Following SEO best practices will enhance your website’s rankings and generate more valuable leads. Whether you are new to SEO or looking to enhance existing knowledge, you will find valuable insights on conducting an effective SEO audit. Let’s dive in!

Key SEO Concepts

To grasp the concept of SEO fully, let’s first explore some key terms and their significance:

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

This simply means optimizing your site’s structure, content, and overall performance to rank higher in search. Aligning your website with search engine algorithms increases your chance of potential customers finding and connecting with you.

SEM (Search Engine Marketing)

SEM is a broader term encompassing SEO and other paid marketing strategies, including search engine advertising (Pay Per Click, or “PPC”). While SEO focuses on organic traffic, SEM includes organic and paid strategies for driving targeted traffic to your website.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and engage your target audience. Content marketing is crucial in SEO by providing search engines with relevant content to index and rank. It also helps establish your brand as an industry authority.

Keywords

Users enter words or phrases into search engines when looking for information. Optimizing your content with relevant keywords helps search engines understand your website’s relevance to specific queries. Conducting thorough keyword research enables you to target the right keywords and thus reach your desired audience more effectively.

On-Page Optimization

This term refers to optimizing various on-page elements — meta tags, headings, URLs, and content — to improve your site’s visibility and user experience (UX). When your on-page elements are well-optimized, you enhance your website’s chances of ranking higher in search results.

Off-Page Optimization

Activities performed outside your site to improve its online reputation and authority. This includes link building, social media promotion, and online brand mentions. Off-page optimization signals to search engines that your site is relevant and audiences trust your information, which impacts your rankings.

Conducting the SEO Audit, Step by Step

Now that you understand the critical SEO concepts, let’s dive into the step-by-step process of conducting an SEO audit for your website. Follow these instructions to assess your website’s current performance, identify areas for improvement, and develop an effective optimization strategy:

Step 1: Website Analysis

Start by assessing the overall health of your website. Pay attention to the following factors:

Site Structure

Make sure your website has a logical, user-friendly structure. Organize your content into categories and use descriptive URLs.

Page Load Speed

Optimize for speed — compress images, leverage browser caching, and minimize code.

Mobile-Friendliness

With mobile users continually rising, a responsive design must provide a seamless user experience across many devices. In fact, best practices now encourage a mobile-first approach.

User Experience

Evaluate your site’s ease of navigation, readability of content, and overall UX, making improvements where necessary.

Step 2: Keyword Research

Identify relevant keywords and phrases that align with your target audience’s search intent. Use keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs to find the right keywords for your website. 

Consider search volume, competition level for the term, and its relevance to your business. For example, say you run a pet grooming business in Dallas. Relevant keywords might include “Dallas pet grooming,” “dog grooming services in Dallas,” or “cat grooming near me.”

Step 3: On-Page Optimization

Optimize your on-page elements to improve engagement and keyword relevance. Focus on:

Meta Tags

Craft unique and compelling meta titles and descriptions for each page. Include relevant keywords while ensuring they accurately describe the page content.

Headings

Structure your content using heading tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.). Incorporate relevant keywords in your headings to signal the page’s main topics.

URLs

Create clean and descriptive URLs that include relevant keywords. Avoid long, confusing URLs.

Content

Create high-quality, valuable, original content that satisfies your target’s search intent. Incorporate target keywords naturally within the content, avoiding keyword stuffing.

Step 4: Technical SEO

Address any technical issues that may be affecting your visibility or performance. A technical SEO audit  exposes glaring issues and helps your site in the following ways:

Crawl Errors

Use tools like Google Search Console to identify and fix crawl errors, such as broken links or missing pages.

Website Indexing

Ensure search engines can crawl and index your website properly. Check for any potential on-page barriers to bots accessing and understanding your content.

Step 5: Off-Page Analysis

Evaluate the off-page factors that contribute to your site’s online reputation and authority:

Backlink Profile

Analyze the quality and quantity of backlinks pointing to your website. Focus on acquiring high-quality backlinks from authoritative and relevant sources.

Social Media Presence

Assess your social media strategy and presence. Engage with your audience, share valuable content, and build your brand’s social signals.

Online Brand Mentions

Monitor online brand mentions and reviews. Respond to feedback, address negative comments, and maintain a positive online reputation.

Step 6: Content Evaluation

Analyze the quality, relevance, and engagement level of your content:

Relevance

Ensure your content aligns with your target audience’s interests and search intent. Update outdated content, remove irrelevant or duplicate content, and always consider search intent.

User Engagement

Evaluate user metrics such as time spent on the page, bounce rate, and social shares. Engaging content means users stay longer on your website and continue to interact with your brand.

Step 7: Tracking and Analytics

Tracking tools like Google Analytics help you monitor traffic, user behavior, and conversions. This helps measure the effectiveness of your SEO and identify areas for further improvement.

Let Dallas SEO Dogs Show You How

Following these steps, you can conduct a thorough SEO audit for your site. Remember: SEO is an ongoing process, and regular audits are essential to keep your website optimized and competitive in search engine rankings.

Ready to take your website’s SEO to the next level? Contact Dallas SEO Dogs, the leading SEO agency in Dallas, for expert guidance and tailored solutions. Boost your website’s visibility and drive more targeted traffic now!

Schedule your free consultation today!

The post SEO Audits: A Beginner’s Guide appeared first on Dallas SEO Dogs.

SOS is the convention where search-focused minds meet, share exceptional ideas, and spread the latest best practices of our industry beyond the convention’s halls and into websites across the globe.

