Understanding how search engines function and how they prioritize information is crucial for those managing SEO ecosystems and a bit overwhelming if you're just getting started so, here's a quick 3- minute read covering the basics.
What is a search engine? Search engines are businesses. As of January 2023 Google served 84.6% of all searches globally while the next closest competitor Bing, served 3.4% of searches. Search engines exist to provide relevant information to users. They do this through searchable databases that return two type of search results.
How do search engines work? Search engines are comprised of two primary parts: index and algorithms. Search engines discover and index websites through a process that consists of identifying URL's (www.XYZ.com), crawling known URL's for information, processing that information via an algorithm and then adding it to the search index. How do search engines rank pages? Search engines rank the information they find through a variety of ranking factors. Ranking is conducted by search algorithms which are unique to each search engine but share commonalities. Pages that rank highest are perceived by search engines to be Expert, Authoritative and Trustworthy. This is known as E-A-T. Key ranking factors are:
How Key Takeaways
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E-A-T, Google's acronym for EXPERTISE, AUTHORITATIVENESS & TRUSTWORTHINESS — isn't a new topic, Google has been evaluating EAT signals for years. What's vital to your business is boosting those signals through content that's strongly inline with Google's 2023 Helpful Content Update. For years search engines have demoted sites deemed to have “unhelpful” content, giving them less visibility in search results. Google’s internal communication revealed: “Any content—not just unhelpful content—on sites determined to have relatively high amounts of unhelpful content overall is less likely to perform well in Search, assuming there is other content elsewhere from the web that’s better to display.” Yikes! The bottom line is that you can have a great mobile site experience, create engaging video content, and optimize for voice search. But, if your content doesn’t align with Google's definition of 'helpful', your business will suffer. That's where GP Coaching can help. Our experts provide the strategic architecture that gives your marketing team the ability to build 'helpful', engaging content that puts you on top of search rankings to keep your business relevant and leads flowing. TULSA, OK, Dec 19, 2022 -- Real Estate buyers often struggle to find rural land parcels. With the launch of their updated website, CJ Real Estate streamlines the shopping experience for ranch and residential real estate buyers while improving average price-per-acre for land sellers.
“Helping connect rural land sellers and buyers is what we do,” said Eric Johnson, co-founder of CJ Real Estate. “Constantly improving that process is what makes us the industry leader. That’s why we continually invest in world-class technology that makes it easier for buyers to find what they want so that sellers can realize higher average sales price-per-acre.” “We are absolutely impressed and our clients are thrilled, “said John O’Brien of Northern Trust Company when CJ Real Estate sold a 280 acre tract of land in 29-days for 131% above the pre-sale estimate. Chris Lowers, President of Grey Partners reported that, “Over the first 90-days, our core website update for CJ Real Estate increased average daily traffic by 852%, reduced the average bounce rate by 59% and, quarterly conversions tripled.” ABOUT CJ REAL ESTATE: CJ Real Estate sells ranch and residential real estate across Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas and Colorado. Led by Eric Johnson and Ronn Cunningham, the CJ Real Estate team specializes in complex acreage sales typically dispersing assets in 45 days while outperforming market conditions. What makes CJ Real Estate different is that they give sellers more control through unbiased advice and the opportunity to choose the real estate sale method that’s best for them: auction or listing. MEDIA CONTACT: Eric Johnson 1.918.550.8118 Info@CJ-RE.com SOURCE: Cunningham-Johnson Real Estate RELATED LINKS: https://cj-auctions.com 11/26/2022 0 Comments 10 Keys to Elegant Website DesignStriking the perfect balance between aesthetics and usability is key to crafting great user experiences. So how will your website give every visitor a great experience? 4-minute read. A well-designed site builds trust and guides visitors to take action, all the while creating an enjoyable user experience. So how will your website give every visitor a great experience? Read on to learn 10 keys to great site design:
TULSA, OK MAR. 22, 2022 // NEWSWIRE // The Mainer Auto Group, which includes Ford dealerships along historic route 66 in Oklahoma, engages Grey Partners to usher dealerships into the world of digital marketing dominance.Grey Partners, which has been working with a variety of automotive dealer groups such as Sonic Automotive, Nelson Automotive and the Bob Hurley Auto Group since 2009, will support the Mainer Auto Group through strategic communications initiatives, website development, search optimization and implementation of dynamic social media marketing campaigns to elevate brand visibility, increase sales and consumer awareness, promote the latest products and provide on-site event support.
