Nowadays you are probably hearing a lot about the importance of SEO and content marketing and how it can affect the success of a company if done correctly.
To start, what does SEO even mean? Well, SEO actually stands for Search Engine Optimization and is defined as the process of affecting the visibility of a website or a web page in a search engine’s “natural” or un-paid (“organic”) search results.
After some research I found an excellent article from Elumynt.com, where blogger William Harris delves into his own depiction of SEO through a stimulating SEO Food Pyramid visual. I don’t think I could find a better way to break down SEO than this. Below you can see the detail Mr. Harris went into describing the complicated nature surrounding SEO.
Architecture
He starts off with the basics, saying how the “Architecture” of a site should involve the most effort and detail. Proper code, optimized page titles, meaningful descriptions, sitemaps, and eliminating crawling errors and duplicate content are all mentioned in the foundation of an SEO. The architecture refers to the basics, this is where all the information expands upon and is absolutely imperative to have a handle on for your site.
Content Creation
Do you want people sharing your content? You should. And what is the best way to do that? Essentially, you create relevant content that people actually want to share that is relevant and interesting. Content is imperative for the success of your site or company. ESSENTIAL. If you want some good advice on the subject, check out Rand Fishkin over at Moz.com. He is basically a content marketing wizard, so if you need some perspective, he’s your guy.
Promotion
Promoting your brand is a cornerstone for success. People won’t know to share your content if no one even knows your site exists. Start by getting your name out there. Tell your friends and family and let that network expand. BizSugar.com is a great website that will help your content reach sites with bigger communities.
User Experience
The design, navigation, usability, graphics and content are all key factors that will get visitors to stay on your website. If these factors are in place, then you are on the track to creating a community surrounding your site. Check out some good examples of websites that contain these elements below!
Social Signals
Social platforms like Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest and even Snapchat are excellent places for viewers to share your content. Harris adds, “Social signals are a part of the algorithm that tells Google how authoritative and relevant the content you are creating and promoting really is.”
Link Building
Finally, link building is best when used sparingly. Only replacing dead or broken links is essentially all the link building you need to be doing. You don’t want to overwhelm your viewers.
I would say Harris is on the money with all of his ideas. Have you ever gotten to a site and immediately noticed how slow it is or even how hard it is to find what you’re looking for? I would say you give up looking for what you need in under a minute because you, just like everyone else, hate wasting time. If this is a common phenomenon, companies should get the picture and spend a little more of its budget on fixing these problems.
So, what are you looking for in a website? Well, personally, I am looking for the following:
- Lightning fast speed
- Easy to navigate
- Provides a search function (that actually works!)
- Stimulating visuals
- Relevant content
- Links, URLs, etc. to back up content
- Creative content
- Interesting stories
Essentially, I want to arrive at a site and think to myself, “Wow this is really cool, I want all of my friends to see this.” Honestly, you can have just about any subject on your website and make it look really awesome. Who does it best? Let me give you some examples:
- SuperHeroCheesecake.com is a creative digital production studio based in Amsterdam, raising the bar in digital for advertising agencies. I would say the bar has definitely been raised. Below you can see a picture of the website, full of stimulating visuals, bold colors, easy click navigation and interesting graphics. Admittedly, I am super impressed with this company’s website.
- StinkDigital.com is an interactive production agency with offices in Los Angeles, London, Paris, Berlin and New York. This global creative agency dedicates its time to building better digital experiences and I would whole-heartedly agree. An entire page showcases this company’s work and one specific ad caught my eye – an interactive digital game for Ray-Ban fans to rescue their Facebook friends from the clutches of Dr. Compliance. Cool advertising, Ray-Ban!
- Hyperakt.com is an independent NYC design firm based in Brooklyn with a passion for creating work that affects change in the world around us. The company essentially celebrates people’s beautiful stories through innovative designs and bright, bold colors. From the graphic below, you can see the type of work that Hyperakt does, and it is pretty neat.
So, what does all of this information mean? Essentially, it proves Harris’s point that there are a conglomeration of factors that go into successful SEO and content marketing. Viewers are more tech savvy than ever and having a website that is slow, outdated, boring and stark with broken links will only harm you and your brand. All of the sites I mentioned are various types of brands, but all have two things in common: bright graphics and interesting content. Honestly, I am not looking for any of the companies’ services, but that didn’t stop me from exploring the sites and soaking in the beautiful graphics and fascinating content.
Now I am not saying that you need to have something this innovative because most of these companies specialize in graphic design. However, providing fresh content and colorful graphics is an attainable goal for everyone and it will absolutely give you more viewers, more shares and eventually, a higher ranking through SEO.
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