This year welcomed back the in-person event, and all in attendance can agree that the information we got was well worth the wait.

From keynote speakers focused on the value of live streaming to making the most out of a small-scale PPC budget, it is clear that this year’s conference truly steered us in the direction of the future of SEO.

Dallas SEO Dogs was lucky enough to be present amongst the SEO greats and came away with some key ideas we’d like to share!

Stay tuned and get ready to peek behind the curtain at what the future holds for search!

Start Focusing on Live Streaming

Fanny Dunagan of PathLynks, LLC, kicked off our 2022 SOS with a presentation that focused on the importance of live streaming in modern marketing practices.

According to Dunagan, by 2023, over 163.4 million live viewers will eagerly gain information about their favorite products and services through live streaming on social media.

During the presentation, Dunagan emphasized the following points to those wary of entering the live stream space:

• Live videos experience 27% more watch time per viewing than the average on-demand video
• 80% of customers now say they prefer a brand’s live video over a blog. It just screams authenticity and personalization.
• Live streaming helps you build authority and relationships with your audience, eventually leading to greater conversions and sales.
• As you live stream, your network continues to grow. In the end, more and more people care about what you have to say and will happily spread the word about your brand.

As anyone in the SEO game will tell you, ranking well on search engines is essential to driving traffic to your website. And one of the newest SEO practices that can help boost your rank is live streaming. 

Live streaming is a great way to produce fresh content that will keep people coming back to your site. So if you’re looking for a way to improve your SEO, live streaming is worth considering. It might be the boost your website needs.

Speaking of Visuals…

While discussing how viewership can impact your search rank, we’d be remiss if we didn’t include Jeremy Vest’s presentation about creating clickable, likable, and watchable video content.

A crucial part of SEO is audience engagement, which refers to the ability to attract and retain users on a site. One way to increase audience engagement is through the use of video content. Videos are highly engaging and can help keep users on a site for extended periods. 

Vest’s presentation emphasized the importance of videos in SEO and gave attendees several tips on creating quality video content that breaks ranking goals without breaking your budget.

Vest said that as long as you have good audio and lighting, people are more likely to enjoy your videos. He emphasized that people think “good” means expensive equipment. The reality is that quality video can come from something as accessible as your smartphone camera.

According to Vest, when creating captivating videos, make something entertaining, educating and give people accurate advice, just like a blog post or anything else in SEO.

Always put the consumer first because if you aren’t making content, they are asking to see, you’re wasting your and your viewer’s time.

The Importance of Avoiding Unsubscribes and Site Bounces

Hank Hoffmeier, Manager of Client Solutions at iContact, discussed how users could improve email marketing through analytics, gamification, and evolution.

Hoffmeier emphasized how important it is for email marketing to retain subscribers and avoid site bounces.

Unsubscribes, increased bounce rates, and spam complaints can lower your email marketing’s deliverability and hurt your IP and domain’s reputation.

Hoffmeier said the overall goal for email marketing to avoid these issues is to create marketing strategies that increase engagement, award audiences for engaging, and in the end, increase your competitive advantage in your market.

Google Analytics 4 – How Does it Deliver Insights?

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the latest version of Google Analytics, a free and web-based analytics service offered by Google. 

It provides insights about website traffic, marketing campaigns, and conversion tracking. GA4 allows businesses to track SEO progress and understand how their website performs in search engine results pages. 

By understanding SEO data, businesses can make informed decisions about improving their website ranking and visibility. Thanks to GA4, companies can now better experience their SEO progress and how it affects their overall website performance.

Julie Jones, Product Manager for Baylor Scott & White Health, presented how GA4 delivers new brand insights.

One example of GA4 improvements over GA3 that she mentioned is how GA4 measures event hits across sites.

Where GA3 automatically collected information about pageviews and site searches, GA4 now provides insight regarding:

• Pageviews
• Site Search 
• Outbound Links
• Video Engagement
• File Downloads
• Scroll Tracking

As a result, businesses can make more informed decisions about their SEO strategy and how to improve their website ranking. 

Our industry is still learning about GA4 and how it can further benefit the brands that use it. We’ll keep you updated on further developments.

Working with a Now, Forward Approach

One of the most important ways a brand can apply an SEO strategy is through the now, forward approach that Ryan Jones discussed in his presentation about optimizing sites to work with the latest search approach from audiences.

The way people search has changed from “I’m looking for a website to I need an answer right now.” According to Jones, the now, forward approach focuses on pull marketing based on content creation centered around people telling creators what they want.

As long as a brand sufficiently answers questions with relevant information in its content, domain authority doesn’t matter in the long term; experience does.

The now, forward approach means that your brand lives in the now and provides value through its content based on its current services and successes. Jones said that nobody knows the facts about your product better than you when it comes to your brand. This makes your content relevant, objective, and above all, helpful.

Ready for the Future of SEO? Dallas SEO Dogs is Here to Be Your Guide!

If the future of SEO sounds exciting and a bit overwhelming to you as a business owner, we understand! You have daily responsibilities, and worrying about how to get your site ranking on search shouldn’t take up most of your time.

Dallas SEO Dogs has helped clients from all industries reach the top of search engine results pages (SERPs). Let us use our content marketing, back-end expertise, and diligence in analytics to help your site be the go-to page in your industry.

Our first consultation is always free. Contact us today to talk to us about your brand goals!

The post State of Search 2022: The Future of SEO is Here appeared first on Dallas SEO Dogs.

