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SEO

When to Hire a Local SEO Company: 6 Questions You Need to Ask Before Hiring SEO Services

Although 75% of companies invest in SEO in big and small ways, businesses still debate if they need professional assistance with SEO. In this article, we will break down why you should hire a local SEO Company and 6 questions that you should ask an SEO consultant to determine if they are good at what they do.

When To Hire A Local SEO Company?

Here are 3 questions that will pop up in your mind when you are ready to hire a local SEO company.

1. Am I Ready To Expand My Business?
Local SEO Company

While it is possible to optimize your digital assets in-house, it is expensive, time-consuming, and not foolproof. Having 1 or 2 in-house people writing SEO content, optimizing the website, and building authentic backlinks is not feasible and will take a lot of time.

Hiring a professional SEO company will ensure that you get faster results in less time. Most SEO companies have a team of experts who specialize in different areas of the service ensuring that you get a well-planned, and managed SEO strategy that brings you under the spotlight.

2. Do I Want To Optimize Internal Workflow
SEO consultant

It’s harder to manage SEO services when your company does not specialize in it. Not only will it drain a lot of resources, but you may need to learn about SEO to establish KPIs and milestones – both of which will exhaust time and finances.

By outsourcing local SEO services, you can rest assured that the experts are managing your SEO needs and re-direct your resources in staff who specialize in your industry. This will optimize internal workflow and bring you under the spotlight at the same time.

3. How Quickly Do I Want To Build My Local Presence?
Local SEO Company

As mentioned above, any company can do in-house SEO, but since SEO is a time-consuming process, it will take longer to build it with a single person. It may take years before you see any traffic coming to your website through search engines.

Although some aspects of SEO do take time, like Google indexing and building a content inventory, an SEO expert can work on a few things that will quickly optimize you for search engines. This includes things like building a faster website, optimizing the website for customer experience, and setting up a Google My Business page for local SEO.

Questions You Need To Ask Before Hiring SEO Services

local SEO

The SEO industry is saturated with service providers and only a few are experts. Here are some quick questions you can ask potential service providers to determine if they are the right fit for your brand.

1. How Many Years Of Experience Do You Have?

This question quickly establishes the service experts from the service providers. Try to look into multiple resources for the company’s authenticity. Social media platforms and Google reviews can give some idea on how experienced and authentic a company is. However, there is a disclaimer – there are many good companies out there with little to no social media presence. In this case, you should directly ask the company for case studies of past works and customer testimonials.

2. Do You Provide Other Digital Marketing Services?
Local SEO Company

Many SEO companies are actually full-service internet marketing companies that provide SEO as a part of their services. This is beneficial for most B2B and B2C brands as it means you can get more than just SEO services. SEO is a small fraction of digital marketing and web development services and working with a full-service internet marketing company would imply that you can start by building a strong website, UI/UX design, followed by local SEO and other digital marketing services like social media marketing – all from 1 service provider.

3. Do You Outsource Or Provide All Services In House?

While many good companies have a freelancer model, i.e. all their services are outsourced and they have an in-house management team, companies that have an in-house team are usually more affordable and better at managing project deadlines.

Always ask your potential service provider how many people will work on your project and if they are a part of the in-house team. Genuine digital marketing and local SEO companies are happy to provide you with this information.

4. How Will You Improve My Local Visibility?
experienced SEO companies

Good local SEO is a systematic process that spans somewhere between months and years. A good local SEO company will incorporate local directories, backlink generation and hyper local content to improve your local SEO. 

Do not work with companies that promise results in weeks or months. Local SEO is 90% skill and 10% luck and even the most experienced SEO specialists do not have control over the time taken by third-party websites to enlist you. Companies that guarantee results in weeks are either inexperienced and don’t understand how local SEO works or use black hat techniques that can damage your online brand image in the long run.

5. Will You Provide Monthly Reports?
Local SEO Company

Monthly reports help us understand what is working and what isn’t. Even the most experienced SEO companies cannot speculate any progress without having a proper reporting system in place. So when a company takes time to assess its progress and make the necessary changes to its SEO strategy, it is usually a good company. Asking a potential service provider if they provide reports and which software they use to track data will provide good insight into their experience and capacity to bring good results.

6. How Often Do You Revise And Edit Existing Strategies?

Good local SEO specialists use consumer behavior and data from local directories to improve their strategy. We need to give a strategy some time for it to work, hence changing it too soon will not guarantee success. On the other hand, if you take too long to spot redundancy in a strategy, you will exhaust a lot more resources before you see success. So, knowing when to change your strategy is important and good companies usually wait 3-4 months before they re-assess their existing initiatives.

Conclusion

We hope this article sheds some light on differentiating good local SEO companies from mediocre ones. You may not need SEO services as soon as you start your company, but as you grow and notice an increase in demand, you should outsource your SEO needs to an experienced company. Netlynx Inc. has 12+ years of experience in local SEO services and is always looking forward to bringing brands under the limelight.

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SEO

Here’s How Netlynx Can Increase Local Organic Traffic in 2024 Through SEO: 13 Tips for Success

Having a website increases your chances of finding your target audience online. But what good is that website if it does not appear on search engines? Improving your local SEO will automatically boost your number of offline customers. Research suggests that in 2022, 98% of netizens used search engines to find out about local businesses, and around 42% of local searches involved Google Maps.

So, if you want to have a local online presence, it’s time you start building it with a few simple strategies. Here are 13 tips for local SEO success in 2024.

1. Get Your Website On Google

local SEO

Does your website rank on search engines? Here’s a quick way to find out, search your website name on Google and see what comes up. If your website and social media handles are listed there, you have your bases covered and you can tick this off your list.

