What SEO Metrics Actually Matter and What to Stay Away From

Ending 2013, the SEO industy has seen plenty of shake-ups.  By focusing on traditional SEO tactics, you can ensure a healthy website for many years to come.  Stay away from fads and anything related to the blackhat world, and you’ll be good-t0-go.  Below are some highlights of what you should always focus on, as well as some SEO items to forget entirely.

SEO Rankings:

Oh, SEO rankings, we know so little about you!  Far too often, keyword search engine rankings are given too much credit for a basis of success.  It’s used more than any other metric, yet for most, do not provide the data we’re looking for.  While there is certainly appeal to ranking nationally for a highly competitive keyword, that keyword may not generate any income for your company, and pay your employees their weekly checks.  Without a direct correlation to revenue, keywords are useless.  So the next time your SEO sends you your keyword ranking report, ask to see which one of these keywords actually resulted in a conversion, which resulted in revenue – or equivalent.

SEO Backlinks:

Backlinks are an important indicator of authority, if they are natural and come from reputable websites.  Not to long ago, backlinking was the KING indicator of successful SEO.  Speed up a few years, and like other industries, people start to exploit this tactic and take advantage of backlinking by submitting their URLs to link farm, directories and unrelated websites.  This of course became a huge signal to major search engine that you are trying to “game” the system.  After a quick Google reboot, most SEOs are avoiding this tactic – although not all.

Stick with Killer SEO Content:

Try to focus on links that are generated through content, social media and press.  Content, when shared through social media, can have a huge impact on your website’s authority and value.  Create content that YOU would want to read, and engage your readers and advise them to share if they found it valuable.  Far too often, weak content is promoted, only to ruin your brand identity and provides little to no long term value.

For more information on SEO in Fort Lauderdale, or Search Engine Optimization tactics to use in 2014, contact Visionisto Media today.  Let us audit your website, and see where we can assit in your future SEO efforts.