by Marianna Muscat | Jul 20, 2020 | SEO
SEO is a key part of every digital marketing strategy and campaign. If you want to become an SEO professional, you need to understand not only search engine optimisation (SEO), but also the services that complement SEO such as social media marketing and content marketing.
What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is necessary for potential customers to find you on the internet and to be considered ‘relevant’ by major search engines such as Google. SEO requires keyword research, keyword placement and high-quality, engaging website content. Local search, through which customers in your local area can find you – as well as Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising – also form part of SEO.
What skills does an SEO professional need?
There are eight top skills every SEO professional needs:
- Critical thinking to understand the steps required towards a solution.
- The ability to do keyword research and write content.
- Technical and programming knowledge to understand what the developer is thinking.
- Social skills to get along with others, build relationships and learn new things.
- Knowledge of Adobe or Google Analytics to pull data and a basic understanding of business KPIs.
- Be good with Excel to manipulate data for the insights you need.
- Adaptability, motivation and drive to put the client first and build revenue.
- A sense of humour to not let the fast pace of the industry get you down.
What makes social media marketing and content marketing important to SEO?
High-quality, engaging content on websites and social media platforms, done regularly, results in search engines recognising these pages as a valuable content-rich site. By optimising this content with relevant keywords, organic (free) focused traffic will be driven to the specific website or social media pages. “
A social media marketing strategy must be well-thought-out and be accompanied by conscious online reputation management. Contact us today to find out how WSI OMS can help your South African business with SEO.
by Marianna Muscat | Jul 15, 2020 | Digital Media Marketing, PPC, SEO, Social Media Marketing
Whether you’re a small business owner or a digital marketer working with a limited budget, you’re most likely trying to get the most value for your money when it comes to online marketing tools. Luckily, there are some great tools available to help you with most of your marketing activities, and many of them are free or incredibly affordable.
Online tools that every business owner or digital marketer should know of:
SEO Tools
SEO Book Tools
The latest tools from SEO Book will provide you with all the benefits of the expertise from across the marketplace. The site offers training courses, as well as audio and video content on the latest updates within the SEO marketplace. It also lists the latest tools for growing companies.
SmallSEOTools
Whether you’re looking to check the authority of a particular domain, conduct a reverse image search for your SEO campaign or check Alexa rankings, the options available through SmallSEOTools.com will provide the ideal resource.
SEOToolSet
SEOToolSet focuses on the in-depth data that your SEO campaigns need to thrive. Tools include the latest reporting options to gain insight on elements such as link analysis and domain indexing. The data revealed by these tools can help keep your firm moving forward toward its SEO objectives and driving efficiency within your campaigns.
Raven Tools
From finding and fixing errors within your SEO campaigns to getting rankings from Google, the options within Raven’s tools will keep your campaigns moving successfully forward. Raven’s standalone site-auditor is a great tool to quickly find and eliminate SEO flaws that could otherwise see your content penalised within the rankings.
WebCEO
WebCEO’s suite of SEO tools will provide you with enterprise-level features for comprehensive SEO campaign management. The company also offers tools for link detoxing and local SEO campaign management to keep your company connected to your local audiences.
Tools for content marketing
Outbrain
Outbrain helps optimise your content, amplify content reach, and ensures it connects with relevant audiences across your marketplace. You’ll achieve higher engagement across your campaigns and thereby maximise revenue growth over the long-term.
Curata
Curata is the ideal tool for a streamlined content production and analysis process. The solution helps you to drive content ideation while giving you clear data on the types of content most valuable to your qualified audiences. It also allows you to build a predictable content supply chain that takes pieces from the draft stage through to analysis and their use within the conversion optimisation process.
Ahrefs Content Explorer
Through the Ahrefs Content Explorer, you can learn the most popular content on any topic. The tool allows you to use filters and sort information via language, traffic, backlinks, and word count among other metrics so that you can hone in on the type of content that will best engage your high-value audience members.
Pay Per Click Tools
Spyfu
Gaining insight into how your competitors are using keywords within their PPC campaigns can help give you the advantage in the marketplace. Spyfu puts the latest market research at your disposal and keeps your team moving towards their ROI objectives within their PPC campaigns.