If it does not rank on Search Engines, it’s time to get to work. The quickest way to get your website noticed is to index it on Google Search Console. This will inform Google that your website exists and, if they find it authentic, they will rank it on their search engine.

Indexing pages on Google Search Console does provide crucial insights about your website. For instance, if your website is not secure or has many 404 error pages it will not rank on Google. Indexing pages on the search console will put these issues under the spotlight, giving you enough time to assess and improve on them.

2. Provide Value

local online presence

In this SEO rat race, we often forget that we are writing for human beings and not search engine bots. An important ranking criteria for Google is noticing customer behavior. If your website is keyword optimized but fails to provide the necessary information, you will have a high bounce rate (meaning that customers will leave as quickly as they visit the website) and search engines will rank your website lower.

On the flip side, if customers visit your website and stay on each page for a long time, maybe even going to the other pages, search engines will know that you provide customers with a lot of value and hence will improve your website rankings.

3. Create A Blog

A blog section is one of the best ways to get noticed by search engines. A well-maintained blog does the following:

  • It establishes you as an expert in the industry
  • It builds a rapport between you and your readers
  • Content that answers FAQs and ‘How to’ questions are far more likely to rank on Google
  • Provides opportunities for interlinking pages
  • Increases chances of backlinks
  • With more content, you show search engines that you are an authentic website that provides valuable information to your customers

For your blog to rank, you should not just create a blog and add a few articles in it. You must be consistent with your posting game. When you have a blog posting timetable, you not only give your potential customers something to look forward to, but show search engines that you are dedicated to providing authentic content.

4. Optimize Content For Featured Snippets

local SEO services

Featured snippets are the pieces of content that come in the rank 0 box section when you ask Google a question. The top organic search result receives 19x more traffic than the first paid result for the same search term. Hence writing content that gets noticed by featured snippets can be an asset for your business.

How can your website rank on featured snippets?

Usually FAQs and answers to ‘wh’ questions (who, where, what, when; additionally ‘how’) show up on featured snippets. If you are trying to rank your website through blog articles, you do not need a separate FAQ section as long as you write your article in clear paragraphs. You can either have a subheading with a question (like how we have here), or you can start a new paragraph, try to answer the question with as few words possible and try to incorporate a few keywords that sound natural in the sentence.

Try targeting long-tail keywords if you are particularly aiming for a local presence. Local content is comparatively sparse thus increasing your chances of ranking on search results.

5. Add Keywords Without Sounding Robotic

local SEO consultant

You might be confident that your customers will find value in your page once they land on it. But there’s one thing that comes between you and your customers – the search engine. Keywords are the only way to communicate with search bots and if you use it to your advantage, you can make the search engine your ally, encouraging it to showcase your content on the top.

The first step to a keyword strategy is knowing your target keywords and studying their keyword difficulty. If a keyword is rated high on the difficulty rate, it means that the keyword has a high search volume and is difficult to rank on and the opposite is true for keywords with a low difficulty. A local SEO consultant should help you find keywords that have decent search traffic and yet are easy to rank on.

Once you know which keywords will connect you to your target audience, it is important to sprinkle those keywords throughout your content. Now, search engines know that companies are trying to get recognised through keywords, and hence they have been improved to notice artificial-sounding content. So, do not overstuff keywords or add it in a way that makes your content sound artificial.

6. Create A Content Strategy

Local Organic Traffic

Amateur businesses will only focus on creating blogs or website pages. An SEO expert will help you create content that strategically complements each other. So for instance, if you are a lifestyle company that sells kitchen appliances, you should write articles about different types of the same appliance or how different appliances complement each other (for instance, writing about the best heavy duty blenders and then writing about the best portable blenders would allow you to interlink the two articles, in case the reader wants to explore different varieties of blenders).

An experienced local SEO company like Netlynx includes the following parameters in a content strategy:

  • Blog posting calendar
  • Content clusters (creating groups of content that can be interlinked with each other)
  • Keyword strategy (creating a healthy balance of long tail keywords and short tail keywords)

7. On Page SEO (Meta Tags, Titles, And URL Slug)

SEO optimization

This is one of the most crucial steps for SEO optimization. It may not take more than 30 minutes but will make a massive difference in the way search engines rank your content. Add the primary keyword, meta titles, meta tags, and descriptions on all your pages and blog content before publishing them.

The url slug should also be optimized according to the keyword. Here is a quick and easy checklist to refer to before you publish your article:

  • Make sure your primary keyword is on the H1 heading
  • Have the primary keyword on any H2 or H3 heading
  • Make sure your primary keyword is in the beginning of your article
  • Add the primary keyword to the cover image alt text
  • Make sure the meta tag and meta description have the primary keyword
  • Add 3-4 pieces of media content (photos/videos) on your article
  • Add at least one internal link to your blog
  • Add at least 1 external link to your blog
  • Use lighter images and videos on your blog page to maintain website speed

8. Optimize Images

Local Organic Traffic

Usually, viewers who use auditory applications to read out a website will now know that you have added images. Therefore adding an organic sounding alt text will improve your website’s user experience. Many novice companies stuff keywords on their image alt text which has a negative impact on the SEO. Instead of this, you can create an image alt text that sounds natural and relevant to the context.

9. Conduct an SEO Audit

Sound technical SEO improves your chances of showing up on Google’s very first page. But when you have many website pages, it is hard to keep track of which pages are optimized for search engines and which ones are not.

When you conduct an SEO audit it helps you stay ahead of the SEO game. Check out the next section for SEO parameters.