Many sites will soon find that their current content strategy doesn’t cut the mustard and will have to change to survive.

If you discover that your site has dramatically dropped in rankings seemingly overnight, don’t despair; simply dust off the damage and pivot your strategy with our helpful tips.

Why Should You Adjust Your Content Strategy?

Once you notice something wrong with your rankings, it’s time to make quick moves for improvement. The sooner, the better because your rankings are only down and out for a few months in the least harmful scenario.

However, letting this problem fester can quickly lead the competition permanently outranking your site, ultimately damaging your reputation and bottom line.

Top Quick Way to Refine Your Content Approach

Getting your rankings for specific keywords back where you want them may take some time. Yet, practicing these tips the moment you know something has gone awry with your strategy improves your odds of being back on page one for relevant searches faster.

Review Your Analytics

Don’t jump straight into optimizing pages you think are the problem. The first step toward recovery is understanding which pages on your site are holding it back. Reviewing your site’s analytics on Google Analytics or through an SEO program like SEMRush can uncover:

• Which pages perform well
• Which pages are no longer successful
• Which keywords you no longer rank for 
• Any technical SEO issues like page speed or messy URLs that no longer rank after an update

Once you understand where you need to improve your site, you can start optimizing with a plan and resolve the SEO issues on your site.

Search the Keywords You Want to Rank For

Once you’ve built up a list of keywords you need to improve in rank, it’s time to find out who’s dethroned you from your top spots. 

The first steps of this research process are easy. Go to Google, type in the targeted search terms, and review who dominates the first page of the search.

From there, visit the websites, and find out the type of content they are writing, the formatting of their service pages, and what they offer your target audience.

These pages are your key competitors for coveted keywords. While directly copying their work is a black hat practice that will worsen your situation, finding your unique twist on their strategy could be what starts digging you out of an update ditch.

Update or Delete Underperforming Content

You’ve uncovered your underperforming content. Now what? 

You have the choice to either optimize it to meet current standards or let it go.

If your content answers a relevant question, can hold up over time with minor tweaks, and can naturally use the keywords you target, keep it and improve it through:

• Expanding your ideas on the subject
• Adding relevant links to the content
• Improving its conversational flow
• Adding a new spin on a topic that stands out from the competition

However, if the content doesn’t read well, contains keyword stuffing, has lousy backlinks, and hasn’t gotten much traction since published, it’s time to make way for new, curated content that ranks.

Create New Content

Aside from updating old content, keep your goals in mind when creating new content. Keeping your site’s content consistently updated with relevant material that helps readers will eventually help build back your site’s good standing on search engines.

Some content creation tips that can help your site’s rankings are:

• Writing content for the human audience, not a search engine.
• Create expansive content that answers as many questions as possible about a topic. This lets users make your site the last stop on their search for answers and increases your authority.
• Using localized keywords within your content. This garners local recognition in search, increases organic views, and can increase your rankings and industry authority.
• Optimize your images for SEO. Remember, keyword use in descriptions and alt text count!

Need a Strategic Facelift? Dallas SEO Dogs Can Help!

If you’re ready to change your SEO strategy but don’t have the experience or time to dig through analytics and perform technical and on-site optimization, Dallas SEO Dogs can help!

Our team has the experience to inject new life into your strategy. From unique content to complete professional oversight of your site’s strategy, our team can help you get back to the top of search engine results pages.

Contact us today to schedule your free consultation with a team member.

The post How to Pivot Your Content Strategy Like a Pro appeared first on Dallas SEO Dogs.

As a content creator, you never want your content to be “all filler, no fulfillment”. That’s why we harp on quality content⁠. It keeps visitors happy, creates conversions, and can increase your search engine rankings.

Recently, Google announced the Helpful Content Update, a new update that began to rollout on August 25th and will take roughly two weeks to completely roll out. If your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy relies on successful content (as it should), this update will affect you.

Let’s take a look at the most essential content update in a decade, how you can improve your content, and your odds of ranking success in the coming months.

What Is the Helpful Content Update?

Google’s Helpful Content Update is here to humanize how audiences receive content. Gone are the days when sites could succeed at SEO by generating content geared solely towards search engines and ranking.

This latest update proves that quality, not content, is king for Google.

The Helpful Content Update will downgrade “search engine content” and lift quality content that is useful for audiences and answers their questions. This is massive for users and content creators alike and could shape how writers present their content in the long term.

No one should click on a baity link that disappoints and wastes time. Dallas SEO Dogs tries to create useful blog content that reaches and engages our target audience. Other brands do, too, so we track where we’re succeeding, where we can improve, and what this update means for the future of our industry.

Let’s get into the details.

What Constitutes Helpful Content?

As we wait for this content update to roll out over a span of weeks, let’s look at what Google means by “helpful content.” One of the most significant factors of helpful content is going into detail on your blog post beyond the standard summary. Google is now looking for content that:

• Isn’t written to jump on the bandwagon

• Adds value to the already available content online

• It leaves audiences satisfied with their queries and doesn’t require them to research further

• Writes for valuable information and not with a specific word count in mind
• Doesn’t tease the answer to questions without payoff.

If these new factors of helpful content sound complicated, we believe that taking some extra time to achieve these goals can pay off in the long run.

How Much Can Poor Quality Content Hurt Your Rankings?

When Dallas SEO Dogs accepts a new client, one of the first things we do is conduct an SEO and content audit. In most cases, poor rankings stem from low-quality content; that was before this update!

We’ve always written content aimed at the human audience because we know that’s the content that connects and leads to audience engagement and sales. SEO content can help rankings but rarely connects with the readers that land on it.

