Category: SEO

The Holiday Algorithm

Posted on by infogenix

The Holiday Algorithm

If you work in the medical or health industries, you may have heard of the dreaded algorithm change that occurs during the winter months. The gift-giving holidays are coming up, and Google has learned that people search more for products and gifts. So, to get the best search engine results, they place more importance on retail instead of other queries.

So, what does this mean for you, if you own a medical business?

What Is an Algorithm Change?

In the world of the Internet, nothing is constant. Search engines like Google roll out changes every day, to make sure that their search engine is best serving the people that use it. The major and minor algorithm changes that have rolled out over the years can affect your rankings. You may remember your SEO specialists talking about algorithm changes that negatively affect websites with thin content, or websites that aren’t optimized for mobile phones. These algorithm changes, while they seem to happen at random, are a targeted way to best reflect user intent and the current trends of the Internet.

What Does This Have to Do With the Holidays?

If you think about your own personal Internet usage, what time of the year are you Google-searching retail the most? Most would answer just after Black Friday, to just after Christmas Day. That’s when retail stores have their deals, to get more people in the door to buy their products. The search engines are aware of this, and adjust the algorithm to better serve these retail searches.

As a result, the search engines are focusing less on the good SEO practices you’ve worked hard on, like your meta titles, descriptions, and keywords. They are looking for product descriptions, lists, and deals. If you’re not selling a product, the search engines won’t pay as much attention.

What Can I do?

First of all, don’t panic.

This algorithm change is only temporary. You may see your rankings and traffic fluctuate from November to January, but you can expect these numbers to go back up after the holiday rush. Just keep following the SEO best practices, and creating informative and engaging content about your services, and you should be fine.

If you’re wondering how to best follow the SEO best practice guidelines, give a call to one of our SEO specialists today! We have over 10 years of experience doing SEO work for all industries–especially medical. We will be happy to help!

Posted in SEO

5 SEO Myths, Debunked!

Posted on by infogenix

5 SEO Myths, Debunked!

With the ever-changing rules of SEO and best practices on the internet, it can be hard to know what will work for your website. And, on top of the changing rules, there are also SEO myths that just won’t die. The SEO world likes to call them Zombie myths, because we try to kill them with facts, but they always come back. Here are 5 of the most common Zombie myths, and our Utah SEO specialists’ debunking answers.

5 SEO Zombie Myths

  1. Content is All You Need

    While content is very important to have a great site, it’s not the only thing you need for good SEO. You could have the best website in the world, but that won’t matter if you don’t have any way to get to your website. Good SEO is a combination of great content, internal and external links, meta data, and site speed.

  2. Site Speed Isn’t Important

    False! High-speed internet is the norm now, and your site’s visitors don’t want to wait on a slow site–especially on a mobile phone. In the early days of the internet, site speed wasn’t a concern, but today’s best websites are fast, sleek, and easy to use. Make sure you don’t bog down your sites with large images and videos. If you need help speeding up your site, Utah’s best SEO specialists can help!

  3. Links Are Dead

    Nope! Much like the content myth above, links are still vital to your website’s rankings. But, Google and other search engines are much pickier when it comes to what kinds of links you have. In the olden days, the amount of links you had was all you needed. You could have 5,000 links from terrible, spammy, and even porn sites. Now, if you have a bunch of links from bad sites like that, you’ll get dinged. When you are building links and directory listings, you need to make sure that it’s a reputable site, AND that it’s related to your business.

  4. You Don’t Need a Sitemap

    No matter how big or small your website is, it’s always important to have a sitemap. It helps search engines to know exactly how many pages you have, their hierarchy in importance, and even when they were last updated. Make sure you have a current xml sitemap on your website. If you need help creating one, give us a call! We would love to help.

  5. SEO is Just Snake Oil

    There are many shady people on the internet trying to scam others for money, but SEO is real, and absolutely necessary for a successful website. It’s worth noting, however, that not all SEO firms and specialists are created equal. If you’re looking for the best SEO specialist in your area, do some research and find out their practices, their knowledge, and their philosophies. If you have a great SEO specialist working on your website, there’s nothing to stop you!