10. Follow SEO Best Practices

SEO best practices

Use this as a checklist for SEO best practices. Make sure you: 

  • Get an SSL certificate to remove the ‘unsafe’ alarm on your website
  • Fix 404 errors on your website, with a ‘re-direct’ code
  • Monitor and improve website speed
  • Optimize your website for both mobile and desktop users
  • Remove duplicate pages and content
  • Fix/remove broken links

Just a few of these simple observations can make a big difference on your website.

11. Spread the word

When you are completely new online, no one is going to spread the word for you. You have to spread the word yourself. Using social media platforms like the company page or your own pages will boost SEO through backlinking.

Encourage customers to tag you on their posts or mention you on their websites. Create referral programs and incentives that encourage customers to talk about you online. The more they spread the word, the better your local SEO health.

12. Start Building Backlinks

Local Organic Traffic

A backlink is a link created on a third-party website that re-directs customers to your business. Both follow and no follow backlinks improve your SEO health. The great thing about creating blog content is that you increase opportunities for others to use your content as a resource on their own website.

Additionally, you can increase backlinks by applying to local directories and offering to guest post for industries that co-exist with yours (for instance, a television company can partner with a sofa company to promote the idea of a comfortable viewing experience).

13. Constantly Update Old Articles

Local Organic Traffic

When we are constantly in the loop of producing new content, older articles quickly become forgotten. Remember that a good SEO strategy builds over time. When search results start noticing your company, they are far more likely to rank older articles first, because they most likely to gain maximum daily traffic. 

So, make sure your older articles have all the necessary article links. Update the page meta tags and descriptions as the need arises and do not shy away from adding new research and findings to the old articles. When you have a sound combination of adding new pieces of content and improving your old articles, you become a strong competitor in your industry.

Conclusion

These 13 tips have a strong impact on local SEO health. Always remember that you cannot build SEO overnight. It needs patience, consistency, and dedication. With local SEO experts on your side, you too can build a significant online presence within your locality!

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SEO

8 Tips For Choosing The Best E-Commerce SEO Company For Your Brand

You cannot start an e-commerce business without considering its online presence, especially if you depend on search engines and digital platforms for conversions. Search Engine Optimization is crucial, and outsourcing your SEO needs may increase your chances of online visibility very quickly. Finding a good SEO company for your e-commerce business will help you win half the battle in this constant rat race for online visibility.

8 Tips For Choosing The Best E-Commerce SEO Company For Your Brand

The selection process may seem a little daunting but fear not, we have your back. Here are some ways to find the best e-commerce SEO company that aligns with your business goals.

1. A Brief Look at the Brand History

Don’t get us wrong – it is possible for a new company to be excellent at what they do, however, the chances of you getting excellent results from a company that launched itself a year back, are quite slim. Companies that have been around for a long time are usually not afraid to share their rich company history either on their website or on a portfolio and are usually safer to work with.

A Brief Look at the Brand History

In case you want to go ahead with a new company, do a little background research, especially on the company founder. New companies are often single person, or two people run businesses, so, more often than not, the founder will double up as your service provider. Look into their work experience, especially in e-commerce SEO services before going forward.

2. Assessing Technical Proficiency

Assessing Technical Proficiency

This can be a little tricky because the reason why you are hiring someone is because you expect them to know more about SEO than you do. But how will you asses them if you don’t know much about the service in the first place? The best way to tell apart a good company from a mediocre one is to check their usage of jargon and complicated language. As Albert Einstein once said, ‘If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t know it well enough’. Someone with a well rounded knowledge will not try to impress you with all the industry jargon, rather they will be more concerned with solving your problem in the best way possible.

Ask questions like ‘How will you:’

  • Research keywords
  • Build links for the company
  • Customize your SEO strategy for us

These questions will provide a good idea as to how the company will handle your brand. A good SEO company will tell you the platforms and tools they use for their research and even how they plan on building links – either through website content or content on third-party websites (backlink generation). They will have a lot of questions to ask you about your company and may even ask for a few days before they get back to you with a strategy. Rest assured that when you are dealing with an experienced SEO company, you will not be confused by the strategy laid out by them. They are usually open to resolving doubts too, in case you have any.

3. Specialization

SEO is so fast that even e-commerce SEO can be broken down into several subcategories. For instance, let’s say you are a local shop that also sells products online with a few shipping restrictions. You should find an e-commerce SEO company that specializes in local SEO and niche specific SEO.

Specialization

Ask the company about their work history and if they have worked with a company similar to yours. Some companies cannot share client names because of client confidentiality agreements like the NDA. However, a good e-commerce SEO company will happily share past work experiences and challenges that are specific to your niche while adhering to the client confidentiality agreement.

4. Long Term and Short Term Goals

Another great way to assess if a company is legit, is by asking them what will their long term and short term goals be for an e-commerce company like yours. Usually, when companies guarantee exact numbers (like 100 conversions in 1 month, or 1000+ page visits) it is often a red flag. Even the best SEO company cannot guarantee page visits and conversions. Why? Because conversions, page visits, bounce rate etc is all led by human behavior. There are heatmaps, analytics, and other measures that can guide SEO companies as to why potential clients are behaving a certain way, but at the end of the day, no one can guarantee that people will buy your product.

Long Term and Short Term Goals

If a company is guaranteeing sales or visibility they are either lying or they have black hat SEO techniques under their belt that can worsen your SEO health in the long run.