Unbounce
Getting engagement through your landing pages should ensure that your company achieves a swift ROI from invested marketing funds. Unbounce gives you the tools to build refined landing pages that continually deliver effective performance for your organisation.
iSpionage
Using iSpionage, you can begin to learn more about your competitors and the offers they’re presenting. The data delivered through the tool can help your team improve your offers and ensure a lasting return on investment for your campaign funds. Components such as iSpionage Campaign Watch give you clear insight on competitor actions, highlighting your competitors across both the desktop and mobile verticals.
SEMRush
Having access to a trusted data source for your PPC campaign can ensure your brand is continually moving forward. SEMrush combines a full range of campaign management components, such as search engine position tracking, competitive intelligence and backlink audits and analytics to ensure a constant flow of actionable data on campaign performance.
Tools for Social Media
Hootsuite
Helping companies manage their multiple social media platforms and providing them with clear data on campaign performance, Hootsuite is the market’s most trusted product for effective social media management. The solution also helps to track mentions to help growing brands retain control of their company’s reputation.
SproutSocial
SproutSocial helps brands plan, organise, and rollout content that engages a qualified audience and begins important conversations within the social media platforms. The system provides companies with qualitative data regarding their social media marketing performance to help them make more effective decisions when rolling out new content.
MeetEdgar
MeetEdgar is the social media content scheduling tool for the proactive marketing team. The system works to catalogue the best performing social media updates by category and then automatically shares the content with your audience based on when it’s most likely to gain the most traction online.
Tools for website analysis
SEO Analyzer
The SEO Analyzer from Neil Patel will provide you with concrete information about your SEO performance and how to improve your performance over time. The reports offered through the Analyser help pinpoint errors within your site’s SEO and highlight how to make quick, effective changes to support improved SEO performance.
Woorank
Woorank is ideal if you’ve got a number of pages to check. Work through content issues and analyse thousands of pages in minutes to review technical SEO elements and ensure every component is managed with precision.
SEO Optimer
SEO Optimer helps your team improve the on-page elements within your site. The tool gives you clear information on site performance and on how the natural elements on your site can be used to boost the site’s rankings in search.
Google Webmaster Tools
Google Webmaster Tools is your set of optimisation tools for effective management and maintenance of your site. Within the Webmaster Tools, you’ll discover all the components you need to make fast, effective decisions on how to improve the performance of your site. You can analyse your clicks and determine their source, discover more about how your site performs with specific audiences, and learn which content is most popular.
Varvy
Varvy can help you improve both the speed and functionality of your site for both mobile and desktop audiences. The tool helps eliminate elements that negatively impact site performance and provides important information about the problems within your current site setup.
Each of these tools provides you with a range of benefits, but they can take some time to master. If you’re interested in learning more about any of these online tools, talk to one of our digital marketers, or contact us for help with your digital marketing strategy.
by Marelise da Silva | Jun 23, 2020 | SEO
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we are seeing the emergence of what digital marketing experts are calling the “infodemic”, but with proper SEO practices and a sincere desire to provide your audience with relevant, trustworthy information, your business can remain pertinent to consumers.
How SEO can help you sustain your presence online during COVID-19:
Stay visible
Now is not the time to relax and forget about your SEO strategy- your competitors won’t! Now is the best time to clarify what you want to achieve and how to use your SEO strategy to accomplish your digital marketing goals. The topics listed below can further help you to develop your SEO strategy. The effort you make during the pandemic will help you to establish your reputation in your industry, which will help you to outrank your competitors when the pandemic blows over.
Provide your expertise
Even if your products or services are not directly related to the pandemic, or deemed to be essential, you can still share your knowledge and improve your SEO ranking. The best way to approach the task of providing your expertise is to think about how your offerings can improve the lives of consumers right now. If you’re a restaurant owner, you might now be able to receive clients at the moment, but you can share some of your recipes or cooking tips that people can try at home. It won’t sell meals during the pandemic, but it will show your audience that you can impact their lives positively and that builds loyalty. Now is the time to serve your audience with your expertise and knowledge instead of trying to merely sell products.
Be sincere in showing empathy
If you’ve received an email from every brand you’ve ever interacted with, you will understand how awful some of the digital marketing efforts can be. Ensure that your content is positive, hopeful and most importantly, sincere in showing empathy. It’s one thing to tell consumers that you care, but a whole different thing to prove that you are sincere.
Extend a lifeline for other businesses
If you can help out other brands during the pandemic, create an offer and use your SEO strategy to reach the largest possible audience. If you’re considering an offer that provides a discount on your services or products during the pandemic, think strategically about how you can share the message with the largest group of people, including the use of SEO tactics to generate interest in your offering.
