Are you a small business owner tackling your own search engine optimization?
If so, you obviously appreciate the importance search engine optimization has in helping customers find you online, but as a novice digital marketer who's faking it 'til you make it, I'll bet that your DIY SEO efforts often have your day-to-day business activities taking a backseat (or vice versa).
With thousands of digital marketing "experts" offering up advice online, it's virtually impossible to sift through the clutter and find practical advice that's worthy of your valuable time.
This roundup of articles will help you get the best advice on the web without having to do the laborious search work.
That's right! I've scoured the web for you and compiled 10 of this week's best SEO posts and articles that are chock-full of practical and noteworthy advice and tools you can easily use for your business.
Without further ado, here's your reading list for the week!
Jill Kocher shares an in-depth approach about the process of creating content that drives SEO, including data analysis. While exploring data may not be the most exciting part of the process, it is critical in helping you create optimized content that people (and search engines) love! (Source: Practical Ecommerce)
SEO can be frustrating for small businesses, but there's a lot to gain when you create a winning SEO strategy. Kerry Dye highlights 10 opportunities you can adopt to jump ahead of your competitors. (Source: Business2Community)
SEO is much more than a plugin. Chris O'Neill lays out the essentials you need to consider when designing or redesigning your website, including finding which keywords fit the page you're looking to optimize. Keyword research doesn't just include finding random keywords; it's about finding relevant keywords for your site and getting numerous metrics such as search volume, competition and current ranks. (Source: Forbes)
Microsites have their uses, but columnist Janet Driscoll Miller argues that they can often create unnecessary headaches for search engine optimization professionals. (Source: Search Engine Land)
Being #1 on Google doesn't mean much if people aren't clicking or answering your call to action. Garrett Mehrguth outlines how to improve your click-through rates to help you generate more leads and customers. (Source: Search Engine Journal)
Algorithms change, but quality content that engages your audience is always a winning strategy. Dan Blacharski argues that just because you have a highly-ranking search result does not mean you are offering value to your readers and/or customers. (Source: Entrepreneur)
A fascinating must-read, Ariel Stulberg unveils the shady business of URL hijackers and how they wreak havoc in today's digital world. (Source: Gizmodo)
There are several factors that SEO relies on to spell success. Jayson DeMers explains the important factors that marketers need to pay attention to in order to avoid the pitfalls of SEO failure. (Source: Forbes)
With the increasing popularity of voice-enabled devices and software - such as virtual assistants like Amazon Echo, Google Home and Apple's Siri - Pierre DeBois addresses ways that marketers can adapt their methods to incorporate the unique demands of voice-enabled search. (Source: CMS Wire)
Sometimes, even marketing experts don't practice what they preach. In this insightful case study, Alex Jasin takes us through the process of how The Content Standard (TCS) relaunched their website, focusing on different elements that could help them create a sustainable design and increase their search visibility around their Skyward brand. (Source: The Next Web (TNW))
Conclusion
When it comes to marketing, there's no hard and fast rule to getting it right, unfortunately. There are a lot of factors involved in creating a winning strategy, including time, analysis and tweaking along the way. You can't simply "set it and forget it" and expect to reap the rewards.
Hopefully, this week's weekly digest has given you a better understanding of how you can start or enhance your digital marketing efforts to achieve the best results for your own business.
Which article was most inspiring to you? Do you have any other SEO must-reads not already on the list?