If your site focuses on crafting SEO content, it may rank well now, and that’s great! But once this update finalizes, its low-quality content could impact your rankings for months. 

This update doesn’t just downgrade pages with poor-quality content. It will demote entire sites with enough content deemed unhelpful (service pages, homepages, blogs…all of it!).

Will the Update Impact You?

If you’re worried about how this update could impact your rankings, Google provided a list of content pieces that may get hit the hardest during the rollout.

Content that often contains unhelpful or misleading information includes the following;

• Tech-related pieces

• Arts pieces

• Entertainment content

• Educational materials
• Shopping

In most cases, for these types of content pieces, the writers merely collected content from other sources, aggregated it, and didn’t add any additional information while posting it to a site. This means the content holds little value to a curious reader and is only there to appease search engines.

The bottom line: Without an original spin that makes your content new and valuable to readers, your piece runs the risk of losing ranking in the search engines.

What Steps Should You Take Now?

We’ve yet to see the impact of the Useful Content Update on sites across the United States. So, our biggest advice for steps to take now is to consider the content you’re currently creating:

• How can you add to the information already available?
• Do you have any personal experience with the subject you can add to the piece?
• What questions are audiences asking, and how can you answer them directly?

Taking this route should help you stay in the clear as far as future content goes.

However, if the update hits your site, while the recovery will be lengthy, consider this timeframe an opportunity:

• Delete unhelpful content

• Update current articles and pages to be more helpful and timely
• Expand information to provide more value to the reader

Analyze the site’s content and take a deeper dive into what audiences look for and how content can give them answers that answer questions and leave them satisfied.

Change in SEO can be a tough road, but every site has to walk it. In the end, remember that the Helpful Content Update is here to stay to help improve the search experience and to build more significant connections with our audiences.

Keep Your Content Useful With Dallas SEO Dogs

If you’re concerned about your content not meeting the quality standards Google has in play, reaching out to professionals is your best chance of maintaining your rankings.

At Dallas SEO Dogs, we specialize in original, quality content creation that appeases Google and speaks to the human audience. Don’t let poor-quality and copied content hold your rankings down. 

Contact us today to learn more about our content management and schedule your free consultation with our SEO team.

The post Can Your Rankings Survive Google’s Helpful Content Update appeared first on Dallas SEO Dogs.

Site taxonomy improves page navigation and content accessibility and brings readers engaging content.

What is Site Taxonomy?

A taxonomy helps classify content by descriptive terms, categories, labels, and tags. A taxonomy resembles a site map at a glance. Yet, taxonomies focus on making topics easy to find over site structure. 

They categorize content, organize site navigation, and improve the user experience. As a taxonomy improves the quality of your site, bounce rates could decrease and audience engagement could increase.

What Are the Benefits of a Great Taxonomy?

There are several reasons to focus on your site’s taxonomy. Here are the biggest ones that lead to conversions, sales, and service appointments. 

Taxonomies Improve the Search Experience

Linking content in a taxonomy retains a page’s authority in your site’s hierarchy.

Taxonomy lets your pages appear in relevant search results. This lets audiences find useful content faster,

Your Audience Engages With Your Content

When your website has an organized taxonomy, it offers a smooth user experience. A great taxonomy drives intuitive navigation and leads visitors to relevant content. Once visitors access helpful content, the likelihood of engagement increases.

Taxonomy Connects Readers to Related Content

You know how websites “know” what you’d like to read next when you’re wrapping up an article? 

That’s taxonomy at work! Categories and tags ensure readers can easily find related content directly after reading something that interests them.

How Can You Achieve an Effective Taxonomy?

Optimizing your site’s taxonomy requires patience and dedication. Yet, with our quick tips, your team can start on the right track to creating an easily navigated site.

Gather a Team

Creating a taxonomy takes time and requires a team effort for success. You need a team that understands your content, your audience, and what’s relevant. 

Aside from content specialists, it’s helpful to have people on board with taxonomy experience. Whether they’ve built a taxonomy from scratch or know a great program that can automate the process, experience equals success.

Other essential members of your taxonomy team should include are:

• SEO specialists
• Project managers
• Technical SEO specialists 

Remember, It’s Not a One-Time Goal

Any aspect of your SEO strategy is something that is constantly evolving. Your site’s taxonomy is no different.

Creating an excellent site taxonomy and maintaining it is something you and your team will have to plan out in advance. Work with your team to create a taxonomy strategy that lets you quickly add new content and keep your taxonomy up-to-date.

Also, you must keep tabs on what’s going on in your business and industry:

• New products and services added to your brand
• Shifts in leadership
• Obsolete categories
• Shifts in market conditions

When these situations arise, it’s time to review taxonomy goals. Whether through quarterly or monthly reviews, taxonomy governance keeps your site relevant.

Optimize All Site Content

Optimizing only some pages for taxonomy won’t yield an excellent user experience. Underoptimizing content can leave tagged pages fighting for the same keywords.

This creates index bloat during crawls that puts all pages (even irrelevant ones) at the forefront of search results and tanks your authority.

Optimizing your content defines essential pages for crawlers. Optimization also reveals which pages crawlers don’t have to index for search results.

You may think you have excellent taxonomy when you categorize and tag cherry-picked content for your category tree. 

Partial optimization ruins taxonomy and makes it difficult for visitors to quickly find relevant content that leads to valuable engagement.

