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Steps You Can Take for Higher SEO Rankings

For many eCommerce business owners, SEO seems like a complicated endeavor. You are told to be patient with the results. You are told that it takes extensive research. You are told about the importance of search engine optimization and the things you should update for better optimization.

As complicated as it seems, SEO is not a hopeless endeavor. It’s quite the opposite in fact. You know that you want to improve your SEO rankings, but just need the guidance to take the best practices to get you there.

There are five things that you can do, or find a digital marketing agency to complete, that will help you be set up for SEO success. Check out these steps with us here at Genius eCommerce. This is who we are and what we do.

Coding – One of the most important parts of SEO rankings is the behind the scenes work that coding does. Having a good code to your website does not achieve rankings alone, but if your code is not in order, it can prevent you from reaching the success you want even if everything on the surface is being done well. Technical SEO is an aspect that you simply cannot overlook.

Content – Your content still rules overall. After all, Google reads words first and foremost and looks for the ways it is relevant to search terms. For better Google rankings, you want to have a content marketing plan that focuses on specific keywords and carries some meaning. Relevant and meaningful content helps to boost your domain authority and quality content connects with people who will be reading.

Link Building – A piece of advice you hear a lot when college students are preparing for graduation is to make connections and start networking. Essentially, that is what link building is to your SEO efforts. Building links is making new connections and increasing your domain authority.

Social Shares – Social media has no direct effect on your SEO, but it does go hand in hand with building domain authority and backlinks. Creating connections helps increase your relevance and authority as a leader in your industry. The more shares you can get by promoting your content on social media, the more people will see it organically. This, in turn, helps build up your brand and give it a recognition, which can help you get more clicks from results in search engines because of recognition. Because people may already know the brand from social media, your bounce rate could go down with people visiting having an idea of what to expect from you. That can only improve your conversion rate, establishing that trust in people.

Keyword Ranking – A key part of SEO is choosing keywords that can help improve your overall rankings. The problem is that far too often, SEO clients choose to keep it basic and target words that are broadly searched. With so much competition for the top spots for these keywords, you can easily get lost in the shuffle. That’s why the best way to start your campaign is to do extensive research on keywords where there is an opportunity to achieve the top ranking spots. Using keywords that are more specific to your goals can help you get to the places you want to rank.

With SEO, there are no guarantees or shortcuts to achieving success. It does take patience and research to get the results. With that in mind, having the right team to guide you along the way with the research and strategy can put you on the right track. Taking these steps may not be the easiest thing to do, but it is the most effective in the long run, and that is ultimately what will allow you to achieve the success you desire.

July 25, 2019

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How To Write SEO Friendly Content for eCommerce

You’ve heard the saying that content is king and it really is true. Content marketing has a number of benefits that include building a brand, increasing sales, and generating new leads, and it continues to be an effective method for not only connecting with readers and turning them into customers but also in building authority with search engines.

Content marketing is a fit for every type of business, but there are certain tactics you should take when writing SEO content for eCommerce. Today, we will review some tips for writing SEO friendly content.

Set Goals – Before you even begin to start writing content, you need to set some goals for yourself and your business. What are you trying to accomplish with your content marketing? You may be more focused on establishing your brand or demonstrating why people should buy your products. You may be targeting a new audience. Maybe you are writing for the purpose of gaining better rankings on search engines. Whatever the reason may be, establish it early and use it as motivation when creating content.

Know Your Audience – As you prepare for writing, you want to identify the audience you are writing for so you can produce content that is specifically for them. You can ask yourself a variety of questions about your audience and determine certain things like the age demographic, the type of work they do, what their interests are, what their needs are and why they may want to buy your product. All of these things can help you determine who you are writing for so you can specifically target your audience.

Content Types – Content comes in all forms and you don’t have to be married to one in particular. You may write a few blog posts or articles that are informative. Videos or infographics can be used for a more visual approach, or you may choose to record an audio podcast for people to listen to. All of these types of content help distribute your content marketing across a variety of platforms so that people can connect with you in different ways.

Quality Writing – Content marketing is not just as simple as writing content. You have to make your content, your articles, videos, podcasts and anything else you produce informative and provide value to the customer. Your content should help answer the customer’s questions and solve their problems. The writing should flow naturally and include the keyword you choose to target in a natural way as well. You do not want to stuff your content with the keyword too many times or force the keyword into your content. You also want to check for any grammar or spelling errors and should keep your writing clean and polished.

Share Content – Once your content is published, it should be shared with any followers you have on social media and any other places where you post regularly. Making an announcement of new content attracts readers and bring back loyal followers. It will also help you get on a schedule as you post new content in the future.

Track Your Progress – As you produce content, check your progress. See what kind of results it has on traffic on your website. See what type of content brings the most visitors. Compare these results to your goals set before you started your content marketing campaign and track what connects with your visitors and what isn’t working and adjust your campaign accordingly.

At Genius eCommerce, SEO and content marketing is who we are and what we do. We help you get the tips you need to achieve success in your SEO campaign. Continue reading the Genius eCommerce blog for more.

