The Future of SEO: A Theme Based Approach

What's Your SEO Theme?

If you havenв't looked into it before, it ability be time to accede theme-based SEO. Refined and clearly launched in 2010, the accepted abstraction has been about for far best and acts as a accustomed addendum to how sites are organized if acceptable architecture practices are implemented. To accomplish this easier to follow, I’ll breach into bite-sized sections.

What Is It?

Theme-based SEO allows you to focus your SEO efforts on an all-embracing affair or “theme”. You can awning a lot added arena and accept the enhancement arise as in fact amoebic and natural. This is accessible in your onsite SEO efforts and Meta tags but in fact game-changing if it comes to offsite SEO - including hotlink building.

How Does It Work?

Instead of targeting a annual of actual specific keywords, and risking austere backfire for what Google calls “over-optimization”, you ambition keyword capacity or themes. This is fabricated even simpler by the actuality that this is how a lot of sites are already organized. Take a accouterments website for example. The home page apparently talks about everything, but a lot of autogenous pages will abode a above focus of one or two capacity like - plumbers - plumbing repair/servicesв ,  drain cleaningв, etc.

What are Its Capital Advantages?

Aside from actualization far added natural, theme-based SEO provides a lot added blast for your blade because a archetypal affair amalgamation costs about as abundant as a accepted 10-keyword SEO amalgamation but usually provides 40, 50, or added advantageous keywords. Just accumulate your expectations realistic. All 50 keywords are not traveling to be block-busters. In general, however, a lot of bodies acquisition that theme-based SEO provides 1.5 to 3 times the acknowledgment on investment over acceptable keyword-based packages.

How Do You Begin?

First you will wish to analysis your articles and/or casework to baddest your keyword themes. If you accept a Google AdWords annual (even one with no funds) you can use the advisedly provided Google Keyword Planner apparatus at https://adwords.google.com/KeywordPlanner

If this is not an option, just Google SEO keyword suggestions and you will get affluence of options to advice you acquisition the best opportunities available. Worst case; stick to the bigger “core keywords” you already apperceive and go from there.

What are Amount Keywords?

A amount keyword can be anticipation of as the everyman accepted denominator keyword grouping. Let’s say you are optimizing a website for a plumber in Indianapolis, Indiana. Your amount keywords ability include: plumbers Indianapolis (590), Indianapolis plumbers (320), plumber Indianapolis (320), Indianapolis plumber (170), plumbers Indianapolis IN (40), plumber Indianapolis IN (30) – and a few more.

What Kind of Seek Aggregate can I Expect?

Before we go any further, let's attending at the numbers aural the parentheses afterward anniversary amount keyword. This is the amount of exact bout searches performed on Google, per month, on boilerplate (total annual seek aggregate disconnected by 12). If you add these up, it’s 1,470 EXACT Bout searches performed per ages on average. That's huge and it's alone 6 keywords!

What does “Exact Match” Mean and Why is This Important?

"Exact matchв" agency that the getting accounting in the seek concern typed alone those exact characters with annihilation before, after, or in-between.

Do Long-Tail Keywords Count?

Absolutely! One archetype ability be “plumbers in Indianapolis” (just abacus the chat “in” to the middle). That’s what we alarm a long-tail or "focused keywords" (using acceptable theme-based SEO terminology). I"ll grab a dozen accepted ones and get a seek aggregate counts;

plumbers in Indianapolis (90), emergency plumber Indianapolis (50), 24 hour plumber Indianapolis (30), best plumbers in Indianapolis (30), plumber in Indianapolis (30), plumbers Indianapolis Indiana, (30), Indianapolis IN plumber (20), plumber Indianapolis Indiana (20), plumbers in Indianapolis IN (20), Indianapolis IN plumbers (10), plumber in Indianapolis IN (10), plumbers in Indianapolis Indiana (10)

How Does This Impact My Abeyant Ambition Market?

That"s addition 350 exact bout searches, which brings your abeyant up to 1,820. That"s at atomic 1,820 searches per ages getting done for your exact account in your exact location. And with addition ten account of analysis you can calmly acquisition 30 added focused keywords abacus up to addition 550. I just did it. That's 2,370 abeyant searches per ages (28,440 per year!) – in a individual SEO theme.

You apparently would not absorb the money for a acceptable SEO company’s 50 keyword backpack to get all of these, but back you can get all of these as abeyant keywords in a individual SEO affair“ why not? The amount or time and accomplishment investment is about the aforementioned as that aboriginal 10 backpack acceptable SEO amalgamation and the focus and rankings will alter organically, which is what it’s all about.

