Thursday, July 7, 2011

Where to spend your time on SEO

Roofing contractors should know that it is important to keep up with how search engines like Google, Yahoo! and Bing are changing and adjusting their algorithms (almost daily in some cases) in order to provide the best search engine optimization (SEO) and social media results.

In 2011 there is a clear pattern of social media influencing search results. If you had to pick just two areas to focus on for the rest of the year, here is what RoofPal.com would recommend: content and social media sharing.

Content is the cornerstone for improved keyword rankings and building inbound links over time. A lot of properly optimized content written on various strategic keyword themes drives more visits and improves search results in the long run. Blogging is a great way to frequently add content to your website. If you’re not already blogging for improved SEO results, what are you waiting for? It’s time for you to start blogging and writing content now! If you aren't sure how or just don't have the time, RoofPal.com can assist you with this.

Something important to keep in mind is that search results vary according to the personalization of the person doing the search. This personalization brings us more relevant, useful search results and makes relevant, SEO-friendly content more important than ever. This means no more top rankings or number one rankings for certain keywords, as SEO results vary from user to user. Writing optimized content regularly in addition to tracking your traffic and ROI is what’s important, not necessarily tracking individual keyword rankings.

The bottom line is that the more SEO-friendly and industry-relevant content you write, the more chances your target audience is going to find you.

Once you start blogging frequently, the next step is to share it via your social media profiles like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others. This is no small task - just like writing content takes time and effort, social media sharing takes effort as well. But the time and effort and repetition day-in and day-out reaps tremendous benefits in the long run. Social media sharing provides SEO benefits in addition to improved lead generation results over time.

To expand your reach and improve SEO even further, it is important that you, your employees, and even friends and family if possible share your blog posts. The more people sharing your content in social media, the better. Good content spreads like a wildfire. Also, make it easy for your visitors to share your content. Be sure social media buttons are on all your web pages so that your visitors can socialize and engage with you and share your content.

Search engines are starting to heavily incorporate social media into search results. Social media should work together with SEO, so start integrating social media sharing into your content strategy for improved SEO results.

If you have any questions on this topic, please email Chris@RoofPal.com.