3 Important SEO Insights Our SEO Reports Feature

Solutions By Design

What was the last business you “googled” (or searched on a search engine)? Search engines are always changing and are constantly being updated daily, which means search engine optimization should always be worked on as an evolving process. Search engines use algorithms that are tweaked and at times changed completely by search engines such as Bing, Yahoo, and Google.

Our Search Engine Optimization services are focused on best establishing your website structure, content and set-up,  so that you can meet your customers online, at the right time, the right place, and in the right context. Our approach to an SEO strategy is unique and customized to each client, understanding all aspects of their business and target audience.

There are various important metrics we measure in SEO. We inform our audience by being transparent with their metrics and bring action plans to every approach to SEO. Through our customized monthly SEO reports, we offer an in-depth analysis of their website, their traffic, their keyword campaigns and many more data to help drive their goals. We believe these 3 important SEO insights are essential in guiding decisions on marketing goals.

1. Web Analytics
Website analytics are important to understand where your website traffic is coming from. Our reports show a breakdown of which traffic is coming from a mobile device versus a desktop. These website analytics show the location of your traffic based on city, the percentage of user acquisition, such as new users vs returning users to your website and the behavior of your audience such as bounce rate, how fast they are leaving your website. 

2. Keyword Campaign Rankings 
Keywords are the core of an effective SEO strategy. Placing keywords in the right place that allows the search engines to optimize rankings is a key component to improving your page rank on search engines. Our reports show a breakdown of your keyword campaigns, the keywords we are tracking for an SEO strategy. This shows the position of your rankings over time, allowing the client to see their growth.

3. Social Interaction
Many factors tie into an SEO strategy, one being social media. Social media is an easy way to engage with your online customers and reach potential customers. Our customized SEO reports show a breakdown of where your social media traffic is coming from and from what social media platform brought in traffic. From there, the client can see how many sessions that social platforms brought, along with how many page views on your website.

The way search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Bing, and others rank websites are always changing. Their algorithm goes through constant updates, which means search engine optimization should always be worked on as an evolving process. Our approach to an SEO strategy is unique to each client. Solutions by Design offers various SEO packages to help your website rank high and attract new customers, so you can do what you do best. Learn more about our SEO services and contact us for more questions.

SEO: Google’s Core September Update

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of increasing the online visibility of your website in a web search engine’s unpaid results— referred to as “natural”, “organic”, or “earned” results.

SEO may target different kinds of search, including image search, video search, academic search, news search, and industry-specific vertical search engines. Search engine optimization is something that is always changing with updates by search engines and should be worked on and monitored.

Google is the king of search engines. “Google has dominated the search engine market, maintaining an 88.47 percent market share as of April 2019.” 3.5 billion Google searches are made every day and the number only seems to be increasing every year. Google releases a few core updates to its algorithm, which impacts the way websites are ranked and how the search engine works.

“What is a Google core update? A Google core update is when Google adjusts its core search ranking algorithm with the goal of returning more relevant and useful search results to the searcher.” According to Google, “Each day, Google usually releases one or more changes designed to improve our search results. Most aren’t noticeable but help us incrementally continue to improve.”

Later today, we are releasing a broad core algorithm update, as we do several times per year. It is called the September 2019 Core Update. Our guidance about such updates remains as we’ve covered before. Please see this blog for more about that: https://t.co/e5ZQUAlt0G

— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) September 24, 2019

With each update Solutions by Design analyzes what impacts this has on each client. Google’s core updates come a few a year, however, the impacts can lead to a decline in rankings, a spike for others, emphasizes backlinks or content, while some updates don’t impact others at all.

What is in this update? 

A Change in Rankings: 

With any update, search results change for each website. The website may see a spike in ranking higher for their keywords, while others see a drop in their ranking positions. Updates also impact click-through rates, which lead to a decline in website traffic.

In 2018 alone, Google made over 3,200 changes to its algorithms. However, core updates affecting search algorithm changes happen only a few times a year, with Google announcing the update and what it means for websites.

This September update affected the health and finance industry more than any other website. “Whenever Google updates its search ranking algorithms it means that your site can do better or worse in the search results.” Understanding when Google does these core updates allows us to understand when something has changed on websites such as traffic and where we can improve upon for better rankings. Always optimizing SEO is essential, especially as Google changes its algorithm.

What Can We Do? 

As an SEO company, Solutions by Design is always tracking changes in SEO and how to get our clients to rank as high as possible organically. If SEO rankings have been impacted, it does not mean that your website has been punished in any way possible by Google. According to Google, “There’s nothing wrong with pages that may perform less well in a core update. They haven’t violated our webmaster guidelines nor been subjected to a manual or algorithmic action. In fact, there’s nothing in a core update that targets specific pages or sites. Instead, the changes are about improving how our systems assess content overall.”

Google reminds us of what is rewarded and the best way to ensure search engine optimization is at its best for all websites. Focusing on content and websites that offer great quality content is what is rewarded in search engines. Here are recommendations on what to ask when creating content for your website, straight from the search engine source itself, Google.