Prioritize Your Customer’s Needs

Customer satisfaction should always be the end goal of any site optimization. Before making any taxonomy efforts ensure that you know who your audience is and how your taxonomy can quickly lead them to the answers they need.

Some things to consider when profiling your audience for site taxonomy are:

• Location – Localizing your content to your audience’s area will make your taxonomy relevant to readers that are likely to engage with your site
• Bounce Rate – If you find audiences leaving your site quickly or staying longer, this data can determine your taxonomy’s depth. Quick visits could benefit from a shallow taxonomy with limited categories,, and longer visits open the door to a vast taxonomy that lets readers easily explore your site.
• Audience Interest – Determines the key categories in your taxonomy to focus on

Perform a Content Audit

Before you start to build up your taxonomy strategy, perform a content audit. A thorough audit identifies what content to categorize for your taxonomy. Audits also provide insight into how you can optimize other pieces of content to fall under target categories.

Your brand should already perform regular content audits to review content’s success. Putting additional thought into taxonomy during an audit review only adds value to your site.

Organize Your Site’s Content Today, With Dallas SEO Dogs

If you’re ready to implement taxonomy into your website, the team at Dallas SEO Dogs has the experience you need to create a user-friendly experience.

Our content team can optimize, categorize, and create content that leads site visitors towards the ultimate engagement, a conversion.

Schedule your free consultation with a member of our team today.

The post Exploring Your Site’s Taxonomy appeared first on Dallas SEO Dogs.

We completely understand how daunting content creation can be at Dallas SEO Dogs. 

Suppose you’re a business owner on the fence about putting effort behind content marketing for your brand. In that case, we’re here to show which industry content is essential and how content brings websites to the top of relevant search results.

Why is Content Important for SEO?

Let’s start with the basics. Why does content matter? After all, most people only scan through a page until they find the answers they’re looking for.

Well, we just answered our question in a roundabout way! Great content will have scannable formatting and enough information to ensure someone finds the answer they need about a topic.

When people find the answers they’re looking for, they become customers and help to spread the word about your company. This, in turn, helps to increase your authority with Google and other search engines.

Google also values relevant and informative content. When bots crawl through a site, they don’t miss a word. With the proper optimization, they’ll catch the effort behind content and rank your site well amongst relevant search results.

What Industries Must Prioritize Content Creation?

If your business lies in any of the following industries, 2022 is the year for content development. Let’s review the four biggest industries where content succeeds and the steps to make content a valuable effort.

Real Estate

Real estate agencies and organizations like HOA management are part of an industry that relies on a steady stream of content. The last few years have changed the real estate and management landscape. 

Thus, it’s critical for organizations within the industry to keep up with changes, educate their audience, and make their sites a reliable source for search results. From updating service pages to creating timely blogs every month, putting time into real estate content will help make your business a reliable source of information for property owners and potential homeowners. 

Cybersecurity

Remote work has become the new normal. Cybersecurity has always been critical, but it’s now taken the spotlight with significant changes in workforce practices.

For the time being, cybersecurity businesses could benefit from taking advantage of promoting their unique qualities through content.

People want to make the best investment in a product. While businesses focus on improving cybersecurity for their employees, a content-driven cybersecurity company could easily take over top-tier search results.

Manufacturing

Businesses around the nation are feeling the financial crunch surrounding the costs of keeping up with supply chains at current demand levels. During these times, any money-saving advice is welcome.

Manufacturing and logistics companies on the front line of the supply chain process can serve as influencers that help steer brands towards more financially viable practices. 

Through consistent content, manufacturers cannot only poise themselves in positions of prominence with search engines but also increase audience engagement and improve their customer base.

All Professional Services

You need great content to stand out on search engines if you provide an essential service. From plumbing to divorce and personal injury lawyers, local competition is steep for those in service industries. 

Content that answers essential audience questions helps professional service providers remain relevant and authoritative across search results.

How Can Digital Marketing Services Help?

We’ve laid out the truth; content is essential for most industries. So, if you haven’t had the time to start creating great content, don’t panic. 

Digital marketing services from a team like Dallas SEO Dogs can help make content needs and digital marketing goals attainable. 

We Know What’s Trending

Digital marketing experts spend a chunk of their time analyzing which keywords are trending for their clients. 

Keyword trends can change monthly, and knowing the right keywords for relevant content will help target audiences build trust with your brand.

Content is Our Full-Time Job

Content isn’t just writing words in a doc and uploading it to the internet. There is a world of planning, keyword research, writing, editing, revisions, and detailed publication.

One piece of content can take a few hours between planning and getting it up on a site, and that’s with years of experience.

It makes sense when business owners don’t love the idea of spending hours crafting content they don’t know will rank. 

At Dallas SEO Dogs, we let you focus on daily operations while we give content the full-time treatment it deserves. 

We Track What’s Successful

A great content piece will usually not be at the top of search results forever. On the other hand, some pieces remain evergreen and could be back in the limelight with a few updates.

SEO experts analyze monthly analytics and review which pages were successful one month, which pages have consistently been winners, and which pages haven’t performed well.

This information helps us map out future content and format it to mirror past successes and have a better chance of attracting an audience.

Create Content Easier With Dallas SEO Dogs

If you are ready to make content a standard for your website, Dallas SEO Dogs can help. We have a content management team experienced within all industries. We create relevant, engaging content your audience craves!

Whether you need a few blogs a month or an entire website content update, our team has you covered. 

Schedule a free consultation today to learn more about our content creation and other SEO services we offer.

The post Should Your Industry Prioritize Content? appeared first on Dallas SEO Dogs.