Stay on top of trends
Keyword research is always essential, but staying aware of the changing trends should be a fundamental part of your SEO strategy at the moment. Because changes are happening rapidly in the digital marketing industry, you need to stay up to date to edge out your competition. Look for trends in digital marketing, including social media marketing, web design and email marketing and implement these trends in your digital marketing strategy to improve your business’s SEO ranking.
If you need help to sustain your presence during COVID-19 with a good SEO strategy, contact WSI for a quote.
by Francois Muscat | Jun 19, 2020 | SEO
The global reach of the COVID-19 pandemic is making an impact on every aspect of the digital marketing world, and SEO trends are not exempt from the changes brought on by COVID-19. Digital marketers have seen a shift in SEO trends. These are some of the current SEO trends that could influence digital marketing until the COVID-19 pandemic dies down.
SEO Trends during the COVID-19 pandemic
Trends on the rise
– Online shopping:
Instead of heading out to physical retail stores, consumers are now more likely to use online shopping to purchase goods and services. Click and collect options, delivery of shopping and purchase of digital vouchers to support small businesses are all included in the online shopping trend. This trend is rising as the pandemic becomes worse all across the globe and might positively influence the future of commerce, as many people are shopping online for the first time. If the experience is positive, customers may return to online shopping even when the pandemic has runs its course.
– Essential products and services
Searches for essential products and services are rising daily, and consumers are searching for items that used to be reserved for smaller, niche markets. Personal protective equipment such as face masks and gloves and hand sanitizers are becoming more popular as consumers try to keep themselves safe from infection. Local searches are becoming increasingly important because many governments are restricting travel, and people are starting to self-isolate, consumers will be looking for convenient, local options to solve their needs for products and services.
– Health, hygiene and wellness information
With the rising awareness of the existence and dangers of COVID-19, consumers are searching for products, services and information to keep themselves safe from the pandemic. Rising search trends include the symptoms of COVID-19, how to prevent infection, methods of sanitising your home, and reports on the global and local infection and death rates.
– Recipes, food trends and nutrition
Due to restaurants and fast-food outlets being closed during the pandemic and stricter rules for movement being put in place, people are preparing food at home more often. Searches for recipes, meal ideas, nutritional information and tips on how to meal-prep and make ingredients last longer have been on the rise. Spending more time at home and having limited options for shopping for food items has necessitated a more creative approach to preparing meals, and online sources that supply this kind of information is seeing an increase in website traffic.
– News
Most news outlets and news media companies are seeing a lot more traffic during the pandemic, but the increase in search traffic isn’t limited only to traditional news publishers. Independent creators are providing information related to the disease to consumers. A physician from Michigan posted a video on YouTube with recommendations on how to disinfect grocery items and got over 20 million views in a week.
– Safe recreational activities
In areas where governments are allowing their citizens to move around freely while practising social distancing, there has been a tremendous rise in searches for recreational activities that are relatively safe to practice such as hiking, camping, and renting video games.
Because facilities such as sports clubs and gyms are no longer freely accessible, at-home exercise equipment and home-based workouts are also becoming more popular. Due to the popularity of home-based fitness, independent creators are producing more content to address the rising trend and establish themselves as experts in the fitness market.
Declining trends
– Services and activities that require contact
While there is a massive rise in trends such as at-home fitness and other activities that allow social distancing, there has been a sharp fall in searches for activities that require people to congregate in large numbers or to be in close contact with others. Searches for amusements parks, movie tickets, bowling and concert tickets have dived. Professionals who provide a personal service such as hairdressers, nail technicians, and personal trainers are experiencing an all-time low in requests for their services and products.
– Travel, hospitality and booking agencies
Due to the restriction on travel in most countries, many forms of travel and booking services do not see a lot of traffic during the pandemic. Industries that are experiencing devastating declines include travel agents, airline companies, hotels and other hospitality services.
Has your business been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic? Get in touch with WSI for help with your SEO strategy and to find out more about our services.
by Marianna Muscat | Jun 17, 2020 | SEO
The world is currently facing a challenge like never before with the COVID-19 pandemic. Because this virus has permeated every part of our lives, SEO will definitely be influenced by the pandemic. If you’re trying to understand how you can switch gears to rank for the SEO keywords during the pandemic, here’s a list of our top tips.
