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Mobilegeddon: The Aftermath And Is It Still Going On?

Written by Matt Knolhoff on . Posted in Latest News, mobile, search engine optimization, seo tips, user experience, user-friendly webdesign. No Comments on Mobilegeddon: The Aftermath And Is It Still Going On?

Mobilegeddon: The Aftermath and Is it Still Going On?

April 21st, 2015 was one of the most anticipated days in the history of SEO.  Google had announced a month earlier that the importance of mobile-friendliness would be expanded on that day, “greatly affecting search rankings.”  This lead SEO analysts to dub the day “Mobilegeddon” in reference to the supposedly apocalyptic level of change this would bring to the SEO world.

That day, as you probably already know, was considered a bit of a dud.  But is it over?…  Absolutely not.

Initial reports found little impact, and those unprepared for mobile breathed a sigh of relief.  As the weeks went on, the aftermath of Mobilegeddon proved to be much larger than inaugural day led anyone to believe.  A recent digital marketing report from Adobe Systems, however, showed that traffic to non-mobile-friendly sites has fallen over 12% since mobilegeddon.  The volume of mobile traffic, also, has risen as much as 44%, as IgnitionOne pointed out in their Q2 digital marketing report.

A one way street

Mobilegeddon (the day …  April 21st) didn’t turn out to be nearly as dramatic as many had feared, however, its development over recent months shows that Google is committed to fostering mobile friendly websites–and this approach is unlikely to change anytime soon.  Google’s approach to mobile is headed clearly in one direction.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who pays attention to Google’s philosophy: give users exactly what they are looking for.  Considering the fact that mobile web traffic has been steadily rising for years, it is obvious that Google will continue making mobile-friendly sites a priority.  

Mobilegeddon is not over

In fact, those who expected a single apocalyptic moment of change were completely missing the point. Mobilegeddon is beginning, not an end.  There is undoubtedly more to come.

What it means for the future

Mobile development is a must for any serious website, and those who don’t begin working on mobile compatibility now will be left behind as Google is getting squarely behind the already popular trend towards mobile.  Any serious website designing firm or website manager should make mobile development, and mobile user friendliness a top priority for the future.

 

E-commerce SEO 101: 8 Key Factors To Work On Immediately

Written by Matt Knolhoff on . Posted in conversion optimization, e-commerce seo, Latest News, mobile, product page seo, reviews, search engine optimization, seo tips, seo tools, user experience, user-friendly webdesign. No Comments on E-commerce SEO 101: 8 Key Factors To Work On Immediately

E-Commerce SEO 101: 8 Key Factors to Work on Immediately

Many of the most important concepts in SEO are also the simplest. Here are 8 basic ways you could improve your search engine rankings:

  1. Develop user-friendly site architecture with well placed internal links

Organizing your site design in a logical and user-friendly manner will improve both crawlability and conversion rates. Category-based navigation is always a good strategy.

  1. Mobile is the new king

If you don’t have a mobile-friendly site, creating one should be your number one SEO priority–the growing importance of mobile is unlikely to stop anytime soon, and websites that fail to recognize this will fall behind.

  1. Handle product variation carefully

Products that vary based upon detail (i.e. plain blue baseball cap vs. plain red baseball cap) should not be given their own product pages, as this causes search engines to flag sites for duplicate content.

  1. Use original product descriptions

On a similar note, never copy product descriptions straight from product manufacturers–this will also bring up flags. The ideal system would be to write original product descriptions for all items.

  1. Let your customers add reviews

Allowing your customers to add reviews offers two distinct benefits. Reviews increase search engine visibility because they deliver freshness and original content. (They also do this at no cost, one might add!) Additionally, reviews tend to increase conversion rates, as they help foster trust.

  1. Use readable URLS

The best URLS (from both an SEO perspective and an audience engagement perspective) are easily read and/or spoken by humans. Excessively long URLs are bad, and URLs that use random numbers and characters rather than words are even worse.

