Monthly Archives

February 2020

Feb 21
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What’s Changed in SEO in 2020? | From BERT to Branding

By | Branding, SEO, Web Design | No Comments

Successful SEO strategies in 2020 look very different from previous years. Some of these changes include shifting consumer buying patterns and changes in the technicalities of search engine optimization itself. Google and other search engines are evolving. And this requires your search engine optimization strategies in 2020 to evolve, as well.

The first step to ranking your website at the top of Google is to understand what the SEO landscape looks like now.

So, to prepare you for your journey, brace yourself for the new realities of 2020 and the SEO practices that you need to battle them! 

What’s New with SEO in 2020

The Rise of Voice 

The biggest change to SEO in 2020 is the rising trend of voice searches. Studies revealed that 50% of all searches will be voice searches by 2020. Why do you need to care? Because in the next two years, it’s estimated that 55% of all households will have Smart Speakers.

Here’s how it changes everything. 

In contrast to text searches, where being on the first page is what mattered, in voice searches through smart speakers only one result will be dictated. If that result is not your website, you have already lost the battle.

There used to be a lot of space on the front page for you and your competitors. But with voice SEO, now there’s only one spot. 

Scared? You should be. But let’s see how we can optimize your website for voice searches.

The area that requires your attention most is  Google’s Featured Snippet. This is how Google responded to the increase in voice searches. It’s easier for someone to squeeze their Google Pixel and ask it a question. In return, Google provides them the answers to their queries in the form of a “Snippet”. 

To show you a featured snippet in action, here’s what Google showed me when I asked it if SEO is worth it:

And that’s what you should aim for. Optimize your content in such a way that you become the selected website that Google displays. Keep reading to learn how you can achieve that.

The first area that we should look at is how Voice Searches are different from regular searches. You probably would have noticed the difference yourself. The nature of voice searches tend to be more of an inquiry– a question.

So, to continue with my example, I used Google Home to inquire whether or not SEO is worth my time. Google chose this website as the result to my inquiry because of 3 factors:

  1. Its relevance to my question
  2. The use of long-tail keywords
  3. If it can answer my question directly in 42 words

This is also how I designed this article. The title predicts the inquiry while the very first paragraph briefly answers it. So, there’s a chance that the next time you use Voice Search, this article is what you will come across. 

Next, let me drive your attention to another rising trend– hyperlocal inquires. This is especially important for business owners. According to Social Media Explorer, local searches account for 46% of all searches. 

Offline and Online Factors on SEO

To facilitate these inquiries, Google has launched a new algorithm called BERT. What BERT does is provide the most credible links that are near, relevant, and most prominent. 

Let’s say you are a business that’s looking to raise your profile in the neighbourhood. You’ll have to work on both your offline and online presence. You can boost your offline presence by asking customers in person to leave good reviews about your product or service. This will increase your credibility while increasing your chances to be identified by BERT. 

The next aspect that you need to work is your online presence. Make sure that you use accurate information about name, addresses and hours etc, on all of your platforms. Facebook, Instagram, your website, any online directories– the key is to be as credible and prominent as possible across the web. Leave no stone unturned.

Don’t take this lightly as a single mistake can make you lose customers! Imagine the horror if a person searching for you ends up on your competitor’s page because its just in more places than your are. It’ll be challenging for you to regain those lost customers. Google’s launch of BERT has made it essential that you’re credible across the internet.

Design for Mobile First

In 2020, I want to remind you to focus on mobile-friendly user-interfaces. I know, you’re probably thinking “We already know that” but this is more important than ever as mobile searches account for 80% worldwide! This means that 8 out of 10 consumers will interact on your portal using a mobile phone. So, it becomes absolutely essential for you to build a responsive website.

To aid you in this process, Google provides you with a Mobile Friendly Test. This will help identify areas of your site that you need to work on. The second thing that you can do is to have Accelerated Mobile Pages, or AMPs for short. You can learn how to do AMPs here. Or you could hit up DxM Creative for a hand.

Branding Plays a Big Role in SEO

Now coming on to the final aspect of SEO in 2020 that you absolutely need to incorporate. And that is the concept of Branding.

Remember our discussion on BERT? Becoming a credible website does not only mean good reviews and accurate information. If it really were that simple, then everyone would do it!

Branding is the ultimate weapon that will allow you to cut through the immense competition and withstand all the new algorithms to become the winning search on your consumer’s device. But you might be thinking, “How exactly do we become a brand?”. 

Although you can find tons of definitions, branding relevant to us is how the BERT algorithm distinguishes a brand from a generic webpage.

To get identified as a brand by Google’s algorithm, you need to have different social forums all talking about you. So, in 2020, a highly optimized website won’t cut it. To become the winning search, you need to have credible presence on other different platforms using similar type of keywords and having the same type of quality reviews. Only then will BERT identify you as a Brand.

