It’s our first time at BrightonSEO and we’ve got our top 5 tips to get your rankings higher.
Twice a year, the hipster capital plays host to over 3,500 digital marketers, SEO experts, and social media wizards to catch up on what’s been happening in the digital world at Europe’s largest SEO conference: BrightonSEO.
You can expect market leaders from Google, Moz, BrightLocal and other marketing agencies to dish out some secret tricks and common practice tips on how to take your digital marketing to the next level.
Not only is it great to hear from industry experts, but you get loads of free swag too – free bags, ice-cream, sweets and even beer! Plus, you can meet thousands of friendly, self-proclaimed digital nerds who love the industry as much as you do. What’s not to love?
We’ve put together our top 5 takeaway tips from our first ever BrightonSEO to help you keep up-to-date on your SEO knowledge:
1. Focus on your backlinks!
We know backlinks mean a lot to Google (they’re very sentimental over them) and this year it was reported that backlinks are the number #1 ranking factor when it comes to local SEO. Yet so many businesses are ignoring these and missing out on vital backlinks that are so easily acquired! If you’ve helped another business out by sponsoring their event, or have been involved in a community project or just shared an amazing blog, then reach out to the right audience and get a link to your site – it’s that easy. Each backlink improves your internet dominance and in turn, your ranking.
2. Voice search is increasing
It’s no secret, voice search is slowly catching up with text searches with Google announcing that nearly 25% of queries are voice-searched, and this is increasing. Nearly half of adults use voice search once per day thanks to Siri starting the trend back in 2011, and we’ve since seen Amazon’s Alexa join the market along with Google Home and Cortana. So, what does this mean for SEO? It means you need to start producing content that will communicate well across these voice-control devices. Using long-tail keywords, giving detailed answers, providing a NAP, having a clean and accessible website that’s mobile-responsive, having rich snippets and moving to HTTPS will help them give their users the right answer.
3. Ditch the clichés
We realise that saying ‘ditch the clichés’ is cliché BUT, it remains true. Amy Harrison’s talk ‘How Inside-Out Copy Makes You Invisible’ looked at avoiding forced transactions in email marketing and offering something that customers want. Something that would benefit the customer, rather than pushing a product in their face. Pull back on the ‘BUY NOW’ ‘FREE’ and ‘DON’T MISS’ headlines and really offer them something that could benefit them.
4. Move to HTTPS and HTTP/2
Want a website that’s faster? Uses fewer resources? More secure? Seems like a dream, right? Well HTTP/2 is the answer and it’s what all sites need! HTTP/2 is the latest update to the HTTP protocol. It’s a complete refresh of the internet, bringing the security and efficiency the internet is currently lacking. However, the likes of Google Chrome, Mozilla etc will only allow support HTTP/2 if your website is using HTTPS – another protocol that secures your site and protects all data communications. Google wants a secure web and they’ve even announced that HTTPS is a ranking factor and that they’re indexing secure sites over unsecured sites, so it’s well worth the move.
5. Optimise for mobiles!
We hear it time and time again and for good reasons. Mobiles have swiftly become the most used devices when it comes to searching online. Gary Illye’s keynote speech mentioned that some important news about the mobile-first index will be announced soon and the best way to prepare for it is to make your website fully responsive. The mobile-first index is nearly here and we’ve already started to see some ranking fluctuations between searches on mobile devices and desktops.
We can see why it’s such a hit with marketers across the country and we’re already looking forward to BrightonSEO 2018!
If you’re looking for a flashy, SEO-ready website or just need a hand with your search engine rankings then give us a call or drop us a message! We’ll be happy to chat over coffee about how we can help.