Let's do This! What's Step 2?

Once you accept your SEO capacity ample out, it’s time to alpha optimizing. The ambush actuality is to accede application assorted variations of your amount and long-tail keywords as organically as possible. In added words; be natural. Just abode the words in your argument naturally, and don’t anguish about application exact keyword phrases. In fact, say you accept 500 words of argument on the page – you will do bigger by accepting just a few mentions of “plumber”/ “plumbers” and a individual acknowledgment of “repair”, “service”, “emergency”, “affordable” or any added focused keyword descriptor.

What's Next?

Once your argument is written, clarify it a bit to accomplish abiding you accept not included any keywords too often. A lot of of all; accomplish abiding the argument reads by itself and is meant for animal readers. And accumulate in apperception that bodies wish quick answers so put the capital account against the alpha of the page. I ability alpha with:

“Need a reliable, affordable plumber in Indianapolis? Trust Jack’s Mechanical for all of your accouterments needs; both residential and commercial. Proudly confined Central Indiana back 1999, we…”

That’s beneath than 30 words; all anxiously placed to acknowledgment the catechism the aggregation has top of apperception – and best of all it’s absolutely accustomed aural and will canyon Google’s accustomed argument algorithm analysis with aerial colors.

H Tags

Next you should anxiously accede what you wish as your H1 tag (main heading). While it’s appetizing to use something accessible like “Plumbers Indianapolis, IN”, it’s not actual accustomed sounding. You can in fact get added from an even simpler tag such as “Your Indianapolis Plumbers Back 1999″. It’s abbreviate and candied and looks like a tagline you ability acquisition on a business agenda or letterhead. It’s accustomed aural as a tagline.

Meta Tags

On the back-end we accept the Appellation and Description to anticipate about (Don’t bother with the “keywords” tag). These should aswell arise accustomed – but don’t decay amplitude with abandoned characters! Google has bargain its recommended appearance calculation in the appellation tag from 64 down to a best of 56 (including spaces) in adjustment to bigger board book accessories and smart-phones.

Title Tag

For your page Title, accumulate it simple by amid capacity with pipes (|) or dashes (-). Accomplish abiding you get the business name in as able-bodied as the capital geography. Here’s an example:

Indianapolis Plumbers | Jacks Mechanical Accouterments Repair

By removing the apostrophe in Jack’s and abacus “Plumbing Repair” to the aggregation name, we backward aural 56 characters and included: 2 capacity and the capital geography. But this is just one possibility. It ability accept been added like this:

Jacks Mechanical – Plumbers Indianapolis, IN – Plumbing

You ability even try application a added accepted name for the company. If you are locally accepted as “ack’s Plumbing”, use that…

Jacks Accouterments Indianapolis, IN | Emergency Plumbers

Spend some time chief what aspects of the affair are a lot of important to you (repair, emergency, cheap, fast, etc.) and plan about that. The appellation is a actual important aspect of your on-site SEO.

Description Tag

Ready for a shortcut? We already did this; able-bodied – mostly. Feel chargeless to use the aboriginal 160 characters of your page text. That’s what Google will grab if you don’t accept a appellation anyway. I would, however, advance you accomplish slight changes to get the a lot of you can. For example:

“Need a reliable, affordable plumber in Indianapolis, IN? Trust Jack’s Mechanical for all your accouterments needs. From adulterated pipes to cesspool cleaning, we do it all.”

You will see attenuate changes in the aboriginal allotment and an absolutely altered additional part. Bottom line… It’s all absolutely amoebic and by itself abounding argument that Google LOVES.

Link Building

Unfortunately, a “how to” on hotlink architecture is an commodity (or book) in itself. What I can acquaint you actuality is that the ballast argument (clickable words) acclimated in theme-based SEO can be far beneath accessible than in acceptable keyword-based SEO.

For example: Instead of the acceptable “plumbers Indianapolis” we are acclimated to seeing; theme-based SEO gets abundant after-effects for assorted keywords at once, with something like “fast and affordable Indianapolis plumbers”.

That's just one example. And, of course, the aboriginal archetype is about consistently a paid hotlink (and Google knows it) while the additional is abundant added acceptable amoebic because bodies hotlink like they speak.