July’s SEO roundup includes some Google and social media changes that could improve engagement and benefit your bottom line.

Let’s look closely at the top SEO updates we’ve uncovered in the last month.

Automated Messaging Could Improve Your Local Authority

Every business online would love to have the time to answer every question online users have. Unfortunately, most don’t. This leaves many basic questions unanswered, audiences feeling ignored, and potential business lost.

Google Business Profile recently added a new feature to its toolbox that lets businesses answer more questions with fewer resources.

Most audiences ask businesses questions on Google Search and Google Maps. Google knows this and wants to help businesses answer questions easier. 

Now, under GBP’s FAQ section of messaging, business owners can suggest what questions customers can ask when they initiate a chat. 

Some of the most common questions this feature can help answer are:

• Company hours
• Business location
• The history of the business, etc.

Business owners can create up to 10 questions, each with a 40-character limit. The answers in the FAQ have a 500-character limit.

Why Should You Care?

Customers want answers to their questions as fast as possible. If your business takes days to answer the basic questions, you’ll lose audience interest quickly.

If you rely on automated FAQ messaging and answer the questions customers love to ask, you could provide instant gratification, build confidence in your brand, and over time, increase your online authority.

Google Ads 3 New Tools, Simplifying Ad Creation

Ad creation is something that all businesses can benefit from. Recently, Google launched three new ad creation tools to make ad creation and business collaboration easier.

Asset Storage and Organization

Google’s Asset Library simplifies how a team shares images and videos for multiple ad campaigns. With the Asset Library, all images and media are in one place where colleagues can easily drag and drop them into any ad content they create.

Currently, the Asset Library is available for:

• Discovery
• App
• Performance Max
• Local Campaigns
• Display Campaigns

Ads Creative Studio for YouTube

Google Ads Creative Studio lets advertisers create several display or video ad versions for the ultimate audience customization experience.

Ads Creative Studio’s latest feature lets advertisers use their simple process to create videos for YouTube. Through this latest feature, creators can produce quality video ads within minutes. 

Like the templates on standard Ads Creative Studio, the YouTube feature’s templates aim for results-driven success on the platform.

According to the official announcement from Google, advertisers can use their YouTube ads within any campaign that includes video.

Voice-Over Ads

According to Google, videos with voiceover often drive better performance. So, Google launched an easier way to create voice-overs for YouTube videos.

All users have to do is access the feature in the Asset Library, type their script, and select one of seven voices to use for their voice-over ad.

Currently, the feature works in the following languages:

• English
• Spanish 
• Filipino
• French
• Hindi
• Indonesian
• Korean 
• Malaysian
• Mandarin
• Swedish, with more options coming in the future.

Instagram Reels Updates Spark Further Creativity and Engagement

Instagram reels are an amazing feature that lets advertisers and users engage with the spectrum of the social media channel in quick 15-second bursts. Reels are a great way to grow your brand’s reach, and Instagram has added further updates to generate even more creativity.

Some of the latest reels updates the platform rolled out are:

• Enhanced remixes that let you react to other reels
• New templates that let you record reels simultaneously from your front and back phone cameras
• New templates with pre-recorded audio clips
• Automatic conversions of videos shorter than 15 minutes into reels

Rumored Fake Reviews Disrupting Local Service Ads

This story is developing, but we think it’s important to speak on. According to a Tweet from Len Raleigh, spam listings loaded with fake reviews have made their way into Google LSAs. Terms like “divorce attorney” display results that don’t seem genuine, which concerns many SEO experts.

The big problem with this is that Google claims to vet LSAs. However, if it turns out that there are, in fact, several LSAs with fake reviews making their way onto search results, we wonder if this issue could permanently damage the integrity of LSAs.

Stay Up to Date With the Latest SEO News With Dallas SEO Dogs

We say dive head-first with the best if these updates have encouraged you to take the plunge into digital marketing. At Dallas SEO Dogs, we are a team of SEO experts that stay up-to-date with the latest industry trends and help our clients successfully navigate SEO challenges.

We work with all industries and know we can help you meet your strategic needs. Contact us today to learn more about our services and schedule your free consultation with a member of our team.

The post July 2022 SEO Round-Up appeared first on Dallas SEO Dogs.

Algorithm shifts from Panda, Penguin, and other updates upheaved past practices. Now, quality over quantity is one of the biggest arguments surrounding success.

Quality versus quantity is an age-old SEO argument we’re putting to rest. Let’s dig into some differences between quality and quantity in SEO.

Arguing Quality or Quantity for Different SEO Essentials

Quality and quantity both matter in the spectrum of SEO. However, knowing when to seek one over the other is essential.

Here’s a closer look at quality vs. quantity in several SEO examples.

Content

High-quality, original content is one of your strategy’s most significant SEO essentials. While some may argue that short posts in rapid succession equal quantity-driven content that ranks, this isn’t always the case.

Whether you write 20 blog posts a month or 2, the quantity of your content means nothing if the quality Google expects is absent.

Current content standards require your pieces to answer relevant questions and be a fountain of knowledge on a particular topic. As long as your content meets these standards and proves itself pertinent to your audience, you have quality content that is:

• Engaging 
• Shared across social media platforms
• Ranked higher than lower-quality content

Our suggestions for any approach to content are:

• Do all necessary research on your subject
• Answer as many questions as possible real users have
• Display how your content solves a problem
• Give unique insight that lets your content stand out

Often, hitting these points results in a high-quality piece that can help your site rank well on search engines.