Content and Quality: 

• Does the content provide original information, reporting, research or analysis? 
• Does the headline and/or page title provide a descriptive, helpful summary of the content?
• Is this the sort of page you’d want to bookmark, share with a friend, or recommend?
• Would you expect to see this content in or referenced by a printed magazine, encyclopedia or book?

Presentation and Production Questions: 

• Was the content produced well, or does it appear sloppy or hastily produced?
• Does the content have an excessive amount of ads that distract from or interfere with the main content?
• Does content display well for mobile devices when viewed on them?

Expertise Questions

• Is the website source trustworthy?
• Is this content written by an expert or enthusiast who demonstrably knows the topic well?
• Is the content free from easily-verified factual errors?

Comparative Questions:

• Does the content seem to be serving the genuine interests of visitors to the site or does it seem to exist solely by someone attempting to guess what might rank well in search engines? 

As an SEO company, Solutions by Design is always tracking changes in SEO and how to get our clients to rank as high as possible organically. Real SEO is worked on every month: adding, changing, linking, and enhancing so we get you results that are tough to achieve. Contact us for more information on how to get your website ranking in your communities.

Sources: https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2019/08/core-updates.html

SEO Rankings: Local Citations

Why are local citations important for your business?

Citations in SEO are a key factor in improving your local search results. Citations help search engines, like Google and Bing, verify that your business exists. Search engines identify that your business was mentioned through the presence of your NAP info (Name, Address, Phone, Number) and you get credit for this mention. The more mentions of your business on the internet, the more prominent your business appears to these search engines, and this will help with your local rankings.

When multiple credible sources have the same accurate information about your business, it signals the search engines that your business is legitimate. Listing your business helps your website create authority, establish trust online, and will improve your website’s ability to rank higher in local search results.

It’s no secret that the websites that are constantly ranking in Google’s top local pack have relevant and powerful citations consistent across the internet. Which is why we feel citations are so important. Citations can be a powerful way to ensure you are more visible and get found for locally driven search queries.

While SEO is easy to learn, it’s tough to master. The rules for SEO keep changing. What worked a year or two ago can actually be a huge mistake in marketing today.

Want to learn more about citation building and how our experts can help increase your websites rankings? Give us a call today. We offer several SEO and Social Media Packages to fit the needs and goals of your business.

Google is Killing Off Instant Search

Introduced in 2010, Google’s “Instant Search” feature was touted as “the future of search”, allowing users to save precious seconds by loading results dynamically as they typed. It also became a source of amusement as Google struggled to eliminate results from “search spammers” who used bots to force humorous results that people saw when they typed. Google was able to overcome that and other issues, and Instant Search became a hit with users.

Google has recently announced that it is getting rid of Instant Search. The reason? It’s because most of us now use mobile devices to search, and since Instant Search was never introduced on mobile, Google wants to keep a unified search experience across all platforms. With mobile voice assistants becoming more popular, Google just doesn’t see the need to keep maintaining its Instant Search feature.

No longer will you be able to go to Google on your desktop PC and type in something like this and get instant results:

Some users may miss this feature because it does save time and eliminates spelling errors, but the future is mobile. At Solutions By Design, we can help you help you reach your goals and increase your search engine optimization. Visit our website or give us a call for more information. 800-888-4084.

Proximity Is Now A Top Ranking Factor In Local Search

Many of our SEO clients have heard us tell them that when it comes to local searches it’s all about location and relevance. This subject usually arises when a client calls or emails because their business isn’t showing up in the “local pack” search results. (The “local pack” is the portion near the top of the search results that shows a map with up to three local businesses). They often wonder why a new business with no reviews is showing up on the map and listings and they aren’t.

The local pack has generated a lot of discussion recently as SEO experts try to figure out how Google arrives at their results. It doesn’t appear to be based on reviews since some of the listings won’t show any. It also doesn’t appear to be the age of the business. After careful analysis, it now appears that proximity is the top factor in this determination. Since more people now search on their mobile phones than on computers, Google places more importance on providing them with relevant, location-based results.

Let’s say that you’re out shopping and it’s getting close to noon. You’re hungry and in the mood for Mexican food, so you do a quick search on your phone for “Mexican restaurants”. The results you get will show the local pack with a map and up to three listings. You’ll notice that they are the closest Mexican restaurants based on your current location. In the meantime, your spouse is on the other side of town and uses their phone to search for Mexican restaurants. Their local pack results will show the restaurants closest to them.

What does this mean for your business? It can be a bit frustrating to know that someone across town is searching for a business and your competitors are showing up instead of you. Your business may be listed on the first page, below the local pack, but many people will naturally gravitate towards the local pack before scanning the page for more results. No amount of SEO work will force your business to show up in the local pack regardless of where the searcher is located.

Although Google includes a link in the local pack for “more results”, that’s little consolation to a business that’s hoping their SEO efforts are paying off. They may be at the very top of the organic listings, right below the local pack, but they want to get noticed right away. Unfortunately, in a mobile-centric environment, it’s all about proximity now, and it looks like it will be that way for at least the near future.