential to use third party applications as part of the search information gathering, traffic from traditional sites could deteriorate. In order to make sure your site will survive the voice recognition threat, it needs to stay as accessible to search engines as possible. Going back to the basics of SEO, being active on social networks and enhancing your site for mobile are key factors to success. As long as your information is accurate and your site is easy to navigate, your business – with Siri’s help or not, will stay strong.