Good long term and short term goals should look something like this:

Short Term Goals:
  • Building a content strategy to rank on more keywords
  • Begin guest posting to build page backlinks
  • Improve on page SEO for all pages by interlinking and outbound links
  • Improve search engine rankings
Long Term Goals:
  • Increase organic traffic by x%
  • Reduce page loading speed to x seconds
  • Reduce bounce rate by x%

These are a few examples of how our service provider should outline their goals.

5. Assessing Online Presence

Assessing Online Presence

Any other company can get away with poor online visibility and a bad website, but not an SEO company. A good SEO company understands how a good website impacts your overall ranking, hence you should expect good UI and UX design, good interlinking, and a fast-loading website both on a desktop and on mobile. If they don’t check all these boxes, it might be a good incentive to move on to the next e-commerce SEO company on your list.

Additionally, check the company’s social media profiles as well. A few years back we would have asked to check the follower count but let’s be honest, it’s a cut throat niche and even the best companies may have a few 100 followers. On the other hand, mediocre companies attain 1000+ followers through questionable means. So instead of the follower count, look at their content quality, their posting frequency etc. A brief look at their social media profiles will help you judge if the company is reliable.

6. Checking Client Testimonials

Checking Client Testimonials

Apart from reviews on their website, check for reviews on Google, Facebook, and other online directories. If a company does not have a lot of reviews, you can ask them for a past client reference. A legitimate company would be happy to put you on a call with an existing or past client.

7. Find Out Their Range Of Services

Although this doesn’t directly impact good SEO services, a company that provides professional e-commerce website development services, for example, can quickly assist in things like website speed and design improvements – things that will directly impact SEO health.

Find Out Their Range Of Services

A good digital presence requires companies to adapt services that overlap one another. For instance, SEO requires good content skills as well as good web design and development skills. Hence working with a company that specializes in SEO, web development and digital marketing may show faster results.

8. Price

Lastly, this should go unsaid, but there have been instances where novice (and sometimes scammy) SEO service providers have provided long shot or arbitrary SEO techniques at a very high price and unaware e-commerce companies have fallen prey to the strategy.

If you don’t have a budget in mind, you should talk to more than one service provider, check their prices along with their proficiency. A good e-commerce SEO company will price its services according to milestones and have a detailed payment structure.

Price

Conclusion

We hope these tips help you find an SEO agency that aligns with your business goals. Netlynx Inc is also an e-commerce SEO company, we provide both SEO and web development services for online stores. So, if you have a requirement, feel free to get in touch with us. All the best!

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SEO

9 SEO Trends You Must Watch Out For in 2024!

Today’s digital landscape is a hyper rollercoaster where SEO has all the control. SEO improves visibility and visibility increases conversions. This is why most modern companies cannot sustain without a strong SEO strategy. So, are you ready to dive into 9 SEO trends you must watch out for in 2024? After reading this article, you’ll transform from a trend-chaser to a trendsetter!

We’ve got nine game-changing trends that are gearing up to define the SEO galaxy. Our list will discuss why we feel they are important and how they can impact your SEO game. So, buckle up and get ready! This list isn’t a roadmap, it’s the ultimate treasure hunt that promises gold on the other end.

1. Google SGE Will Impact Searches

SGE or Search Generative experience was launched by Google in May 2023 in certain parts of the world and is believed to become a game changer in the coming years. SGE will become the perfect tool for people on the go.

Although Google has the rank 0 feature where they showcase a list of pointers, Google’s SGE feature aims to take that a step further. The Search Generative Experience aims to provide netizens with key pointers and highlight answers to questions without having to click on a page. This might reduce on-page traffic and the only way to stay on top is through good quality, well-researched content.

What does this mean for you? It means that if you want to stay ahead of the competition you need to produce content that is easy to skim through, one that provides information to your customers without info-dumping on them. Start 2024 by understanding SGE even if it isn’t launched in your locality yet. Understanding how it works and how to create SGE-friendly content will give you an upper hand in 2024.

SGE may seem daunting, especially if you haven’t seen it on your systems. But if you work with experienced SEO service providers, you can get ahead in the game.

2. Importance of Crowd-Sourced Reviews and Personal Experience

In a world where AI content is becoming more common, people are starting to be on the lookout for ‘human-ness’. That’s right, AI makes it easier to produce quick content and this takes away from the human experience – something readers are naturally drawn to.

So while it may be tempting to rely on AI bots to do the heavy duty content work, search engines are giving importance to crowd secured content and personal experiences.

When was the last time you purchased a product without glancing at the reviews? Probably never, right? User generated content bridges the gap between the company and its consumers. It’s a small step that stops consumers from raising their eyebrows at you and makes them feel like you are one of them.

So this 2024, give importance to crowd sourced content like testimonials, articles, videos etc. It’s not just about boosting credibility; it’s about climbing the search engine tiers one step at a time. The more your community sings your praises, the higher you soar in those search results. Foster a community-driven vibe by creating a space where your users feel heard and valued. After all, they are the hero of your brand story!

3. Catering to an Audience with a Decreasing Attention Span

In today’s whirlwind of information and media overload, catching and holding onto your audience’s attention is like chasing a fleeting comet. Our SEO marketing consultants have noticed a shift in the attention spans of viewers. It’s tough, but not impossible! Popular Search Engines know this very well and hence are incorporating features like SGE. This means that you not only have to compete with the netizen’s diminishing attention spans but with Search Engines as well.

Your content needs to be meaningful, visually stunning, and easy to digest. Use eye-catching graphics, dazzling images, and videos to your advantage. It will make your audience stop scrolling and pay attention.

Interactive content that asks your customers for their opinion, works too. Add polls, and quizzes – things that make them tap, swipe, grin and keep them on your page.

