We’re about three weeks into the new year, and the momentum you set now can influence the pace for the rest of the year. I’d like to help you kick off 2018 with a bang by achieving three simple victories that will pave the way for further success and growth, not just for this year, but into the future.
These achievements are straightforward, but they’re not easy—although the concepts are simple, a lot of work is needed to accomplish them. This might seem like a drawback, but it’s actually advantageous because many of your competitors won’t put in the effort, giving you a significant edge over them.
### Improve Page Speed to Enhance Ranking
Google recently announced that starting in July 2018, mobile page speed will be a ranking factor for its mobile search results. Page speed significantly impacts user experience, and several aspects of user experience are also direct ranking factors.
Research indicates that faster websites retain visitors longer and often convert more visitors into paying customers compared to slower sites. Many people have ample room for improvement here because they are unaware of their website’s performance issues. In a conversation with a potential client about SEO, he confidently claimed that his website “loads super fast—usually in under one or two seconds!” However, it actually took closer to thirty seconds, according to tests I conducted with various tools.
When discussing page speed, I’m referring to the general time it takes a webpage to load, not just Google’s PageSpeed Insights. Improving page speed can be accomplished by:
– Investing in high-performance web hosting.
– Reducing HTTP requests by merging CSS and JavaScript files, eliminating unnecessary WordPress plugins, and using sprites.
– Properly scaling and compressing images.
– Implementing server caching, browser caching, and Gzip compression.
– Minifying CSS and JavaScript files.
### Leverage a Personal Brand for Link Building
If you’ve managed a website for a while, you’ve likely received many link requests, most of which were probably ineffective. If you’ve sent a link request, it was likely ineffective, too. Cold link outreach is challenging and often yields few results relative to the number of emails sent. Success in link building depends on relationships, not volume or brute force.
Instead of relying on cold link outreach, a more effective strategy is to build a personal brand that others want to connect with. This requires a lot of work over a significant period of time. However, once you establish a personal brand, leveraging relationships to build links becomes much easier. If your brand is strong enough, people may even link to your content without you asking. To develop a personal brand, you can:
– Create consistently branded profiles on major social networks.
– Regularly share valuable industry content along with your insights.
– Engage with your audience, including those above and below your stature in the industry.
– Publish excellent content on your website and in industry and top-tier business publications.
### Incorporate Video into Your SEO Efforts
Video is a powerful force in digital marketing today, nearing the necessity of having a website and social media presence. It plays a significant role in SEO in two ways. Firstly, video can help retain interested visitors on your site for longer, which Google sees as indicative of a positive user experience, improving your organic ranking. Additionally, it allows visitors to connect more deeply with your brand.
Secondly, by publishing on YouTube, you can reach a larger audience through YouTube’s search results, leveraging its position as one of the most visited sites globally. You also have the opportunity to rank your videos in Google’s search results by leveraging YouTube’s authority.
While making videos can feel uncomfortable, it becomes easier with practice and is now essential to staying competitive. Holly Gillen of Holly G Studios emphasizes, “Video is one of the most powerful tools you have in business today! The race has begun, and if you’re not running you are now getting left behind.”
To incorporate video into SEO:
– Create videos answering prospects’ questions about your products, services, and industry, and show who you are and why you do what you do.
– Optimize videos on YouTube for visibility, and build relevant, high-quality links to improve Google search rankings.
– Embed YouTube videos on your site to keep visitors engaged longer.