  1. Use SEO tools

Google Webmaster is a great tool, available for free, that can help you identify SEO problems while providing insightful feedback. There are a variety of other tools available (such as search metrics and deep crawl,) that can help you address specific issues with your SEO strategy. Don’t be afraid to invest in these programs, as they can help bring your SEO campaign to a new level.

  1. SEO and conversion must work hand in hand in order to facilitate successful e-commerce

SEO is ultimately useless if your site is unable to produce conversions–which is why one of the premier goals of any website should be providing a quality user experience that will facilitate sales.

video seo link building

Rank Higher With Video SEO: Using Video To Gain Links And Social Shares

Written by Matt Knolhoff on . Posted in content marketing, Latest News, link building, online marketing strategy, search engine optimization, seo tips, social media, video seo. No Comments on Rank Higher With Video SEO: Using Video To Gain Links And Social Shares

Gain Valuable SEO From Strategic Creative Video SEO

As many SEO experts know, it’s very tough to gain a competitive advantage today without strong link building and social media engagement.

Here at Charu Interactive, we have found that, by far, the best way to gain links and social shares that outshine the competition is through unique video production and video SEO techniques.

 

Video SEO Planning Stage: How To Get Best Results (For SEO and Conversions)

#1 – What’s the goal of the campaign – Clear goals are as crucial in the planning stage as the execution of the video itself.  If you set the wrong goal, the execution usually won’t matter.   Is your goal to increase conversions, increase awareness of your brand, tell your story…  etc.   Once you’ve chosen the overall goal of the video you are half way there!  If you don’t, you are most likely not going to succeed.

#2 – Write a script for your video that is meaningful, enticing and accomplishes the goal of the campaign

#3 – Shoot the video (yeah..  it needs to be done or it’s all just talk)

#4 – Edit the video in a tasteful manner

#5 – Launch it on your website (host it preferably, but using a video host like YouTube, Vimeo or Facebook is also a good choice.  However, for maximum SEO value, self-hosting your video is the ideal choice.

#6 – Start the PR/Outreach/Promoting (and don’t forget to use SEO and Rich Snippet best practices) – This is where you usually need a content marketing expert, but can be done on your own if you know what you’re doing (search for content marketing best practices).  It’s recommended, however, to use content marketing experts for this, in order for the exposure of your great video to be as effective as possible.

 

Link Building & Social Sharing Benefits

As Kissmetrics pointed out in this Guide To Video SEO article this is not a new concept by any means, but it is still a very under-utilized content marketing method.  The links and social shares that you gain from a well planned and executed Video SEO campaign far outweigh another other content marketing efforts.  This has been shown to be true many times.  For example, Dollar Shave Club’s ultra viral launch video proved this concept:

Summary:

No other media (content) online is as attractive to people as video.  When you combine the viral nature of a well-planned and well-executed video with a smart SEO and Outreach plan around it, the result can be very powerful SEO gains.

 

 

Affordable Video SEO Content Marketing Programs?

What holds many advertisers back is the idea that Video SEO is more expensive than other SEO and content marketing techniques.  We strongly disagree with this, because the resulting link building and ROI that you receive from Video SEO is so much higher than standard content marketing (infographics, blogging, article writing, social media posting etc).  We, therefore, developed an affordable Video SEO program that works on an affordable monthly fee basis, similar to an SEO management fee.

If you are interested in a new and exciting SEO program (including Video SEO), we have monthly plans that are only $1000 more per month than our standard non-video Web Presence/SEO programs).  These programs all include the strategy, script, high definition professional video shoot and the PR/Outreach/SEO as a creative boost to your SEO and complete online marketing strategy.  It also includes all our standard SEO efforts.  The combination is very effective.  When you consider the huge potential ROI and exposure that you get from a well executed Video SEO program, this is a very affordable option and we recommend that all our clients choose this path.

 

 

Are you looking to get an edge on your competition?

Contact our video SEO strategists today for a free video SEO consultation for your business!

 

 

*Monthly SEO Campaign fees depend on the scope of the work and hours of work.  Contact us for a custom quote for your website/business.