4. Brand Metrics Will Matter Over Everything Else

Forget the traditional SEO playbook; there is a new ruler in town—brand metrics! We’re stepping into a world where your brand’s popularity will set the pace for search rankings.

What are brand metrics you may ask? It is a quantifiable way to track brand health and overall performance for their branded campaigns. To put it simply, if an offline yet famous brand suddenly decides to come online, it may be preferred by search engines against its competitors, even if the competitors have a better online ranking.

So while content will continue to be important, you need to work on building stronger bonds with customers, both online and offline. The brand’s vibes, the love your audience showers on you, and the loyalty they pledge—it’s all going to be SEO’s key factors.

5. Content is King

Top SEO marketing companies are noticing a slight gap between AI and EI content online. Emotional intelligence (EI) is poised to take centre stage amidst the AI frenzy of 2024. While AI has been the talk of the town, there’s a rising tide leaning towards EI. AI is fantastic for creating content quickly however human touch (and voice) keeps audiences connected to your brand. When everyone’s using the same tools in similar ways, being authentically human is what sets you apart.

This 2024, incorporate a lot of manual research into your content writing strategy. Writeups and personal experiences from industry experts will also improve SEO. AI can be a part of your writing strategy but make sure to balance it out with a lot of human input, perspectives and humor.

6. Aim for a Multi-Channel Visibility

Your digital presence isn’t just a single platform; it’s an intricate web woven across various platforms. In 2024, the name of the game is multi-channel visibility. In 2024, you cannot have a solid website SEO strategy and neglect your social media presence.

Search engines are becoming smart – they know that a brand is no longer about a well-written blog – it’s about a brand experience. What caters to your brand experience? It is a combination of everything from your website, blog, social media pages, podcasts to your offline presence.

Every platform has a rankability feature. Look at Instagram for instance, when you click on the suggestions tab, there’s a list of content for you to engage with. Who decides which piece of content gets precedence – the algorithms of course.

This 2024, you must think of a multi-channel SEO strategy that is not limited to website content creation. Take a big step forward with podcasts, blogs, social media content etc for multi-channel visibility.

7. Manual Research Is Back in Trend

How many of you have been here since the early 2000s? Remember the times when you would manually research everything before writing an article? Well, looks like that is back in trend! In the era of automation, there’s a rebirth of the hands-on approach: manual research! While it is very easy to get all your answers from an AI chatbot, manual research and fact checking affects the way you write content and 2024 is going to put immense value on ‘human-ness’ – a part of it will include manual research.

Where you get your information from will speak volumes as well. Try to incorporate personal opinions, forums niche experts to create your content – because of course, no one knows the industry better than you. Manual research will go an extra mile to give customers personalised input.

8. Special importance to EEAT guidelines

Search engines are getting smarter by the minute. They crave content that’s not just good but trustworthy, expert-level, and—wait for it—immediately useful to users’ queries. Following the E-E-A-T guidelines (experience, expertise, authority and trust) will improve your chances of ranking on competitive search terms.

We feel EEAT will simplify content importance for rising (and digitally famous) companies. Simply by asking yourself if every piece of content ticks all the boxes of the EEAT guideline, you can reduce the chances of redundancy, ensuring good content is under the limelight every time.

9. Importance to video content

Let’s talk about the game-changer in the SEO world: videos! Trust me, you don’t want to miss out on this massive opportunity and make your mark. In this digital realm, everyone’s hooked on videos! We’re talking about nearly 3.5 billion digital video viewers worldwide, and guess what? Search engines have taken notice!

About 89% of people admit that watching a video convinced them to make a purchase. That’s the power of video persuasion! But, before you hit record on that camera, let’s talk strategy!

You need a strategy that sets your videos apart—making sure your audience not only watches but keeps coming back for more. Tools like Google’s Keyword Analytics and YouTube’s Keyword Analytics, works as a goldmine, helping you understand what your target audience is looking for to get to you. This makes your video stand out in the crowd. You can also design eye-catching thumbnails with tools like Canva to boost click-through rates and make ’em irresistible!

Another reason why videos are becoming so popular is that they add to the human experience. This is why videos that have a person speaking in them, automatically perform better than videos with a bot voice or no faces.

Conclusion

So, here’s our list of the 9 SEO Trends You Must Watch Out For in 2024. All these new strategies may seem overwhelming at first but having a professional SEO marketing consultant, like Netlynx, on your side will make the process much easier. We’ve decoded the secrets and uncovered the shifts, and now, it’s time to put these insights into action. You are the architects of your digital destiny! It’s not enough to know these trends; it’s about seizing the moment and adapting to the ever-evolving world of SEO strategies.

Remember, SEO isn’t just about search engines; it’s about connecting with people, resonating with their needs, and delivering value. Working with expert SEO service providers will help you get there much faster.

All the best with your SEO journey. Let us know if you need any help with the process.

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SEO

How To Find The Perfect Balance Between Local SEO and UX in 2024?

Let’s start the New Year with a resolution – in 2024, we will find a perfect balance between local SEO and UX on our website. After all, the two work hand in hand to give you the desired reach and presence amongst your potential audience – local SEO makes your website visible to your ideal audience, and UX makes them happy, leaving behind a lasting impression on their minds. Striking a perfect balance between the two has never been more important than ever before!

What Is SEO?

To put it simply, Search Engine Optimization (or SEO) prepares your website for search engines like GoogleBingYahoo, and a few others. If your website is well designed and optimized for search engines, you are far more likely to pop up on the right search term. It’s all about fine-tuning every nook and cranny of your web page and waving a flag to search engines, saying, “Hey, I’m right here; check me out!”

