Generating website traffic from search engine optimization initiatives remains the "Holy Grail" for digital marketers and the enterprises that employ them, but it is not getting any easier to see results.
A number of (relatively) new influencing factors have emerged over the past few years and it has increased the complexity of the practice immensely.
Today, for example, websites should have security top of mind and have an SSL certificate installed. They should be regularly producing and developing high-value, compelling, original content and be focused on delivering a digital presence that loads quickly and efficiently, which can be accomplished with a variety of often very complex methods - at least to the non-technical. Fortunately, the more things change in the practice of search engine optimization, the more they stay the same.
While "quality content" has long been the virtual king, inbound hyperlinks/citations from others (preferably from authority sites) are its complementary digital queen and are arguably as important, if not more so. The thing is, SEO success has always been dependent on these elements. With more competition than ever before, however, success with such initiatives can take far longer, require more effort and there is still no guarantee of achieving a high placement for keywords relevant to the business. In years past, of course, most SEO work was accomplished in-house. Eventually, much of it (at least on the enterprise-level) migrated to agencies, but that's changing rapidly thanks to some very powerful solutions, like those listed in this month's Website Magazine Top 50.
It is solutions like these that enable companies to do the virtual grunt work of SEO including keyword and competitive research, rank tracking and more. Let this month's Top 50 serve as your starting point as your company begins its initiative to move up the results pages of popular search engines.
1. Moz.com