Insights From SEO Experts

Search engine optimization (SEO)  is an integral part of the online marketing landscape. When getting found by search engines is of the utmost importance for any brand or everyday joe with a website, creating a marketing strategy without any SEO is like trying to row without a paddle.

To the uninitiated and the initiated alike, keeping up-to-date with the latest happenings in the world of SEO can be a daunting task. Search engine algorithms are constantly changing and so too must the approach of marketers. You need to make sure your SEO reflects what’s happening in there here and now. Where do you begin?

Namecheap’s SEO expert roundup posts are a good place to start.

We sat down and asked industry experts what you need to know about SEO in three key areas: on-page SEO, the most important SEO metrics, and what to expect in the world of SEO in 2019.

If you’re short on time and want a quick rundown on their most pertinent points, this is the post for you!  

Read on to learn some key insights to from the leading experts on SEO.

On-Page SEO: What you need to know

On-page SEO refers to the changes you can make directly to the elements of your website to try to boost its search engine rankings. This can be anything from producing quality content and using the right meta descriptions, to optimizing the user’s experience.

Unsurprisingly, many of the experts we spoke to brought up the subject of user experience—focusing on site speed, overall usability, or just ensuring a site loads correctly. In a climate where everyone and their dog has a smartphone, good mobile performance is naturally a must for every website.

Focusing on user needs makes search engines happy, as Scott Keever of Scott Keever SEO touches on:

“User experience not only helps keep your clients happy and coming back, but it also triggers signals Google is looking for in a site. The longer someone spends on your site, the more pages they visit, etc. all create a positive experience and possible uptick in ranks.”

Another thing that is certain: keyword research will always be relevant. What’s more, you need to start focusing your efforts on long-tail keywords.

Rand Fishkin, the founder of Moz and SparkToro, emphasizes this point and talks about how SEOs should focus on using the kind of language their audience uses:

“Describe the problem the searcher’s trying to solve the same way they do. That means using keywords the way searchers use them.”

Meanwhile, Tim Soulo of Ahrefs talks about “the dangers of relying on keyword search volume alone.” Jayson DeMers, Founder & CEO of AudienceBloom gets into the nitty-gritty of keyword placement.

For more expert guidance on perfecting your on-page SEO, read the full article.

SEO Metrics you need to track

SEO metrics are the key performance indicators that tell you if your SEO efforts are working or not. Measuring certain metrics are a vital part of SEO success. But which ones should you focus on?

Well, that’s one area of your SEO strategy that’s likely relative to your specific website needs. Our experts are divided on some the importance of some metrics. Some are a fan of PageRank, others not so much, with Fili Wiese of SearchBrothers SEO Consulting saying:

“Regrettably most metrics referred to nowadays are humbug. Pure nonsense, created for product or service marketing purposes with no bearing on actual SEO. Trust rank is an example here. Even actual factors such as PageRank are useless as a metric, for the simple reason that Google does not disclose the current, true values in real time.”

Some metrics that did come up, again and again, are page performance, click-through rate, and pages that get the most conversions from search.

Mark Luckenbaugh, a partner at Web 2.0 Ranker, may have put it most succinctly when he said, “I do not think you can get away with assigning importance or priority. I think the best SEOs track and optimize everything.”

To learn more about key SEO metrics, read our expert roundup.

Top SEO Trends for 2019

Last but not least, we asked our expert roundup for their predictions of SEO trends in the coming year. What do they think any SEO worth their salt needs to focus on to stay ahead?

A strong theme in the answers is to focus on the SEO classics: ensuring you have a performance-optimized site, creating good content, and other on-page SEO considerations.  It may not be the most exciting trend, but it adds some credence to the age-old adage, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

In fact, Chris Dreyer of Rankings.io, focuses entirely on SEOs making the content better, saying that, “content will need to be more engaging, more thoughtful, and more helpful so that users have a reason to click through and read more.”

Apart from that, focusing on voice search is a trend that came up frequently. The general consensus is that if you haven’t already started to consider it, 2019 is the year you should. Sean Si of SEO Hacker said:

In 2018 voice search slowly rose because of Alexa and Siri. This necessitates SEO experts to primarily focus on long tail keywords and phrases, and the competition for Rank Zero or featured snippet is more intense than ever for voice search.”

For the lowdown on the SEO trends to watch in the remainder of 2019, read the full article.

Conclusion

This is all just a taste of what’s contained in our SEO expert roundup articles. If you want to know everything the industry’s leading voices had to say, we recommend reading the three articles in full.

Whether you’ve been in the game a while or are just starting out, you’re certain to glean a wealth of helpful information that will help you on your way to becoming the best SEO you can be.

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