The constant factor in the relationship between Internet marketing and website development is Change.
Whether you work in the field of online marketing or run a business, the evolution of content, SEO, web design, social, and local listings significantly impacts how a website is structured and how it targets visitors for conversion.
Since listing all of the changes that have occurred since the Internet’s inception would take until Thanksgiving, the below blog focuses on the main evolutionary changes that we’ve seen at SLS Consulting.
1. Write for Your Audience First – In the past, content was more about keyword stuffing, linking, and organization that appealed to the search engines for higher rankings. These tactics just don’t work anymore, or at least, they don’t last for long. Whether you’re creating content for your blog or website, putting writing for your audience before writing for the search engines is more effective for increasing visitors, lowering bounce rates, getting favorable search placement, and converting visitors into clients.
2. Quality Links Over Quantity – The amount of links you have isn’t always as important as the quality of those links. Linking quality is affected by the variety of phrases being linked and where the links are going. Search engine optimization is no longer about “how much,” but more about substance and tact. The change in SEO may be more time consuming, but with the waves of recent algorithm updates, it’s worth it for your website’s success to change how you optimize your site, blog, and on other platforms.
3. Simple & Responsive Design – Making a website easy to navigate and respond to the type of device being used has shaped how website designers cater to the needs of both the target audience, search engines, and the client’s preferences. Because so many people are using computers, laptops, iPads, smartphones, and other devices to browse the Internet, a website now has to adjust its design intuitively in order to keep the attention of and engage a visitor.
4. Social Platforms Going Visual – From Google+ to Facebook, and Twitter to LinkedIn, the design layouts of social networking sites have evolved to be more visual. The interactive nature of visual social sites encourages more users to engage with others, share information (content, photos, videos, links, etc.), and spend more time on the site. With social taking on a visual appeal, there is more for a user to do.
5. Consistency on Local Goes a Long Way – Consistency in listing information among all of your profiles has more of an influence than before. If your information isn’t consistent across various local listing sites, search engines and other sites may pick you up as a separate entity and create a listing for you. To avoid this headache, have all of your information consistent. Getting a constant flow of legitimate reviews from real people also plays a much bigger role in search results than they used to.
What Does This Tell Us?
In a nutshell, the evolution of the Internet and site development seem to be mainly geared towards making using the Internet and a website easier for those of us searching for information that we need. The changes in content, SEO, web design, social, and local listings over the recent years have all been made mostly to improve the user’s experience.
Because technology and the Internet are changing on a daily basis, it’s beneficial to take a timeout from the daily grind of marketing and website development to see what’s affecting what you do. At SLS Consulting, we are proud to provide our clients with custom website design and marketing plans for gaining a strong web presence. By staying on top of the latest advancements online, our marketing team applies innovate strategies to help our clients get to the top of search. For a free growth assessment, please call us today at (323) 254-1510.