Building an SEO Foundation for the Next 5 Years

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an extremely competitive field. The rules are constantly changing, and marketers who don’t stay on top of the latest trends are going to be left in the weeds by the competition.

Thanks to constant Google updates, strategies that worked even a few months ago like keyword stuffing are fast becoming obsolete. Building and maintaining a website that will consistently rank at the top of the SERPs in Google searches requires constant vigilance.

The Buyers Journey

Ideally, the buyer’s journey travels from Awareness to Action. When a person comes to your website, they are looking to solve a problem. Perhaps someone in their family has been seriously injured in a motorcycle accident, and the insurance company is offering a settlement that doesn’t come close to covering the cost of their injuries.

Let’s say the potential client searches the term “motorcycle accident lawyer” on Google, and they are directed to a page about motorcycle accidents on your site. They find the page to be readable and informative. Then the reader clicks on the Homepage, where they discover additional information about your practice.

From the Homepage, the reader might go to the Meet Our Team page, where they learn more about the lawyers who work at your firm. At this point, you have established enough trust for the reader to pick up the phone and schedule a consultation.

That’s just one example of the buyer’s journey. In many cases, clients will covert directly from your Homepage.

What is User Experience (UX)? 

The term user experience (UX) was coined by Don Norman, a cognitive scientist working for Apple Computers in the 1990s. Effective UX results in a site that is useful, credible, and easy to navigate. The interface creates a pleasant flow that allows the reader to choose their own journey.

Elements that contribute to powerful UX include:

• Page layout
• Word choice
• Headlines
• Bullet points
• Bolded text
• Links
• Pictures
• Graphics
• Fonts
• Sentence length
• Paragraph length

Essential SEO Elements

When people come to your Homepage, they want to know three things:

1. What service you provide
2. How you will solve their problem
3. How they can contact you

Homepage trust elements that help convince users that they are in the right place include logos, social proof, and benefit statements.

Mobile optimization is becoming increasing important for SEO. Over 60 percent of Google organic searches are now conducted on mobile. To attract customers and rank at the top of Google SEPRPs, your website must be rendered properly so it looks good and it’s easy to navigate on any device.

Additional strategies for effective SEO include:

• Fast loading speed
• Image optimization
• Avoid spam links
• Avoid keyword stuffing
• Maintain accurate information on Google, Yelp, Apple, and other directories

Stay One Step Ahead with SLS

One safe prediction about the future of SEO is that it will always be changing. In this dynamic field, marketers can’t afford to rest on their laurels. At SLS Consulting, Inc., we stay ahead of the curve by monitoring every new trend and every Google update. That’s the only way to win the SEO game.

Call SLS Consulting, Inc., at (323) 745-1806 for a FREE consultation today. We know SEO.