Keywords

Ranking for “all of the keywords” may seem like a great strategy but will backfire once you unknowingly start keyword stuffing throughout your content.

Trying to rank for too many keywords deems your content irrelevant. When matching it to a search, search engines will have difficulty finding the right spot on the search engine results page (SERP).

When it comes to keywords, quality outweighs quantity. Your goal should be to rank for long-tail keywords specific to your target audience. Yes, you may get fewer clicks in the long term, but the people who click on your links because of quality keywords are likely to engage and make a sale.

Backlinks

Much like with keywords, littering your content with low-quality backlinks is a black hat practice that Google frowns upon. However, it’s here where quality and quantity can co-exist.

Yes, you want to accept as many high-quality links as possible. Yet, we highly recommend that you vet them for toxic sources like link farms or sites that will negatively reflect on your brand.

The road can be difficult when trying to gain quality backlinks beyond directories and into .edu and .gov territory. However, it’s always best to continue producing valuable content, jump at guest blogging opportunities, and continue to network with the experts in your industry. 

Social Followers

Having a vast amount of social media followers is excellent for your SEO, right? Well, the truth is that follower numbers are just bragging rights. 

Buying new followers is a great way to start building the facade of a successful brand. Yet relying solely on these random numbers won’t help you in the SERPs.

For example, if you have thousands of followers, but only a handful of them engage with your content, you haven’t gained much towards your SEO.

Your goal should be creating social media content targeting a specific audience. Once your content reaches its desired viewers (and they find it useful), they will eventually spread the word and help you add more organic followers ready to engage with your brand.

Quality engagement leads to site clicks, sales, and long-term customer loyalty. Only then will your authority and search engine rank elevate.

Can You Succeed With Both?

Quality and quantity can go hand-in-hand but can be a tricky goal for a novice SEO. However, with the proper focus on your SEO strategy, it’s possible to create quality content and build up quality keywords in higher quantities that succeed.

Quality SEO alone requires a time commitment of between 3 and 10 hours a week. Combine those hours into a monthly dedication, and you could easily have a second full-time job.

It’s easy to see why sites in the past tried to eke out a quick win with a sole focus on quantity. Yet, with the spotlight now on the user experience, quality in search is king. Finding the right balance is the true testament to optimizing a winning website.

Focus on Quality SEO Efforts With Dallas SEO Dogs

If you’re ready to put quality behind your SEO efforts but don’t have the time to dedicate to quality optimization, it’s time to call in the experts. The digital marketing team at Dallas SEO Dogs has experience creating quality SEO strategies for businesses from all industries. 

Whether you need content that covers all search queries or need help cultivating quality backlinks, our team can help you meet your SEO goals.

Contact us today to schedule your free consultation with a member of our team.

The post Quality Or Quantity: Which is Better for SEO? appeared first on Dallas SEO Dogs.

There are different types of search intent and keywords. Thus, ranking for specific keyword types requires a strategic approach.

Keyword research is only part of the SEO puzzle. Let’s take a closer look at how you can differentiate types of keywords and how you should approach trying to rank for each one.

If you’re ready to make your keyword research count, follow these five ways to get on the path towards higher rankings and audience engagement.

1. Answer Questions From Informational Keywords

Informational searches involve keywords with high search volume and vague search intent. Informational keywords typically ask Google “what” something is and requires further research into a subject.

Informational keywords can be broad and difficult, but not impossible, to rank for.

Long-form, detailed, and relevant content about a single topic can help you rank greater difficulty informational keywords. As long as your content answers as many questions as possible and they are questions people are asking, your pieces will build authority.

As you continue content creation and become an industry authority, your site will begin to sprout up on informational searches that lead potential customers to your doorstep.

2. Create Specific Content For Commercial Keywords

Commercial keywords dig a little deeper into the marketing funnel than informational keywords. At this point of intent, users have an idea of what they’re shopping for but want to know more about a product or service.

Keywords that include comparative references, reviews, or explore offers and discounts are all commercial keywords you should tailor specific content towards.

Content with commercial keyword intent typically delves into how a product or service works, what problem it solves for customers, and what makes it different from related products in your industry.

Any content you create for commercial keywords should be long-form, detailed, and not afraid to give audiences a behind-the-scenes look at your product. An honest piece of commercial content builds trust between an audience and your brand and could help lead potential buyers down to the next level of the marketing funnel.

3. Take Advantage of  Short-Term Fresh Keywords

Your keyword research is bound to uncover results that are only trending for a limited time. Temporary industry trends include holiday sales, sporting events, and movie releases. 

Creating content for fresh keywords is like wielding a double-edged sword. The right content at the right time will attract new visitors to your site, increasing your long-term authority. Unfortunately, the trend will end, and the great rankings will taper off as new industry fresh terms arise.

One way to make this content count is to focus on secondary keywords that you know are evergreen or will last longer than a fresh keyword. Linking your new article to established pieces keeps old content in the running while giving your new content the credibility it needs to thrive during the current hype.

4. Target Transactional Keywords With Paid Ads

Searches like “burgers near me” or “toilet repair in Fort Worth” use transactional keywords that indicate a buyer’s mind is already made up. 

Buyer keywords are often so specific that you’ll want to know you’ve hit your target.

While it’s still helpful to optimize general content for these keywords, paid advertising campaigns can help you ensure you reach your target audience. 

Aside from programming your ads to reach a target audience searching for your keyword, paid advertising can help you quickly execute sales, build your brand’s authority, and keep your brand at the top of relevant search results.

