The first ever SEO mythbusters video caused quite a stir in the SEO and website optimization space.
Search engine optimization has become pretty synonymous for business owners with better Google rankings, which all business owners agree leads to increased leads and/or sales.
However, the actual action of SEO has gotten a bad wrap with black hat SEO tactics, and the poor quality of optimization work being done by crazy cheap outsourced companies with little experience.
The end result, total confusion when it comes to website optimization and growing a business online. The main goal of any business is to outrank competitors on Google search.
Sure, there are a lot of other ways to increase online visibility, like using social media ads, but typically, page one Google results for any business, in any industry, equals more profits.
This is where it gets tricky.
It is difficult for business owners and website managers to know just what to focus on when it comes to optimization. Is it keywords? Is it user experience? Is it a lot of content per web page? Is it all of the above?
The good news is that John Mueller, Google’s Webmaster Trends Analyst shared some valuable insight the other day via a Google Webmasters hangout session streamed live, and also available on YouTube.
And we pulled out a few of Mueller’s optimization nuggets to help cut through the noise business owners and website managers deal with daily.
Let’s take a closer look!
There are no hard fast ranking factors
One optimization tip Mueller made very clear is that there are no cut and dry ranking factors. SEO and Google searches are dependent on the actual search query itself, as well as the intent behind the query.
“I think it’s tricky when you have something like the top three ranking factors,” Mueller explained. “Because things change so quickly and they vary from query to query and time.”
This means that there is no one size fits all optimization strategy for a given web page. For example, if you want to rank for Spanish translations, your business may not show up every time someone Google’s Spanish translations. Why? Because intent and location play a role. Google may show a user Spanish translations near their location first.
To improve Google ranking for specific search queries, it could be a good idea to identify exactly what your web page goal is, optimize for that, and if there are multiple focuses, create more web pages. For instance, if you offer Spanish, French, and German translations, you could create a web page for each.
Ensure your developers know what to do
One very important aspect Mueller pointed out was the potential disconnect between common and easy optimization must-dos developers may have. The simplest SEO tactic, like filling in meta descriptions, could be left out, costing business owners ranking power on Google SERPs.
Mueller noted, “Some of these things are more relevant for some kinds of developers than others in the sense that a lot of times web developers when we talk to them they’re not aware of things like meta descriptions, meta titles and things like that being that critical. And they don’t make sure that they’re visible for example, if they’re using a JavaScript framework, those kinds of things.”
You may have a website manager, an SEO, and a few developers working on your business website. But if they are not communicating and ensuring all aspects of optimization are being covered, it could be hurting your business online. And believe it or not, when it comes to development, SEO is important when it comes to internal communications, too. For example, your company intranet should be optimized as well (click here to learn more about the benefits of company intranets).
Mueller’s top 3 optimization essentials for business owners
There are a ton of articles out there for SEO tactics. However, getting optimization advice straight from Google’s team is always the best. It doesn’t happen very often, so when it does, business owners should listen intently. Mueller outlined three important optimization essentials:
- Search results are not all encompassing, but change based on the search query
- There is no one size fits all solution when it comes to ranking consistently
- Developers and the whole website team needs to provide powerful web experiences
If you implement and consider these three tips, you may get a better view of how to shape your optimization efforts in 2020 and beyond. It is also to note that Google does change algorithms and updates penalties constantly.
So what works now, may not be the best in six months from now. So keep your ear to the ground and stay up to date with how Google is ranking websites for optimal success.
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