The SEO industry has undergone significant changes over the past 5-6 years, and it is now more diverse than it ever was. Depending on your niche, SEO, in other forms and abbreviations, may range from traditional link building and content to App Store optimization or Yelp and local listing optimizations. While Google is, and for the foreseeable future will remain, the biggest source of organic traffic, other sources also are available depending on your business model.
Traditional Google SEO
This is the most basic and oldest form of SEO. it has expanded over the years to include rich results using schema.org, international SEO for multilingual sites, site speed optimization and other algorithmic advances over the years. At its core, search engine optimization still relies on a few basic ingredients:
- Quality inbound and internal links
- Great content (or products) and relevant reviews (think Google business reviews)
- Brand building
While some organic keywords are now impossible to rank on unless you’re a huge brand, there are still many opportunities for small business to grow organically, even in the toughest niches, specifically with local SEO services in markets where it is supported by the local Google version.
In other niches, where local pack in not available, there is always opportunity to grow using more traditional methods.
SEO Services including ASO (App Optimization)
App optimization differs from traditional SEO in many aspects, but some of the same basic ingredients do apply:
- Links are still needed
- Favorable reviews are invaluable
- Extra elements such as deep linking, may have significant added value
Local SEO
This option is not available for all local Google version, and it is a particularly powerful tool in the US and other large countries and markets. Searching for “auto insurance” in New York, even without local intent (e.g. “auto insurance in NYC”), will not only bring a local pack with local insurance agencies on Google Maps, it will also include organic results from the city, making it possible for small insurance agencies to compete with industry giants, and the same is true for other industries as well.
Local SEO is not limited only to Google. Yelp and other local directories are also an important part of a local SEO strategy.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO is primarily aimed at improving all aspects of a website: speed and performance, standard compliance, conversion optimization and user experience improvements. The single most important task of technical SEO is the audit, where most site issues are found and later fixed.
Depending on your CMS (content management system), some or all of the fixes needed may be completed without the help of a developer in order to reduce costs and time of deployment.
Competitor Analysis
At the heart of any successful SEO campaign is the process of competitor analysis. We take an in depth look at your most successful competitors and analyze their link profiles, content strategies, site structure, keyword selection , social presence and even PPC campaigns.
The data we gather will help you form a winning SEO strategy to catch-up with your competitors.
Other Search Engines
An integral part of international SEO, optimizing for Baidu (Chinese market) and Yandex (Russian speaking markets) is a necessary task. Both search engines offer tools similar to Google Search Console to help webmasters and online marketers improve their search visibility and can serve as a valuable source of organic traffic.
Depending on your location and industry, Bing may also be a significant source of organic traffic.
Still More Search Options
Essentially, any large website related to your business and providing relevant search functionality. Yelp and App stores were mentioned above, but other notable engines include:
- Youtube, specifically for business intention searches such as mobile phone unboxing, gaming promotions, car reviews and many other types of videos
- Social media, though not a strong source of traffic as it used to be, can still be extremely valuable when used correctly
- Airbnb SEO is also thriving in recent years
Black Hat SEO
This branch of SEO has lost most of its appeal since the Google Panda and Penguin updates back in 2011 and 2012, but it continues to capture the imagination of many. Not only that, but in some niches, a few black hat techniques are still working and are used on a massive scale.
As a general rule of thumb, any website hoping to receive long term and reliable traffic from Google should stick to white hat methods only.