And this is not just to optimize for BERT, but relates to all the above points. Your branding is what will ensure your position in Google’s Featured Snippet. Branding is how local consumers will identify you. A good user-interface is what consumers expect from your brand. 

Following these SEO tips will help your website reach a ton of new customers in 2020.

But search engine optimization is just one part of doing well online. Here’s what it takes to build a successful website.

Feb 09
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Top 7 Mistakes Business Owners Make When Redesigning Their Website

By | Web Design | No Comments

So you’ve decided to revitalize your website in 2020! Great, because much has changed with the new year and it’s absolutely essential for you to start working on your website as it is your biggest brand ambassador. However, there are certain types of mistakes that new businesses such as yourself can make and so, it’s important for you to know what those mistakes are and just how you can manage to surpass them. So without further ado, let’s get into the 10 mistakes Business Owners make when Redesigning their website. 

1 Customers are Everything

The most important asset of any business is its customers. Making and retaining customers is what keeps the business running. Therefore, when updating your website with all the newest features, you need to make sure that they align with the customer needs. However, one of the top tier mistakes that new businesses make is that they start to redesign the website according to their own liking. What looks cool to you might not necessarily mean that it’s cool for the consumer too. So, adding all the features you like only creates confusion and frustration among your users 

To avoid making this mistake, you need to see what exactly is your target market and what do they demand. Then by utilizing all the knowledge and assets you may have acquired, revitalize your website in such a way that best serves your customers, not you!   

 

 

2 A Jack of All 

You might have heard of the old proverb, “A jack of all is a Master of none”. Well as cliche as you may find it, the proverb is still relevant due to the common mistake businesses make when redesigning their website. Many new business owners overload themselves with tasks they never learned to perform. The result is lack of efficiency even in your core skill sets. 

Don’t try to take all the roles by yourselves as this will only decrease the quality of your website and increase your frustration. Instead, try to identify the core competency of each of your members and assign them with relevant tasks. If no person fits to complete a particular task, consider outsourcing them instead of taking on the field yourself. There are plenty of good vendors who are experts in this field and will help you out on your tasks for minimum fees. Dxm Creative too offers a wide range of packages for businesses just like you. Choose the package that best serves you so you can focus more on areas you are expert of. 

 

 

3 SEO Matters

SEO has become extremely vital for businesses to use as it is one of the biggest realities of 2020. You can read up on my other article “Is SEO in 2020 Worth your Time?” that discusses all the new changes that SEO tactics have undergone. Yet, many businesses still choose to ignore the importance of SEO and treat it as a secondary importance. 

You need to use this particular mistake as your own advantage. By working on your SEO tactics, you can direct more customers towards your businesses while everyone else is focused on the wrong things!

 

 

4 Time is Everything 

Redesigning your website is fun. As you gather more knowledge about web designing, it’s only natural for you to add all the cool features you want your website to have. However, by adding too many features on your website, it increases the overall loading time of your webpages. No matter how cool your features are, if the customers have to spend more time on your web pages, chances are that they will leave pretty soon making all your efforts worthless. 

What you should do, instead, is to add features in your website that you believe are absolutely essential while also testing your website from time to time. In this way, you will know what type of features slow down your websites and what types don’t. 

Hence, you will be able to add the right features while also saving the time of your consumers.  

 

 

5 A super Website but for limited gadgets

Another issue that arises in new entrepreneurs is that they design their website mostly for desktop users. However, mobile searches account for 80% of all searches. This means that most of your consumers will be surfing on your website through their mobile phones. By focusing only on desktop interface, many new businesses struggle with their interface on other gadgets such mobile, tablets and iPads. 

You should always consider this point while revitalizing your website that it is not only meant for the desktop interface but also on other forums as well. So, try testing your website on both phone and on desktop before you launch it. 

 

 

6 Focus on CTA

Don’t forget the main purpose for your website is to get results and that is where CTAs become relevant. Call to Action or CTA for short is a marketing tactic you can use to prompt your customer towards the action you want, either purchase your services or your products. A common mistake made by newbies while redesigning their website is that they forget to incorporate the proper pathway that ultimately leads to these sales. 

So while redesigning your website, try creating the pathway and incorporate CTA in your website as this will ultimately lead to overall success of your brand.

 

 

7 Too much focus on Website or too little 

Lastly, you need to have your website have the right amount of content. And I cannot stress this point enough for how important it is to remain conscious about the needs of your customers. Often enough, what happens with newbies is that they get excited about their website in such a way that they start pouring it with content. However, you need to make sure that you don’t follow the same mistake. That doesn’t mean that you are not supposed to refresh your content every few times in a year. It only means that you should add relevant content that adds value for your customers, not you. 

What you can do is ask your customers, through collecting reviews, what they like most about your website and how you can improve it. In this way, you will be able to add content on your website that best serves your customers. 

So, 2020 is here and it must be an exciting time for you to revamp your website. Just try avoiding these common seven mistakes and you can begin your journey towards a successful new year! Happy Redesigning!