5 top tips to becoming a better SEO in 2019

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Nov 8, 2019 / by
5 top tips to becoming a better SEO in 2019

Even though it’s an online marketing practice that many thought would not last, SEO is still very big business. It is also, however, constantly changing, as Google continually shifts the goalpost by making as many as 500 changes a year to their sacred algorithm.

Being an effective SEO isn’t just about being a great writer, editor, or optimiser; it’s about keeping on top of the game and adapting to the latest status quo.

Because SEO tactics that proved fruitful 2 years ago might get you nowhere today. But which tactic will draw in those clicks and conversions in 2019 and beyond?

1. Get a fresh pair of eyes on it

Most SEOs work in solitude. They might work in an office as part of a team but when it comes to the nitty-gritty work, most SEOs will be doing the vast majority of their creative work solo.

Getting a second pair of eyes on something can be invaluable, particularly when you work as part of a business that is trying to foster an environment of communication and creativity.

So, whilst you might have spent hours researching, writing, optimising and editing an SEO project, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ask someone to critique your work. Working in silos and completing projects without asking for feedback means you’re only getting one point of view.

You might be working to the client’s brief, but you’re still only attacking it from one angle – your’s. Someone else on your team might have something to add to the project you hadn’t even considered.

2. Brainstorming is not a dirty word

Part of working as a team (see above) is also making time for brainstorming sessions. A large part of successful SEO is building website strategies and issue-solving and these are the kind of tasks that can be so much more useful if undertaken by a team. If multiple SEOs working with various clients, this is the perfect opportunity to share strategies and discuss problems

3. Consider the audience

As Google algorithms become more and more complicated and start to favour content that is actually relevant and engaging (and not just keyword-stuffed piffle), SEO content needs to be all about the audience.

The content that’s going to be ranked highly are drive traffic is always going to be the user-focused content. It’s all about writing to the right people, speaking their language, and creating content that they will find genuinely engaging and useful.

You should also be considering the audience with your targeted keyword – research your audience and use this research to decipher what they want, why they need it and which keywords they are typically using. Only then will you start to see real ROI on your SEO practices in 2019

4. Be readable

One of the greatest sins any SEO can commit is to create a piece of content that is simply not very readable. The longer audience members stay on a site devouring its content, the better that page will look to Google and the better that page will rank.

Being readable doesn’t just mean the obvious factors either (clear, organised, logical and understandable test), but how deep the content goes too. With Google constantly intensifying its focus on quality content, SEO content needs to delve a little deeper and look past the surface of a topic.

This means writing longer blog posts, exploring topics that can be approached from many different angles, and using industry publications and tools like Google Scholar to hit harder with more insightful, properly cited facts and information.

5. Consider the visuals

SEO has never been considered a visual, but research from Skyword suggests that all articles that contain relevant images get around 94% more views than those either without images or with images that are not relevant.

For many SEOs, images are always an afterthought – something we spend perhaps 2 minutes  mulling over before settling on something that at least partly reflects the content.

However, we are all hard-wired to react to images and using high-quality images (unique, custom images, particularly) will always make a piece of content feel more authoritative and professional. So, if you want to be a better SEO in 2019, think visually!

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