There are many components to an SEO-friendly web page. One of the most important components are keywords. Using the right keywords is like leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for search engines to follow. When your keywords are consistent and appear organically throughout the web page, search engines are far more likely to show your brand to the right audience.

Apart from keywords, good UX and a fast-loading website also play a crucial role in optimizing a website for search engines.

What Is Local SEO?

Local SEO is the next step in SEO, and it comes especially handy to local businesses. The competition to rank on local searches is comparatively lesser than international and generalized searches. This is why it is all the more important to rank in them, especially if you have a local business.

So how do you rank on local searches? By targeting local search terms. A good local SEO strategy does not target search terms in random order; rather, it is a complicated web of local searches that interlink with each other.

What is User Experience (UX)?

Imagine walking into a store where everything feels just right—the music is perfectly soothing, the air smells fresh, the staff is incredibly friendly, but most importantly, you can find what you need without any hassle. That’s UX! A website built with UX designers on the panel will have buttons and content placed in all the right places for customers to browse through and get what they are looking for without feeling overwhelmed or frustrated.

When users browse through your website, effortlessly finding what they need and checking out in a snap, it’s like rolling out a red carpet for their shopping spree. A good user experience never goes unnoticed. If you pay special focus to user experience, bounce rates will go down and engagement and conversion rates will shoot up.

Why Do We Need A Balance Between the Two?

UX and SEO aren’t two separate entities; they’re intertwined in a dance. What good will it do if you have all the visibility in the world but a poor user experience? Customers will click on your link but will leave as soon as they land! On the other hand, if you have a great user experience but no visibility, no one will ever know about your brand. This is why UX and SEO go hand in hand, and it is important to strike a balance between the two.

6 Key Tips To Balance Local SEO and UX in 2024

Although tricky, balancing UX and SEO is not impossible. With these key tips, you will notice a shift in customer behavior in a matter of months!

1. Keep your content in the limelight

Let’s start with the showstopper of a website’s content. Content might seem like the simplest yet trickiest solution for SEO. Why? Because content must be catered to your audience. For instance, if your customers are likely to stumble on your website during their leisure time, they may want something more immersive or something they can enjoy with their morning cup of coffee. If your customers find your website when they are on the go, they are likely to skim through the headings to find what they are looking for.

Currently, search engines favour longer-form content, keeping articles with 2,000 or more words at the top. However, if you look into these longer, high-ranking articles, you will notice they have one thing in common – skimmability. Blogs with clear headings and a clickable table of contents improve user experience.

The key is to use content to provide value and versatility so that customers can jump through it or read the whole page at their convenience. Visual content plays a crucial role too. Colors, images, and graphics add a refreshing break to the paragraphs. Weaving in photos and videos will make the content easier to grasp, creating a favourable user experience.

2. Keyword research

What good is excellent content if it does not reach the right people? That’s where keywords come in. Keywords help search engines understand what your content is all about. Keyword research will help you find a list of long-tail and short-tail search terms potential customers are using locally to find brands like yours. Always remember, the longer the keyword, the more focused the search is.

Search engines are becoming smarter as we speak. Hence, it has become more important than ever to sound organic, despite the number of keywords being used on the page. In fact, stuffing the keyword on the page may flag you by reputable search engines. So good keyword research and smart placement of keywords will strike a balance between local SEO and UX.

Outsourcing keyword research to a reputable SEO company is really handy in moments like these. Experts always start with research and strategically ranking keywords based on their keyword difficulty and overall importance.

3. Map out your pages

There’s a catch with UX and local SEO. Good UX requires simplicity, ensuring that navigating your site is like a stroll in the park, but SEO wants more pages—more pages mean more opportunities to shine in search results. Additionally, local SEO is all about local content, which will further increase the number of pages on your website.

The best way to get the benefits of UX and SEO is to create a flexible map—a sitemap—containing the list of pages on the website and how they will be interlinked with one another. This does two things, increase the number of pages you have on your website, and provide a systematic linking system that does not overwhelm the user, thus maintaining UX.

4. Enhance mobile experience

In 2015, Google declared its allegiance to “mobile-first indexing.” This simply means that the mobile version of your website gets precedence in the search rankings. So if you have an excellent desktop version of your website and a terrible mobile version, you are less likely to rank on search engines.

But don’t let the smaller screen size hinder you, especially when you can use it to your advantage. The screen size and the touch screen can add a unique element to the website’s mobile version.

Good mobile design and development incorporate both UX and SEO. Technical SEO like header design and visibility and on site SEO like meta tags and descriptions improve page rankings whereas navigation buttons and prompt design improve user experience. Things like website speed improve both SEO and user experience, which brings us to the next topic.

5. Loading Speeds

Speed is a game-changer for both SEO and user experience. 3 seconds – that’s all you have to impress your customers. 80% of customers leave if the website takes longer than 3 seconds to load and with every second added to the loading speed there is a drop in the customer’s interest level.

Light code, images and videos embedded from another website will keep your website light while providing interactive content to your customers.

Additionally, a good hosting plan, minimal plugins and extensions will also keep your website light and easy to load. When your page loads faster than 3 seconds, you’re not just winning the race; you’re setting the stage for a top-notch user experience and soaring SEO rankings.

6. Hire An Expert

All the steps mentioned above can be a bit overwhelming especially if you don’t have experience with web design and search engine optimization. This is why outsourcing your SEO and UX needs to an expert can come in handy. Web design agencies like Netlynx Inc, who also provide local SEO services, create phase by phase SEO and UX plans, making sure all your pages rank high on search engines and bring about a positive user experience.

