GOOGLE CHANGES IN 2017: BLOGGING

Content, and especially blogging, has been the leading Online Marketing tool for some time now, but with the new changes introduced by Google its importance will be greater than ever in 2017.

A lot of people are still confused by SEO, SMM, CRO and online marketing in general. In the past, and today still in ‘offline marketing’, you advertise, create visibility for your brand, product and/or service, and hope to reap the benefits of an effective promotional strategy, but online marketing requires a slightly different approach.

Most business owners know they need a website, but whether yours serves purely as a reference point to who you are and what you do – much like a digital business card that establishes your credentials – or if it an online shop from which most of your revenue will be drawn, the bottom line is still that you want it to be seen by as many people as possible.

In this sense online marketing is no different from any other kind, but how you reach people in the digital world is. Here search engines are the crucial factor, and most of the time that means Google. Your ‘Google ranking’ will determine how many people will see the link to your website come up when they type in a whole range of possible related search terms.

Keyword Strategy
It is very hard to come up tops for all possible keyword combinations, above all the most generic ones, like ‘Marbella Property’ or ‘Financial Services’, but using a sensible Keyword Strategy you can create a priority list of search terms, or keywords, that suits your resources and build outwards from the more focused and specific terms.

How do you do this? By identifying the keyword list, building a website that is attractive, easy to navigate, informative and that makes it clear what you can do for people. Also, loading times should be low and search functions efficient as people have limited time and attention spans these days.

The first of the all-important content at your disposal should be the website text itself, and it should strike a balance between its original purpose, which is to inform and engage, and the need to be optimised with relevant keywords. Optimised images, videos, guides and other material are also of great value – in fact, it’s important that your entire website is optimised!

The importune of blogging
But a good website is not enough. It needs to be updated regularly with content that is original – i.e. made for your website – and relevant. Google is getting smarter and they can detect when you’re just creating filler text to load with keywords, so keep the information relevant and useful.

Blogging is the ideal way to provide regularly updated content with suitable keywords that is also useful and informative. The ideal frequency of posting varies depending on your company’s size and needs, but between two and four blogs per month is about right for most. It works in conjunction with Social Media to connect with potential clients but above all to boost your search rankings and online visibility.

SEO vs CRO
In the short term or if you wish to run a promotional campaign, Google Adwords and Facebook ads can be very useful. In the long run, however, it is vital to build a solid footing with organic SEO, which means quality content that is unique to you and is subsequently optimised by SEO experts who know how to get more mileage out of your content the way a good engineer does with a sports engine.

But it’s not all about SEO! SEO is important, yet if it becomes the Holy Grail you risk losing sight of your real objective, which is not only to drive more traffic to your website, but also for a decent percentage of those visits to result in business. If you’re getting a lot of visits but your conversion rate is very low you will need to focus your SEO strategy more sharply on your intended demographic and also scrutinise your CRO.

If SEO is Search Engine Optimisation, then CRO is Customer Relationship Optimisation, or the ability to reach your potential client base and engage them to the point where they contact you or buy your products and/or services, be it online or otherwise. There is nothing wrong with boosting your inbound traffic, especially in the beginning. You will always have to evaluate and refine your Keyword Strategy with time, but don’t lose sight of the importance of using your website and your content to connect with your potential clients.

Manifesto Design is a specialist marketing company that excels in the combination of producing content, blogging, social media services, tailored marketing strategies, corporate branding and design, market research studies, websites and technical SEO. Our approach is flexible and built around your needs, so contact us if you need first-class writing, marketing and/or design skills.

-Michel Cruz-