There are many more Zombie SEO myths out there, but these are the most popular ones that we hear from our past and present clients. If you want to know more about what SEO can do to grow your business, give us a call today!

Posted in SEO

What is Google Really Looking For?

Posted on by infogenix

What is Google Really Looking For?

Google is the world’s most popular search engine by far, with over 75% of Internet users reporting Google as their first choice. Yahoo, which was once one of the most popular search engines on the market, came in at around 8%. Because of their vast market share, Google’s policies and protocols matter more to businesses than ever before. They essentially get to decide who is seen by consumers–and who isn’t. So what do they want from the web pages they sort?

Staying Ahead of Google Updates

Google is constantly tweaking its algorithms to deliver the most relevant results to web searchers. Since Google doesn’t usually come out and announce that they are changing their metrics, your page rank might drop suddenly without warning or explanation. With first page search results enjoying the lion’s share of traffic, placing on even the second page of Google listings means that your website is completely overlooked by the vast majority of web users.

The only way to protect your page rank is to constantly stay ahead of Google updates, which can be difficult to do. Previous Google updates have included changes to the way the system treats certain URLs, how local businesses are displayed, and which kinds of tags the system looks for when indexing sites. Some Google updates have targeted websites that use duplicate, redundant, or excessive information, since these pages are inherently less useful to web users. What used to bump your rankings up drastically may now shove them down.

Fortunately, websites like mozcast.com are dedicated to monitoring Google’s web traffic to give people an idea of when changes might be occurring. Beyond watching these sites, here are some tips to protecting your web traffic so that your website can stay viable, no matter what kinds of updates Google throws your way.

Tips for Improving Your Search Ranking

Google’s primary goal is to promote sites that actually provide what searchers are looking for. For this reason, all their updates are geared toward identifying useful content. While other tips and tricks can help you get Google’s attention, the best way to stay on their good side through any update is to provide genuinely useful information.

Provide Value to Searchers

There is a reason that web developers and SEO experts alike tout the phrase “content is king.” When it comes to building a truly successful website, offering genuine, useful content to readers is more important than anything else. This means that instead of simply filling your site with poorly written, irrelevant pieces, focus on your business or website goals and offer content that readers would find helpful.

Make it a priority to use relevant sources, a professional, intelligent tone, and information that web readers aren’t likely to find other places. Before writing content for your website, think carefully about what readers will be looking for, and whether or not the content would be a valuable addition to your website.

Update Material Frequently

One of the things that Google web crawlers look for when they scan for valuable pages is new content, which is why you should never leave your website stagnant. Focus on updating your website frequently, even multiple times a day if possible. Adding sections that focus on current events or new trends can also help, since people are likely to search for that kind of content.

Create Content Without Click-Bait

Google also evaluates your webpage based on the number of ties that it has to other pages, since professional sites and blogs frequently refer people to other helpful resources. In the past, web developers could improve their site ranking by simply stuffing their posts with links to irrelevant webpages, but recent Google updates have cracked down on these kinds of practices. For this reason, avoid click-bait content, such as link stuffing or phrases like “click here for more information!”

Use Alt Tags and Metadata

Contrary to popular belief, the Google algorithm isn’t an all-seeing virtual life form that can reasonably and responsibly detect different kinds of data. For example, if you upload pictures to your website or blog, Google can’t tell what they consist of—unless you include alt tags and metadata. These important pieces of information can be added easily and will improve your page rank, since they give Google a more accurate description of what your page includes.

 

The Value of Professional SEO Businesses

Unless you have several hours each and every day to take care of your webpage, it can be hard to do everything from monitoring your page ranking to updating that blog. To make things much easier, consider hiring a professional Utah SEO company. Professional SEO companies specialize in learning more about the latest Google updates so that we can design smarter websites for our clients. Contact Infogenix to find out how we can improve your website or blog.