Why SEO Is Still Not Dead and 5 Ways That Silkstream are Positively Killing It!

To say that It’s been a very turbulent time in the search world over the last three years would be something of an understatement. In fact, the turbulence has gotten so bad, that there are more than a few SEO’s abandoning the ride altogether!

It began back in February 2011, when Google introduced the “Farmer Update” into it’s algorithm, AKA Panda. Panda was aimed at websites which consistently published very low quality, spun or scraped content (content farms). In 2012 Google removed a bunch of low quality web directories from its index, to stop them influencing the search results in a negative way. Since then we have also witnessed a Google Penguin and then a Hummingbird stirring up the results, along with a whole bunch of reported “unnamed updates”. We’ve also seen the addition of such things as local search, the introduction of the knowledge graph, Schema mark-up and in-depth articles, brand-bias and search intent matching, to name just a few.

Moving into 2014, it seems that things have gotten a little crazy when it comes to search optimisation. The internet is awash with articles titled things such as “What are SEO’s even Good at Anymore?” as many hang their head and admit defeat. “SEO is dead” we hear them cry, again.

It used to be much easier to game the search giant. With a well-balanced link scheme you could pretty much guarantee #1 organic rankings on Google, but not anymore.

SEO IS NOT DEAD, AGAIN.

SEO is still very much alive, its just that it’s gotten much more difficult to achieve desirable results. Forcing those who were using some rather questionable activities to inflate their rankings, to wave a white flag and surrender. Throw in the towel and give up because in an increasingly technological savvy world, optimising your website for improved rankings and organic traffic is not an easy task to accomplish anymore. SEO is not “dead” (again). As long as search engines remain influenced by third-party signals, whatever they may be, then there will always be something you can do to improve your websites organic traffic.

SEO in 2014 is about optimising your website in the right way, carrying out the right tasks to slowly improve your websites authority and natural growth. There are NO quick and dirty cheats anymore. Pretty much every old hat tactic, which used to provide instant results, has been targeted by the Google Webspam team and blasted out of the water.

Here are just 5 of the ways that Silkstream are achieving positive results for our clients with SEO in 2014.

#1 Perform site audits

On-site SEO is more important than ever. Optimising your website for both visitors (read more about this in point #5) and search engines can seem like an overwhelmingly large task, particularly for larger eCommerce websites. But by working through a check-list of important on-site tasks, you can drastically improve your search rankings and organic traffic. The changes needed to go from the bottom half of page 1 search results to the top half, could be as simple as improving your page loading speed or optimising your browser titles. Or it could be something a bit more challenging like a duplicate content issue or your internal linking structure. By making small changes and measuring the impact, Silkstream are qualified to ensure your website is optimised to its best capabilities.

#2 Amplify brand reputation

Google loves brands. Effective brand reputation management is one of the hardest things for a company to achieve. If you are seeing results in the search results that are less than favourable, such as a bad review for instance, then employing an SEO is a positive step towards tackling the issue. Silkstream work on building our clients brand as an authority in their industry, which is a favourable move in the eyes of Google. Brand recognition plays a huge step in the refinement of search results. You can watch a Google Webmaster video from way back in 2009 about this here, and rest assured that the end goal is still the same today as it was back then.

#3 Analyse existing search traffic

There are many reasons for analysing your existing organic search traffic. One of the top reasons would be if your website is losing visitors. If this is happening, a good SEO should be able to analyse the data provided and identify the cause, whether it be a penalty you are suffering or just a technical error, it is important to identify the problem and fix it as soon as possible, otherwise your search traffic could disappear faster than a turkey at Christmas.

#4 Increase search traffic

Using tactics like content marketing and social outreach, we’ve learnt how to promote our clients websites to their target market effectively. Earning a high visibility score for your website and brand often results in backlinks, social mentions and improved rankings within organic search.

#5 Improve customer conversions

Getting visitors to your site is only half the battle. Searchers need to be convinced to fufill your end goal, whatever that may be. At Silkstream we know how to turn search traffic into conversions. By understanding a consumers buying funnel and implementing the right tweaks to your target landing pages, we can turn a lacklustre website into a powerful marketing channel.

Don’t believe me? Check out this screenshot taken from Google Analytics showing the results Silkstream have achieved for a clients organic traffic, by applying solid SEO tactics over the last 18 months, and countless organic search algorithm updates.

If you are interested in discovering what Silkstream can do to improve your website SEO, then give us a call now on 01702 545440.