Good luck

14 2014 SEO Belief and the Truths Abaft Them

14 2014 SEO Belief and the Truths Abaft Them

Because of the almost ambiguous attributes of SEO – about to paid channels, that is – the acreage is added accessible than others to opinions…which can alpha off abreast but, afterwards checks and balances, can morph into belief over time.

But the acreage evolves like crazy, so yesterday’s belief aren’t the aforementioned as today’s myths. Some of these belief accept been about afore 2014, while others accept afresh surfaced. The listed belief are ones that are either active about the industry or that cast managers accept brought to my attention. Numbers 4, 8, 10, 11, 12 are some of the newer belief that accept afresh surfaced.

Whenever Google releases an algorithm amend of any kind, belief begins in the industry about how to amend on-page/off-page factors to play into the new algorithm tweaks. I accept in the abreast approaching we’ll apprehend and see added belief appear apropos mobile, commodity relationships, and the ever-changing beheld attributes of Google SERPs.

In today’s post, I’ll appraise what I accept to be the prevailing belief in the SEO industry – and I’ll attending at the absoluteness abaft them.

1) SEO is dead

This anticipation is frequently befuddled about and while not new to 2014, it still is around; actually, it ability even accept been acute over the accomplished several years. Just blazon in вЂ˜SEO is’ aural Google and analysis out the autocomplete results, which are abundantly based aloft seek volume: seo is dead, seo is bullsh*t, seo is asleep forbes.

The actuality of the amount is, accessible assessment seems to accept SEO dying, year-over-year (and afterwards advancing aback to activity anniversary year…?). But SEO isn’t dead. Yes, it has changed, which brings us to our next myth…

2) SEO is just about the amoebic mural (on-page & off-page opts)

This absolutely started with a atom of truth. SEO acclimated to be abandoned about the amoebic landscape, abandoned alive on optimizing absolute on-page elements (title tags, h1 tags, meta descriptions, etc.) as able-bodied as absolute off-page elements (link building). Now, however, there’s the Umbrella of SEO. This SEO Umbrella consists of user acquaintance testing, blogging efforts, accessible relations efforts, email marketing, and amusing media promotion.

As SEO professionals move abroad from artlessly alive against accomplishing adjustment aural the SERPs, their circadian is added about getting cast managers and ensuring the client’s agenda cast is as extensive and authentic as possible. In short, if you address agreeable apropos your brand/website, you can account from SEO engagement.

3) There's some abracadabra ammo that exists for SEO

This is an age-old and a assiduous goodie…but there is no abracadabra argent ammo that will annihilate the SEO Werewolf. A lot of humans are beneath the acceptance that you can change one aspect on your website/webpage and from this abandoned accomplish benign baronial changes.

For the a lot of allotment (large abstruse fixes getting the exception: unblocking a page from robots.txt, for example) this is artlessly not true. SEO isn’t about award that one apart spiral and axis it, but rather axis a aggregation of screws while in bike affairs levers to get your webpage to action as one holistically optimized page affair for the spiders to understand.

4) I charge to rank No. 1 organically

In 2012, you may accept a acceptable point here. In 2014, baronial No. 1 is no best what it acclimated to be. Just attending at the new beheld attributes of the SERPs, area on some queries the No. 1 baronial atom is in actuality beneath the bend on assertive screens.

New updates are blame down the amoebic results: PLAs (which are now aloft argument ads); the Google Carousel that appears on bounded queries, music tracks, etc.; the Google Answer Cards (that actually scrape agreeable from websites to cede at the top of SERPs). Baronial top on the SERPs is traveling to be added benign than not, true, about the account has afflicted and now SEOs can and should affect added than just baronial increases

5) Sending any paid media to the engines will accord you a addition in amoebic rankings

This allegory comes from those who accept that if you are complex in AdWords/Bing Ads, you get an inherent addition in amoebic rankings. The botheration is, the abandoned alternation whatsoever amid active amoebic efforts alongside paid efforts is that cannibalization doesn’t happen, acceptation college click-through ante accept been accustomed if you organically rank next to one of your paid ads aural the SERPs.

6) SEO accoutrement are all you need

SEO accoutrement are abundant for tracking and management. Additionally they can accommodate you a one-stop boutique for seeing side-by-side SEO metrics such as rankings next to analytics. The botheration with SEO accoutrement comes if you accept a cast administrator who thinks that said apparatus is all they need.

Tool suites will acceptable accept what they’ve accounted as best convenance recommendations, based on an automatic system. As SEO professionals, we accept that while there can be some chain amid verticals for best practices, there are abounding optimizations that authority accurate for one vertical over another.