July 17, 2019

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SEO: Building the Foundation

Perhaps the biggest question that is associated with SEO is not about what it is or why it is necessary, but how it works.

More people know what SEO is and know that it is needed to help build better search engine rankings, but with search engines like Google constantly making algorithm updates and keeping those secrets close to the belt, you can start to get frustrated if you think you are creating content that should be resonating with search engines and making an impact, but is not.

Even as algorithms and methods for SEO success change, there are three constants that serve as the foundation of SEO, the elements that you need to focus on in everything you create. The rules are constantly changing on search engines and that can have an effect on your success, but there are some things that never change when it comes to SEO and today we will present those to you.

Links

Links are very closely related to search engines and SEO and remain a constant in making your SEO work. Links are a trust builder. Google uses backlinks to determine how trustworthy a website is and confirm that it is a reliable source. This is why you see the largest websites from major companies or news outlets holding many of the top spaces. There is a trust factor that goes into rankings.

While it may feel like it is impossible to join the ranks of major companies, don’t let that deter you. Many businesses are attempting to rank for something specific, a certain product or service offered or a certain target location. The more trusted you are, the more likely you are to appear. This happens by building backlinks on reputable websites that increase your domain authority.

Keywords

There are certain keywords that have a search density that will make ranking very difficult. These are usually broad terms, like if a fishing enthusiast is searching for “boat motors,” where you can easily get lost in the shuffle among other companies that are targeting the same keywords. But if you choose a keyword like “fishing boat motors for sale,” you make your keyword more specific and are targeting a phrase with a lower search volume. This gives you a better chance of moving to the top and being one of the first results on the first page of search engine result pages.

Choosing keywords comes down to accurate and detailed research. You want to research certain keywords where the search density provides the opportunity to rank higher on results pages. It also helps you to choose keywords based on what potential customers are using to find businesses like yours.

Metadata

Links and keywords are the basic part of SEO. They are regularly seen and things you expect search engines to read when creating rankings. But there is also an element of behind-the-scenes SEO that also helps in ranking.

Search engines like Google don’t just crawl links and read all of the text on your website. They are also reading photo and image captions, tags, file names and a lot more that goes into the coding of your website. This is known as metadata, which includes elements like page titles, descriptions, tags and more. Having this space occupied by target keywords is just as important as having quality links and placing your keywords naturally in the content of your website.

Working with metadata can be tricky at times since it is part of the HTML and behind-the-scenes operation of the website. You can work on building out content and backlinks by writing guest posts on other websites or create your own content that targets keywords, but messing with the coding or metadata can get confusing quickly and lead to bigger mistakes, which is why you should leave that to a digital marketing team that can make the proper updates to help all of the major elements of your SEO go to work for you.

With Genius eCommerce, we provide regular tips, tricks, and updates on staying up to date on SEO practices and learning the fundamentals of SEO and why it is so important. Keep reading our blog for more tips from the world of eCommerce SEO.

July 10, 2019

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The Google Site Diversity Update and Your SEO Campaign

Google’s latest update aims to change how their algorithm arranges its search engine results. When people search Google for a term like “women’s shirts,” you would naturally expect them to be met with a slew of results from eCommerce giants like Amazon and Walmart. With the expansive scope of products that these companies offer, it comes as no surprise that users will be directed to at least a few pages from each of these major brands.

This is because Google’s algorithm deals with structured data. Their algorithm is incredibly skilled when it comes to finding the best results for search queries based on the data it has gleaned. Despite this, the algorithm does not always consider the idea of user experience.

When users turn to a search engine to find a product, they aren’t looking for the major brands they already know. Users want variety, and Google has listened. To increase the number of options presented to its users, Google has updated its algorithm to increase diversity in its results.

The biggest impact this update will have is that now, unless they are extremely relevant to the particular search, Google will limit websites to only having two links in their top results. This means that now there is going to be more real estate available on Google’s coveted first page for smaller businesses.

This update is still new and will require further refinement. You may still see the same website occupying multiple positions and Google is working hard to determine when this is appropriate. For example, Amazon deserves more than two links on the first page if the user is searching for information about the company itself, but will only be given two links in relation to a query about a general product.

So how will this affect your business?

More room on the board means it will be easier for smaller brands to achieve these top result rankings. This means that your SEO campaign just became that much more valuable. In light of this news, it’s time to revisit your SEO strategy to make sure your site is a strong contender for these new openings.

This update could also mean that your business will start appearing on the front page, especially if you have been climbing the rankings recently. The vacuum this update has produced means that competing companies will be gunning for these spots as well, so be sure to continue building links and focusing on your keywords if you want to keep your new rankings and the resulting increase in traffic to your website.

Though Google has yet to announce exactly what criteria can result in a business being featured more than twice in the top results, more information on this point might affect future SEO strategies.

At Genius eCommerce, our experts are here to keep your business informed. For the latest in eCommerce and SEO news, subscribe to our newsletter and never miss a post that could help your business succeed.

