By Tina Courtney-Brown

 

SEO is not a stagnant science. It’s a very dynamic process with tricks and tips that may propel you to the top one year, and literally do the reverse the next.

Google’s mission is simple: They want to provide the most accurate, user-friendly search experience possible. This means the search algorithms they generate are always in flux, as the mission is a truly complex goal.

The result is that companies need to stay on the current pulse of SEO trends. Since most small businesses don’t have the luxury of a full time SEO professional, I have outlined below the most common past practices that will no longer serve you in 2015. In addition to calling out the most common archaic practices, I also suggest some modern alternatives that will help you in your quest for better rankings.

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By Katrina Manning

Any competitive website is constantly updating, understanding and enforcing its SEO. With billions of websites to compete with, ensuring that your website is appealing to your target audience as well as the search engines is absolutely essential. One of the most useful methods of improving content marketing SEO is using internal linking.

Why Use Internal Linking?

Internal links, unlike external links, provide instantaneous access to another page or section within the same website. External links, in contrast, point to information within external domains and other websites. Using internal links vastly improves the SEO of a website by providing clear paths to authoritative and relevant information for both Internet users and search engines. By pointing to specific pieces of interesting and useful information, internal links demonstrate the value and importance of your website, and highlight why search engines should display your website within their search results.

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By Adrienne Erin

 

Over the years, Google has made reference to its stable of human raters used to determine the quality of sites, helping to improve the algorithms used for search. Those raters use the “Human Rater Handbook” to check for a wide variety of things Google has dubbed important, and they rate sites according to how they fulfill all that criteria.

Sounds like a valuable tool for SEOs to get their hands on, huh? Well, in July a copy of the handbook leaked out onto the Internet, and people have been trying to glean insights from it ever since, looking for the key to rising through the Google ranks.

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By Adrienne Erin

 

You create content so that people will read it. Regardless of your ultimate motive – to drive conversions, to attract attention or to generate interest in a specific subject – it all starts with reaching the maximum number of readers in the most efficient way possible.

With this in mind, you’ve probably turned to social media. You’ve built a following and spend time engaging your followers. However, if the content that you’re creating isn’t sharable, your reach is limited to your existing followers. If your goal is to improve your online reach, you must put effort into creating sharable content. Not sure where to start? Keep reading.

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In a time not so far away…

In recent years, mostly in Europe tour operators would book entire hotels to fill up with guests that would travel on the tour operator’s planes. Hoteliers loved this model, because while price was low, occupation was guaranteed and often paid upfront.

However, as service degraded or competition increased, Tour Operators would book other hotels. Hoteliers that relied solely on a few Tour Operators would struggle establish new channels, or fail and go out of business. But what does all of this have to do with Booking.com?

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By Tina Courtney-Brown

 

Browse through any internet marketing message boards, and the buzz about Penguin; is deafening. When 2.0 launched in October of 2013, Google’s beloved update took aim at spammy practices and black hat backlinks tactics. Updates have continued to be released unexpectedly, but nothing significant enough to warrant a 3.0 label. It’s coming though – we don’t know when, but we know it’s on the way.

Rather than wait until the release hits and becoming reactionary, it’s wise to take stock of your site and SEO practices now to identify areas that require improvement. This article will serve as your handy guide to prepping for an onslaught of penguins. Act now, or prepare to get pummeled.

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