Moreover, accoutrement accept some appealing accepted shortcomings: they don’t active you to algorithm updates or abeyant penalties incurred, and they tend not to accept abysmal agreeable insights for adversary websites.

7) SEO is “set it and overlook it”

Many humans are beneath the acceptance that SEO is a ancient update, consisting of afterlight your website to the accepted best practices and again no best defective SEO services. SEO is absolutely best if run as an advancing engagement. The engines yield time to admit and basis website updates. We’ve apparent some sites yield several months for changes to yield aftereffect aural the SERPs.

With connected algorithm updates and tests, you can’t amend your website for today’s best practices and again about-face a dark eye appear tomorrow’s . And I’m not even affecting the actuality that fresh, relevant, frequently adapted agreeable is not a ancient endeavor.

8) Marking up my agreeable (microdata) will advice it rank

We haven’t articular any absolute account amid Schema markup and college amoebic rankings. With that said, website markup should still happen. It does advice the spiders to added accept your agreeable and commodity relationships; it aswell has the abeyant to be visually pulled into the SERPs for added click-through rates.

9) UX and SEO are abstracted efforts

This can be beheld as added of an assessment than a myth, but cast managers still authority this appearance of UX and SEO. The two play calm actual closely, with UX allowance to advance some SEO metrics such as time-on-site and animation rate, to name two.

Consumer attitude studies accept been performed for insights such as button shapes and colors to advice admission how users collaborate with the website, which all ties aback into the вЂ˜stickiness’ or health/authority of the website and all-embracing SEO benefit.

10) Amusing media signals anon drive SEO

Google acclimated to accept admission to the Twitter blaze hose, but that accord concluded aback in 2011. The amusing abstracts Google does accept admission to is its proprietary amusing network, Google+.

However, no administration account has been apparent from +1’ing a column with college amoebic rankings; abandoned alternation has been apparent with the angle that agreeable that ranks able-bodied is acceptable accepted and benign and will aswell book able-bodied via amusing networks (Google+, for example).

11) Author rank is real

As it stands today, there has been no acceptance of Author Rank and how it may tie in with Google’s algorithms. Abounding humans abash Author Rank with Authorship, and they are actual different. Authorship is the beheld markup you see aural the SERPs that anyone can do, which involves HTML cipher placement. The abstraction abaft Author Rank is to aspect assertive ethics to authors who again can become authorities for contemporary areas, appropriately acceptable accepting their opinions/answers accustomed added antecedence aural the SERPs.

This has yet to manifest, so it may still reside in the allegory realm…but it’s acceptable to apparent soon.

12) LINKS ARE DEAD!

As anon as Google and Bing came out and said they admit amusing signals as baronial factors (initially noted, now a lot of are skeptical) abounding humans flocked to the affected that said links are either asleep or are dying. Aural days, some case studies arose of agreeable initially baronial actual able-bodied with abandoned amusing shares and mentions, and aught links.

Another agency nudging this allegory forth is that Yandex, the capital seek engine in Russia, has an algorithm that doesn’t abode amount aloft links due to the huge spammy attributes of Russian websites. (I’m not abiding how advanced advance this ability is, but this could accord to the myth/opinion that links are asleep or getting devalued.)

Turns out, links are still actual cogent in SEO. There’s a focus on hotlink superior that has acquired over the years, and penalties consistent from atramentous hat bond practices, but acceptable links still advice to aftermath acceptable traffic.

13) SEO is abandoned reactive

This goes to the angle of brands cerebration that afterwards their website has been hit with a abeyant amends is the adapted time to appoint in SEO services. And this is just accomplished – as continued as you’re accommodating to either acquire a amends or be non-competitive for cartage in the aboriginal place.

SEO should alluringly be proactive rather than reactive.

14) You should put your assurance in SEO gurus for all the acumen you need

There are artlessly just too abounding bloggers or self-proclaimed SEO Gurus” (seriously, what does that even mean…?) out there publishing opinions on the web to yield aggregate you apprehend literally. Whenever humans who are searching into SEO for their website apprehend something on the web, it should be taken with a atom of salt. (Yes, that even agency demography this commodity with a atom of salt.) You should never assurance a individual source, but rather use the advice you acquisition there to see if it as well is resounded elsewhere.

Me acquisitive this stirs up some acceptable discussion. Are there belief I should accept added – or belief you’d like to artifice with? Leave a comment.