6 ideas for SEO ranking during COVID-19:
1. Find ways to connect with the issue
The time is ripe for brands and businesses to show how they can provide value to their audiences, so don’t slip in a few COVID-19 related keywords for the sake of ranking. Insread, do proper research and find ways to connect your business to the issue at hand. You don’t have to provide an essential service to be relevant, but you do need to create a clear link between your business and the issues your audience might face during the COVID-19 pandemic. Think about the products and services you provide and emphasise how your business can solve problems.
2. Research COVID-19 related keywords and plan your target strategy
Even if your brand does not directly relate to the COVID-19 pandemic, you can still find ways to target certain keywords and rank in search results. You will have to spend a considerable amount of time in researching which keywords are appropriate to use and find creative ways to use those keywords in your content.
3. Ask your audience
If you feel lost in your attempt to rank for questions related to COVID-19, ask your audience about their experiences, pain points and worries. If you understand what your audience needs, you can change your strategy to align with what your audience wants to know right now.
4. Create a dedicated page to address the COVID-19 situation
If you want to provide information to your audience about your business during the COVID-19 pandemic, you can create one dedicated page on your website that contains relevant content, answers their questions and stipulates how your operation will address the challenges of the day. Be sure to include appropriate SEO keywords on this page to get the best results.
5. Be sure to update your FAQ page
If you don’t want to dedicate an entire page to COVID-19, be sure to at least update your FAQ section so your audience can stay informed on your strategies for coping with the situation. If your business can still operate normally, tell your audience of the measures you have taken to keep them safe when interacting with you.
6. Explore new channels
Most businesses have suspended regular trading, which has created the perfect opportunity for you to explore new communication channels. Experiment with providing content via webinars, create video content or host online meet-ups to stay in touch and add value for your audience in this time of uncertainty.
Are you looking for the best ways to improve your SEO ranking? Contact us to find out more about our SEO services, web design and mobile marketing.
by admin | Jun 16, 2020 | SEO
You are probably still trying to ‘find your feet’ if you are relatively new to the world of online marketing. You might have started creating a presence for your business on social media, or investing in PPC advertising to boost website hits. However, you need to be aware that if you do not dedicate enough time and money to perfect your website’s SEO, all of your other digital marketing efforts are almost certain to be in vain.
So, what is SEO, exactly? And why is it such a vital aspect of any digital marketing strategy? Furthermore, how can you master it? Below are all of the facts that you need to know.
What is SEO?
SEO revolves around optimizing your website in line with best practice guidelines as outlined by Google and other search engines. By adhering to these recommendations, Google will rank your website higher when potential customers type keywords or keyphrases relevant to your service offering. The higher towards the top you rank, the better the chances of potential customers clicking through to your website before clicking through to your competitors.
In order to understand the true meaning of SEO, you need to look at its three main components – the quality of the traffic, how much of it you are getting, and organic results. Ultimately, the goal of SEO should not be to attract hordes of people to your website. It should be to attract the right people to your website. Those people should be individuals who are actually interested in buying what you are selling. When you have the right people making their way to your website, only then can you focus on boosting the numbers.
SEO is all about generating organic results – in other words, organic traffic for which you do not pay anything extra. Having said that, paid traffic / PPC is a great way to support your SEO efforts.
What is included in SEO?
There are various aspects to consider when putting an SEO strategy together. You will need to ensure that you cover both on-page and off-page SEO factors. On-page SEO factors include metadata, engaging content, proper inter-linking, and easy navigation across the site map. Off-page SEO factors include links from trustworthy websites back to your own website, as well as reviews and social media.
Other great tips to remember to maximise your SEO efforts include ensuring optimal crawl accessibility so that the search engines can effortlessly scan through and ‘understand’ your website. You should also focus your attention on crafting compelling content that strives to provide in-depth answers to the questions that searchers are typing into Google. Doing this also boosts your chances of your content appearing in a Google snippet!
Marketers need to spend time researching keywords that will attract both searchers and search engines, all the while dedicating time to enhancing user experience through faster loading speeds, easy navigation, etc.
Finally, be sure to include relevant keywords in all meta titles, URLs, and meta descriptions to draw in a higher CTR when it comes to your rankings.
Here at WSI OMS, we specialise in everything from SEO to social media marketing. Get in touch today for the full scope of our service offering.