ABOUT MAINER AUTO GROUP: Mainer Auto Group operates two Ford automotive dealerships, one along historic route 66 in Bristow, Oklahoma and another in Okarche, OK. Learn more at https://www.mainerautogroup.com
ABOUT GREY PARTNERS: Grey Partners is a digital marketing agency that combines best-in-class expertise and to drive profitable growth for small-to-medium businesses, non-profit organizations and solo practitioners. Attract, engage and convert more people to patrons through our integrated branding, website design, SEO, search marketing, creative content, and lead-generation solutions. For additional information, visit https://www.greypartners.com MEDIA CONTACT: Team@GreyPartners.com 12/31/2021 0 Comments 4 Website Design Trends Coming in 2022Let's raise a toast to the innovator's driving web design as we check out check out 4 examples of fresh ideas that we expect you'll see a lot more of soon. Fresh, Fun & Optimistic Designs With simple navigational flow this trend brings a little happiness with strong use of fun colors, faces, shapes. It's most effective with portfolio sites or e-commerce sites targeting youthful, energetic users. Bold & Experimental Typography San Serif rules no more with this trend taking foot. But, how long will it last? Big bold fonts seem to be popping up everywhere - even stodgy business sites - and they look amazing. Remember to keep your team tightly focused on impact across all platforms when employing bold typography. Will the design and US flow seamlessly? Websites That 'Just Get Them' Personalization is one of the strongest design tools. Designers are challenged with creating engaging user experiences without being creepy. It's a tough balance but when you pull it off, users simply ooze brand positivity. Three-Dimensional Design Elements Full, three-dimensional site designs are fading quickly because, while they score high on the first impression 'cool' factor, they simply lack everyday usability. We love how 3D design is evolving as more flat overall aesthetics are populated with 3D elements that shine creating a 'wow' factor with simple navigation for fantastic user experiences. Search engine optimization (SEO) is a constantly evolving practice. Search engines continually update their processes to provide a better user experiences. Where SEO could once be effectively done with keyword density equations and cheaply bought back-links, modern SEO only works as part of an integrated digital marketing ecosystem. Hiring an SEO company or agency can be a daunting task. In the best-case scenario, your partner grows organic traffic to your site, improves your search rankings, and helps you generate more leads and sales. In the worst-case scenario, your SEO partner engages in black hat techniques that give the appearance of success, disappears before the penalties kick in, and leaves you with less traffic than ever—and months’ or years’ worth of costly cleanup. However, hiring someone to create and execute an SEO plan doesn’t have to be difficult. You don’t need to be an expert to hire one. You do need to know what questions to ask and what answers to expect. Consider the following 12 questions—and what to look for in the answers—to find a proficient SEO company that follows best practices and drives the results you’re seeking: 1. What is your philosophy of approaching SEO to deliver results? There are three major facets of SEO, and the most effective SEO companies consider all three as components of a comprehensive SEO strategy.
Many SEO agencies operate in one of two ways:
Modern SEO requires a holistic strategy and experienced execution. Make sure the SEO agency you are evaluating can do all three (technical, UX, off-page), and that they have a clear strategy for balancing them. 2. How will you adapt that strategy to our brand/business/industry/niche? SEO is not a one-size-fits-all solution, and your SEO partner should have some ideas as to how your business needs a unique approach that caters to your industry, business model, and goals. SEO for a local business interested in attracting customers from a dozen zip codes requires a very different approach than SEO for a major corporation with a global market. Experience in your industry is a plus, but it’s not necessarily a requirement. More important is the SEO agency’s ability to articulate how they will adapt the general approach to cater specifically to your niche. Make sure that the company can highlight specific places where the general approach will vary. 3. What metrics define “success” for you? This is kind of a trick question. While SEO companies may come to the meeting with certain, general goals in mind, their success metrics should really stem from what success means for you. No SEO company can guarantee page-one rankings, and those that make these types of promises are likely using black-hat techniques. These techniques may get you traffic for a short time, but they’ll ultimately land you a penalty—along with significantly reduced traffic and rankings. Legitimate SEO professionals will build their plans around your goals. If you’re looking for increased traffic, they may prioritize keyword optimization or content creation. If you’re looking for more local traffic, they may recommend optimizing your local business profiles on directory and review sites. An SEO agency’s success metrics should be directly based on your business goals, so look for companies that turn this question around and seek the answer from you. 4. How long will it be until we can expect to see results? Effective SEO takes time, but that shouldn’t prevent an experienced agency from giving you a time frame for results. In general, you should expect to see results from legitimate SEO techniques within six months of getting started. The possibility of seeing results earlier depends on the health of your site. For instance, correcting technical errors and oversights can net some legitimate SEO gains in a short period of time. However, if your site is already structured well and free from technical issues, you will have to wait longer for measurable change. If your SEO company promises quick results, ask why. If they point out technical factors that need to be cleaned up, good. If not, be wary—they might be using outdated, spammy techniques that will eventually get your site penalized. 