In projects where we have to strictly improve user experience and optimize the website locally, we begin by auditing the site and make the necessary changes. Once the website is ready for new enhancements we begin with keyword research and a site map. This provides the base for SEO and UX work making sure you grow systematically without compromising on user experience.

Conclusion

Both SEO and UX can make or break your online presence and this is why, having systematic growth is crucial to your online presence. We hope this article threw some light on how you can improve your digital game by striking a perfect balance between local SEO and UX. And if you ever need professional help, Netlynx Inc is here to guide you.

We hope 2024 brings you a storm of new customers. All the best!

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SEO

The Ultimate Guide to SEO for Voice Search

Did you know that by 2024, the global voice recognition market will be worth $26.8 billion, and there will be 8 billion voice-enabled digital assistants? With the rise of virtual assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant optimizing your website for voice search has become crucial in staying ahead of the competition. In this ultimate guide to SEO for voice search, we will delve into the strategies and techniques you need to implement to ensure your website ranks high in these spoken queries. From understanding how voice search differs from traditional text-based searches to leveraging long-tail keywords and conversational content, this comprehensive guide will equip you with everything you need to dominate the world of voice search optimization. Whether you’re a seasoned SEO expert or just starting out, get ready to revolutionize your digital presence and attract a whole new wave of potential customers through the power of optimized voice searches. It is considered to be the most significant emerging SEO factor by 22.8% of SEO professionals.

What is SEO for Voice Search?

SEO for Voice search is the practice of optimizing a website to rank higher in search results for voice searches. Voice searches are different from traditional text searches in a few ways. 

  • Voice searches are more conversational

Voice search queries are often longer and more detailed than traditional search queries. 

  • Voice searches are mostly local

Businesses that want to be found by voice searchers need to make sure their website is optimized for local search. 

  • Voice searches are more likely to be mobile

Businesses need to make sure their website is optimized for mobile search.

Voice Search Optimization is like Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in that they both aim to increase organic website traffic and boost brand visibility through content optimization and targeted keywords. However, VSEO focuses specifically on the natural, conversational language used in day-to-day life. More than 80% of the voice search answers on Google Assistant are from the top three search results.

Importance of voice search in SEO

In this ever-evolving digital landscape, keeping up with the latest trends and technologies is crucial for any website owner or SEO-savvy individual. Among the many game-changers in the realm of search engine optimization (SEO), the rising prominence of voice search cannot be ignored. Gone are the days of typing in keywords, as this groundbreaking technology allows users to simply speak their queries into their mobile devices or smart speakers, effortlessly fetching accurate and instant results. The impact of voice search on SEO strategy is undeniable, making it imperative for businesses to adapt and optimize their online presence accordingly.

So, why has voice search become the talk of the town?

From a business perspective, SEO for voice search has become a game-changer. The competition for the top spot on traditional search engine results pages (SERPs) has always been fierce. However, with the advent of voice search, businesses have an opportunity to stand out from the crowd and capture the attention of potential customers in new and exciting ways. Voice search presents a whole new set of ranking factors that need to be considered. These range from the importance of featured snippets and local SEO to crafting content in a conversational tone and understanding the user’s search intent more accurately.

Voice search is becoming increasingly popular, and it is important for businesses to optimize their websites for voice search in order to stay ahead of the competition. Here are some of the reasons why SEO for voice search is important:

  • Voice search queries are more conversational

    People use voice search to ask questions in a natural way, just like they would talk to a friend. Which means that voice search queries are often longer and more detailed than traditional search queries.

  • Voice search queries are more local

    People often use voice search to find local businesses or information about places near them. This means that businesses that want to be found by voice searchers need to make sure their website is optimized for local search.

  • Voice search queries are more likely to be long-tail keywords

    Long-tail keywords are more niche-focused and less crowded than short-tail keywords. This depicts that it is easier to rank for long-tail keywords in voice search results.

  • Voice search queries are more likely to be mobile

    Mobile devices are most frequently used for voice searches. This means that businesses need to make sure their website is optimized for mobile search.

Impact of SEO for Voice Search

SEO for voice search has emerged as a game-changing technology that has revolutionized the way we interact with search engines. Understanding voice search and its impact on SEO has become crucial for businesses of all sizes. The rise of voice search is directly influencing the field of search engine optimization (SEO), forcing marketers and website owners to adapt their strategies to cater to this new trend. As more and more people embrace voice search, search engines are also evolving to provide accurate and relevant results. This means that businesses need to optimize their websites specifically for SEO voice search if they want to maintain visibility and attract organic traffic.

One of the key differences between voice search and traditional text-based searches lies in the language used. When we type a query, we tend to use different keywords and phrases, whereas in voice search, we adopt a conversational tone and ask full questions. Therefore, for SEO for voice search, businesses must focus on incorporating long-tail keywords and conversational phrases into their website content. By doing so, they can align their website with the language patterns of voice search users, increasing the chances of their content being the top result for relevant voice queries. SEO for voice search is predominantly conducted through mobile devices, making mobile optimization an essential factor for its success.

Optimizing Website Content: SEO for Voice Search

Understanding user intent is also crucial in voice search optimization. Voice search queries frequently include specific phrases like “near me,” “how to,” or “best,” indicating that users are often looking for local information, directions, or recommendations. By tailoring website content to answer these intent-driven queries, businesses can increase their chances of appearing in local voice search results. This requires incorporating location-specific keywords, optimizing Google My Business listings, and creating content that caters to the needs of local consumers.

