For most people, search engine optimization (SEO) is a “game” with no clear winner in sight. If you’re a startup trying to take on a big boy like eBay, you’re probably never going to have the power to come in first with the most competitive keywords. Instead, you’re relegated to more niche key phrases and might even be tempted by black hat tricks (don’t do it). In the world of SEO, is it even possible for smaller companies to get top ranking?
Yes, but only if you follow the rules and are 100 percent dedicated to your SEO strategy. Granted, Google is notoriously secretive about their algorithm. However, Google employees like Matt Cutts, Head of Webspam, is very generous when it comes to blogging about tips and white hat tricks for SEO followers.
If you want to make the most of SEO going into 2015, here are a few ways to go about it (that won’t drive you crazy):
1. Start (slowly) optimizing for Amazon, too
Need help? You can get some great tips from Moz, but what’s more important is understanding why. While in the US almost everyone optimizes for Google since it’s the most popular search engine, Amazon is the most popular shopping search engine. If you sell products available on Amazon, start updating your content, links and tags to appeal to that audience as well as Google’s.
2. Hire quality writers
“Content is king” is the mantra of SEO and it’s here to stay. Unfortunately, just about everyone thinks they’re a writer, or at least that their writing is “good enough” for a website, blog, or SEO in general. Get tips on how to hire a writer from Forbes, and consider these professionals just as crucial as a good SEO agency. In fact, a good SEO agency should have professional writers available with plenty of SEO experience.
3. Check for forgotten and invisible messes
If you think you’re doing everything right but your rankings just aren’t improving, make sure you’re not overlooking anything. For example, is there invisible text that’s messing up your rankings? Is there coding all over the place, the images on your site are bigger than you thought, or another faux pas that’s just begging to be caught?
Going into 2015, you need to keep up with mobile readiness, SEO, LSEO, Amazon’s optimization and a slew of other items. However, make sure you keep SEO at the forefront. Lose sight of it, and your entire web presence may as well cease to exist.