5. How do you approach mobile? Ideally, mobile should be part of the conversation when you discuss the general strategy. Google announced last year that they were in the process of moving to a mobile-first index, making mobile optimization more important than ever. Look for companies that have a process for conducting a mobile audit of your site, and ensure your SEO agency can convincingly articulate why mobile is an important SEO consideration. 6. How should SEO incorporate with our overall marketing strategy? The most successful SEO initiatives are part of an overall marketing plan, so avoid companies that expect to perform their tasks in isolation. SEO goes hand-in-hand with content marketing, and public relations and social media marketing activities can be used for effective link-building. Your SEO partner should be very open to collaborating with your other marketing teams—as well as other teams as needed, such as your web development and sales teams—and should have a basic plan for integrating their efforts with your existing marketing initiatives. 7. How do you conduct keyword research? In the past, keyword research meant plugging a term into a keyword research tool, populating a list of relevant keywords, and developing content with keywords inserted at various places. However, modern keyword research requires much more effort—it’s an exercise in understanding user intent. It seeks to understand what information a user is looking for when searching a keyword phrase and provides content catered to the intent behind the search. As you’re interviewing prospective SEO companies, make sure that they refer to user intent and speak about the tools and methodologies they use to determine keyword intent. If the entire conversation revolves around number of searches for a keyword and keyword density, it’s likely that they’re operating on outdated practices. 8. How do you approach link-building and influencer marketing? Some SEO companies will promise to get you thousands of links within a few weeks, but the reality is that those links will not be high quality. One high-quality link from a credible, authoritative site is more effective than hundreds of low-quality purchased or machine-created links in blog comments. The conversation should focus on building quality links over a large quantity of links. Modern link-building is better described as link-earning. It’s executed by providing high-quality content that drives incoming links organically, and building relationships with influencers and editors. Your SEO company should describe their link-building efforts in terms of relationship-building and quality—not quantity and expediency. 9. What tools do you use? Knowing exactly what tools an SEO company uses isn’t necessarily important, but knowing that they can describe why they use those tools is critical. Legitimate SEO professionals will have a number of tools they use to conduct audits and complete tasks, and they will have tested multiple tools to find the best. Ask the following questions:
10. How do you report on progress and what does it look like? Ask to see a sample report created for another client in order to ensure that the SEO company has a valid method for reporting their progress toward your shared goals. At this point, you’ve already discussed your specific goals, so ask how they would customize the progress report to cater to your unique goals and KPIs. Be wary of companies that cannot provide detailed information on how progress will be measured and reported. How often an SEO agency reports on progress will likely depend on the size of your project. Most brands can expect monthly updates. Bigger companies, or short-term and specific projects, might require more frequent updates on the work being done, but bear in mind that tracking actual progress week-to-week is largely ineffective and can be deceptive. Search results fluctuate for a variety of reasons: Google testing new algorithm changes, competitors making dramatic changes to their content, etc. SEO is a long-term strategy, and companies that monitor close-term changes often make rash changes that end up hurting their efforts. 11. How do you stay up on industry trends? At a minimum, you’ll want someone who stays up to date with the information posted by Google on its Webmaster Central Blog—Google’s own outlet for news on how to best position a site for their search algorithms. Better, is someone who follows popular industry blogs and participates in SEO forums and conversations. The best SEO professionals will do all of the former as well as conduct their own research. They monitor the properties they manage for potential signs of algorithm changes and investigate possible shifts in SEO best practices. 12. What do you need from us to be effective? Legitimate SEO companies should respond with a long list of questions and needs. To conduct their work effectively, they’ll need detailed information about your audience, industry, goals, and KPIs. They’ll need to know what other digital marketing platforms you’re using that will affect your content, if any, such as marketing automation. They’ll also need access to your Google Analytics. Effective SEO requires a partnership between multiple teams and company leaders, so agencies that need very little from you are unlikely to build an SEO plan that will help you achieve long-term success. Hire an SEO Company that Delivers
SEO is a complex field. Effective SEO companies stay up to date on key changes and adjust their plans and practices accordingly. Additionally, the ultimate goal of a search engine is to provide quality results to searchers, so effective SEO should be more concerned with quality for users than with ranking factors and quantity of links. By asking these questions and evaluating the answers to determine the practices and policies an SEO company employs, you’ll be able to weed out bad actors and find an agency that delivers long-term success. What other questions would you ask an SEO company? SOURCE: Adobe Experience Cloud Blog. Check out the original post here. |
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