5. Update Pieces to Keep Evergreen Keywords Fresh

Evergreen keywords are terms that have a moderate search volume, high conversions, and specific search intent. Evergreen keywords generally don’t go out of style. Once you have content that ranks well for an evergreen keyword, you want to ensure it stays on top.

Examples of evergreen topics are “how to lose weight,” “the best way to prepare a steak,” and “benefits of getting dental implants.”

Reviewing evergreen content every couple of years lets you make essential updates that keep your topic attractive to new readers. 

Some helpful evergreen updates are:

• Updating links with a more relevant profile
• Add new, more relevant images
• Slight keyword tweaks
• Format refreshes (the same message with a different delivery keeps your content relevant and creates something “new” for search engines)

Meet Your Audience’s Search Intent Today, With Dallas SEO Dogs

Aligning with search intent and ranking for relevant keywords can be a full-time job for a business owner eager to break through SEO barriers. The digital marketing team at Dallas SEO Dogs has the experience to help you achieve SEO success without sacrificing your daily business obligations.

From original content creation to monthly reviews of analytics and positioning, we can help you build your online presence in your industry. Reach out to us today to schedule your free consultation with a team member. 

The post 5 Ways to Rank for Different Types of Keywords appeared first on Dallas SEO Dogs.

Content focused on search intent helps accomplish your SEO goals and connects your brand to your audience. Humanizing your services and products helps propel sales forward and, in turn, improves your SEO.

Let’s take a closer look at the types of search intent and how you should approach content creation that converts.

What is Search Intent?

Search intent refers to why a user looks up a topic on search engines. Search intent drives how search engines display relevant search results.

People search with the intent to find answers. Therefore, search intent is one of the biggest reasons optimized content is essential to your website.

Why Should Your Content Satisfy Search Intent?

When it comes to ranking content, relevance is the true king. When you focus on satisfying search intent, you create content that has relevance built into it. 

When your content is relevant to regularly searched topics, it will appear as an authoritative piece in search results. This leads to organic clicks, audience engagement, and increased site rankings.

3 Types of Search Intent

Three levels of search intent represent the different stages of the marketing funnel. Let’s examine the three search intent types and how your content can satisfy them.

Informational

Informational search intent occurs when a user is starting to consider working with a particular product, brand, or service. Informative search intends to learn more about a product and decide whether or not it’s worth inching towards a final purchase.

Comparative

When a close search occurs, prospective buyers are close to making a purchase. They just want to be confident that your brand is the right choice. 

This type of search will put pros and cons blogs to the test and, with the right content, move users towards the final steps of the transactional process.

Transactional

Transactional intent means the user knows they want your product but are searching to find it. Transactional searches often lead to landing pages and service pages that lead them towards making a final purchase.

Creating Content for Search Intent

Fulfilling informational search intent means informing your audience about the initial benefits of your products or services. At this point in the marketing funnel, you want to get your readers interested in learning more.

Some ways to approach creating informational content are:

The Right Language

Writing compelling content means putting yourself in your audience’s shoes. Thus, not only should your content explain the problems your brand solves, but it must also speak the audience’s language.

Writing for your audience at any level of the marketing funnel personalizes your content and leads them closer to a conversion.

For example, if you sell exclusive makeup products, your audience may be middle-aged women. They will want to know how your products can make them look and feel great more than the deep scientific details of how you manufacture your makeup.

Creating trust with your audience starts with connecting with them through content they understand. So, always know your audience and research the type of content they want and how they think.

Keyword Research

Keyword research is a big part of how you can get to know your audience. A keyword analysis via an SEO program like SEMRush will show you what audiences are searching for and what your content must focus on.

A keyword analysis will produce hundreds of keyword results at once, and knowing where to start can be frustrating. After all, using the wrong keywords brings in the wrong audience and leads to wasted clicks and an increased bounce rate that taints your rankings.

Our tip for excellent keyword use is to aim for three keywords per content piece and use keywords with high-volume search and medium keyword difficulty (we recommend between 30 and 70 percent). These keywords are worth aiming for, which can improve your SEO results.

Digestible Formatting

Your words aren’t the only way to ensure search intent success. Getting readers to your content is half the battle. Keeping them there requires some technical work.

You want your content to read quickly and get to the point. This all boils down to perfecting your formatting. Some ways to do this are:

• Writing in shorter sentences and paragraphs. This helps you get important details across easier.
• Organize your content through a content pyramid with the most critical points of your message as early in your piece as possible.

Get Detailed With Your Evidence

Details are everything—from the initial product or service description to a thorough explanation about why that product or service is better than alternatives. Once your readers are interested in your product or service, ensure that your content has enough details to stand out from the competition and prove its worth.

During your research, find out your target audience’s problems and identify ways that your brand solves those problems. Case studies and testimonials build trust and can lead readers one step closer to a purchase.

Another way to get detailed is through competitor research. Knowing how your competitors market similar products can help you create captivating pros and cons blogs that compare your product to related competitors and allows you to shine a spotlight on how your brand benefits your customers.

Make Content at Any End of the Transactional Funnel Stand Out with Dallas SEO Dogs

If you’re focused on the day-to-day activities of your business and can’t find the time to perfect your content strategy, let Dallas SEO Dogs help! We’ve created content for companies from all industries.

From keyword research to long-term strategic planning, we help you go a step beyond standard content creation.

Reach out to us today to schedule your free consultation with a team member.

The post How Your Content Can Conquer 3 Types of Search Intent appeared first on Dallas SEO Dogs.