Moreover, structured data is highly beneficial when it comes to SEO for voice search. By implementing schema markup, businesses can provide search engines with valuable contextual information about their content. This improves the chances of search engines understanding and accurately interpreting the context of the website, resulting in better visibility in voice search results.

Difference Between Traditional & Voice Optimization

While traditional searches often consist of short, concise phrases, voice search queries tend to be longer and more conversational. To optimize your website for voice search, focus on incorporating long-tail keywords and natural language into your content. Conduct thorough research to identify the specific phrases and questions individuals commonly use when carrying out voice searches related to your industry.

Content that Directly Addresses Users

Voice search results are usually displayed in the form of a featured snippet, also known as “position zero” on search engine result pages. To increase your chances of appearing as a featured snippet, structure your content in a way that directly answers frequently asked questions related to your niche. By providing clear and concise answers, search engines will recognize your website as a reliable source of information, thus improving your organic traffic.

Optimizing Website Speed

Voice searches are generally performed on mobile devices, and users expect quick and immediate responses. Slow-loading websites not only frustrate users but also have a negative impact on your search engine rankings. Ensure that your website is fast and mobile-friendly by optimizing images, minimizing HTTP requests, and leveraging caching techniques. By providing a seamless user experience, you increase the chances of attracting and retaining visitors from voice searches.

SEO for Voice Search Image 3

Harness the Power of Local SEO for Voice Search

As virtual assistants often prioritize local queries, make sure to optimize your website for specific locations and include relevant information such as your business address, contact details, and opening hours. Creating location-specific landing pages and claiming your Google My Business listing are effective strategies to enhance your local SEO and attract potential customers in your area.

To remain competitive in the digital landscape, adapting your website content for voice search is now more important than ever. By understanding the nature of voice queries, providing direct and informative answers, optimizing your website’s loading speed, and implementing local SEO practices, you can significantly improve your chances of being discovered through voice searches.

Schema Mark-up Implementation

Schema markup is a form of microdata that you can add to your website’s code, providing search engines with structured metadata about your content. By incorporating schema markup, you’re essentially providing search engines with a road map to understand your website better. This helps them deliver more relevant and informative search results to users. In the context of SEO for voice search, schema markup is even more critical as it helps virtual assistants decipher important details within your content.

Advantages of implementing schema mark-up for voice search:

Enhancing Visibility

Schema mark-up for voice search enhances the visibility of your content in featured snippets. Featured snippets are concise summaries of information displayed prominently at the top of search engine result pages. Virtual assistants often rely on featured snippets to provide instant answers to voice search queries.

Increase Local Ranking

More people are using voice search to find local businesses or services nearby. By leveraging schema mark-up, you can provide search engines with specific details about your location, opening hours, contact information, and even customer reviews. This rich data not only helps virtual assistants understand and present your information more accurately but also establishes your business as a trusted and reliable option for users.

Embracing schema markup implementation for SEO in the context of voice search can significantly enhance your website’s visibility and user experience. By providing search engines with structured metadata about your content, you increase the chance of appearing in featured snippets, rank higher in local search results, and ultimately attract more organic traffic.

Monitoring Performance & Analytics

Monitoring performance and analytics has become an integral part of any successful SEO strategy. SEO for Voice search has witnessed a significant surge in popularity, thanks to the advent of smart speakers and virtual assistants. As more and more consumers embrace this convenient method of searching, it’s essential for website owners to track and analyze their voice search performance to optimize their digital presence effectively.

Below are some of the key aspects to monitor performance and analytics in SEO for voice search:

To Understand the Voice Search Queries

Unlike traditional text-based searches, voice search queries tend to be more conversational and longer. By identifying the specific questions or phrases users are asking, businesses can tailor their content to match these queries and improve their chances of appearing in voice search results.

To Evaluate your SEO Efforts

Monitoring metrics such as rankings, click-through rates, and user engagement allows you to gauge the impact of voice search on your website’s visibility and traffic. By regularly analyzing this data, you can identify trends and areas for improvement, fine-tuning your SEO strategy to deliver more targeted and relevant content to voice search users.

Insights into User Behaviour

By understanding how users interact with your website through voice search, you can make data-driven decisions to enhance user experience and satisfaction. This could involve optimizing your site for mobile responsiveness, refining your natural language processing capabilities, or even creating voice-activated features to better meet user expectations.

Impact of SEO for Voice Search

Is voice search driving valuable leads and conversions? Are users engaging with your content beyond just acquiring information? By delving into these metrics, you can adjust your SEO strategy to ensure that your voice search efforts translate into tangible business outcomes.

Monitoring performance and analytics in SEO for voice search is paramount in this era of digital transformation. By understanding the unique characteristics of voice search queries, tracking key metrics, and analyzing user behavior, businesses can optimize their websites to capitalize on this burgeoning search trend. Stay vigilant, embrace the power of voice search analytics, and unlock the full potential of this game-changing technology!

Conclusion

In this ultimate guide to SEO for voice search, we have explored the fascinating world of spoken queries and how they are revolutionizing the way people interact with technology. We discussed the importance of optimizing your website for voice search by focusing on natural language, featured snippets, and local search optimization. Remember to create conversational content that answers specific questions and provides value to your audience. Keep an eye on emerging technologies like smart speakers and virtual assistants as they continue to shape the future of search.

By implementing these strategies, you will not only improve your website’s visibility in voice searches but also stay ahead in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. So start adapting your SEO strategy today because when it comes to voice search, those who can speak their audience’s language will be heard loud and clear!

Get in touch with Netlynx Inc. to Optimize your website SEO for Voice Search.

Stats Source: DemandSage