Does your SEO strategy need to pivot this year?

How fluid is your SEO strategy? Can it pivot on a moments notice in response to current market conditions or the whims of the algorithm gods at Google? One thing is for certain; you can’t get bogged down with outdated strategies that don’t reflect the current conditions. To make the most of your SEO strategy for the coming year, there are some conditions you need to be paying attention to.

•  Perhaps the biggest shift in SEO strategies and tactics for the foreseeable future will be in the area of content and content marketing. Content is going to continue to reign supreme with regard to SEO and overall marketing success but it will, likely, take on a whole new look.
• The challenge is that keywords are going to play less and less a vital role. The algorithms are beginning to respond to search queries that tend to ask specific questions rather than those that simply type in a keyword. You can continue to weave in keywords but you will have greater success going forward if you can actually answer a specific search query in the body of the content article. Know how your potential customers search for you. If you can respond to these long tail search queries, you will find that your conversions will increase because these long tail searchers are ready to buy.
• Fewer quality links will be worth far more than a gazillion mediocre links. You need to get out and work hard to earn quality links from quality websites. The quality of your links will now be the measuring stick. In fact, if you have a less than reputable link posted at your site, it will actually begin to hurt your SEO strategies and ranking.
• Stop trying to focus on your SEO ranking with regard to keywords. Sure, maybe you rank number one on a particular keyword but so what? Are you seeing more traffic? Are your conversions up? You will need to stay more focused on a ROI strategy rather than strictly being focused on keyword success. Measure, instead, the affect of your content. See how much traffic an article or video drew. See how many great links you got from it. See how all of that boosted your bottom line, and by how much, that month.
• Finally, be more intently focused on your social media marketing. You can’t be all things to everyone. Choose a couple of social media platforms that you believe will be the most helpful to you and then go out and engage. Focusing on fewer sites will allow you to begin to nurture online relationships which is exactly what most online consumers are looking for today. Staying more focused will be your key to SEO success in the near future.