June 10, 2019

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Digital Marketing, Ecommerce, eCommerce SEO, eCommerce University, Latest eCommerce

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Link Building Explained: Why It’s Important to SEO

If you have ever ventured into search engine optimization (SEO) or briefly looked up the best methods for an SEO plan, you have certainly seen that on-page content matters a great deal to your success. You have probably translated this to making new blog posts and adding better product descriptions. However, there is another part of SEO that matters a lot that doesn’t get its time in the spotlight and is just as important to your SEO success as content: Link Building.

Link building is the process of gaining hyperlinks from other websites back to yours. Search engines use these links to crawl the internet and that includes pages that are between the individual pages of the website.

Link building can be one of the challenges of SEO and that’s why Genius eCommerce is here to help. This is who we are and what we do. We stay up to date on eCommerce SEO news and trends and provide insights on how you can achieve better SEO results.

Search engines use links for two reasons: to discover new pages, and to determine the ranking within results. Search engines crawl web pages and then extract the content and index it so it holds a place within search results. Google then decides how the quality of the page stacks up with relevant keywords, but also with how many links are pointing to the page from external websites and the quality of those websites. If you have a high-quality website and are receiving links from other high-quality websites, then you are more likely to appear higher in search engine result pages.

It may seem like a lot of work for an uncertain return. How can you be sure that you are building links with quality websites that will help to improve your chances of ranking higher? Link building offers more opportunity than just improving rankings. You can build relationships with relevant websites and blogs that are part of your industry and have the ranking power that you desire. The stronger you make that relationship, the more you will be shared with their audience. Quality backlinking can lead to traffic increases and ultimately more sales.

A good link building strategy can also help build your brand more which establishes a greater authority in your industry. If you post an article that showcases your expertise in the industry and promote it so it gets picked up by other websites, you are not only getting the added exposure but are also showing that you are an expert in your field and spreading the word that you are a source for information and education in your industry.

Ultimately the number of backlinks you have and the quality of those backlinks are what will determine your credibility. A person conducting a search will always pick the website that has 300 backlinks over the one with just three. The more you are linked, the more authority you have and the more traffic you can bring to your website because of the added reach.

You can also manage your backlinks and make sure that you are being linked by quality websites that help your reputation. You don’t want to have any broken links or websites that are low in quality and questionable in reputation. Backlinks are only beneficial when you are linked to trusted, authority websites.

With the right backlinks, which will come much more naturally with quality content that offers something to the reader, you can build a reputation for being an expert and become a trusted source in the industry.

At Genius eCommerce, we want to be your trusted source for everything in eCommerce SEO. It’s who we are and what we do. Continue reading our blog for updates, news, trends and more in the eCommerce SEO space.

May 22, 2019

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Tips for Effective Link Building for Small Businesses

If you have done any search on link building in the past, you likely saw the same message throughout. Link building isn’t easy.

That’s certainly true and it doesn’t matter if you are a large corporation or a small business. Of course, small businesses are going to have even more difficulty establishing a great SEO plan and online presence.

You may not have the staff size to produce the amount of content it takes to start effective link building. You may not have a staffer who handles SEO and you may just think it is impossible for you to draw much attention as a small business to be linked by a well-known brand.

At Genius eCommerce, we have some tips on how you can get your link building game off the ground. With tips on all things eCommerce and in website design and development, this is who we are and what we do!

So, how can you improve your link building and make it effective as a small business? The first thing you will need is fairly obvious but important to remember nonetheless. It takes time, effort and patience to be effective with link building.

But, in addition to putting time and effort into your link building, there are a few things you can do to try to boost the effectiveness of your link building.

Support Your Community – With your target audience in mind, support a local charity or non-profit that your customers will care about. Sponsor a fundraiser. If you sponsor something that your customers can relate to and care about, you can increase traffic. This is something that will cost money, but it can also be a faster track than other link building efforts.

Connect with Local Bloggers – One of the best ways to build a brand or audience and aid your link building efforts is to work directly with some people who can assist. Connecting with local bloggers or bloggers who share the interest or niche are likely to share your website and blog posts, helping to create links and a natural relationship with more mentions coming over time. Be active in their own content, as well. At the beginning of the relationship, read their posts and see where you fit or if there are any ideas you can come up with where you can add value to their posts.

Write Guest Posts – Writing posts for other websites certainly takes more time and effort than others, but it can be worth the time. A guest post is essentially a way to directly get in front of your target audience, especially if the blog or website you are writing for has a strong following. You get qualified traffic out of it and actually being the name behind the post gives you more credibility and more of a voice for your brand.

Offer Case Studies and Testimonials – This can be one of the easiest ways to build links. If you use a product or service and are happy with the results, write a testimonial. Good publicity for a business is something they want to promote, so you are more likely to get acknowledgment from a testimonial or a share to build your following.

Promotion, Promotion, Promotion – You are probably already writing blog posts or sharing posts for your small business. However, go beyond the simple share on social media. There are online blogs that allow for syndication like Medium or LinkedIn and help rank target keywords for you. In addition to sharing on social media, use online message boards to get your links out there.

Were these tips on link building helpful to you? Stay tuned for even more from the Genius eCommerce blog! We stay informed and provide tips to you so you can feel like an eCommerce expert. This is who we are and what we do!

November 09, 2018

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