Search engines love sites that appear to be active in their niche. Sites that are updated frequently and have a strong presence in their industry will rank better than those that don’t. So how exactly do you do this? Below are some habits that will help Google and Bing see you’re active in your industry and help your site with its rankings.

1. Write an Blog Post

This is perhaps the hardest thing for any website owner to do. It’s not easy to sit down an write an article daily. However, content is king and frequently posting articles to your site will provide you with tremendous SEO benefits.

Create high quality and long articles. Quality content is more likely to get more shares and longer content is more likely to provide you with SEO benefits.

2. Update An Old Post

Content can get old and outdated. And in 2011, Google came out with a new algorithm which favors fresh content over old, out-dated content. The goal of this update is to provide users with up to date, fresh content.

You’ll also notice this quite often when your searching for a news story in Google. Below, I searched for the term “government” and the top article is the article which was most recently published on that topic.

3. Post a Link to an Article on Every Social Media Platform

For every new article that you publish to your website, share it on every social media platform you own. Share it on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. Today, search engines are relying more on social activity as a ranking factor.

The more your content is promoted on social media, the better effect it’ll have on your rankings. In a case study by Search Metrics, we also see that social activity play a major effect as a ranking factor for SEO.

4. Interact on a forum in your industry

Forums and discussion boards are a great way to add niche relevance to your website. It also contributes to how search engines equate you to being an industry authority.

You might have the answer to a question in a past blog post on your website. Share your link and provide answers.

To find a forum in your niche, just search “niche” + forum in Google.

5. Interact on a blog in your industry

Just like forum post, blog comments also helps to add niche relevance to your site. Go out there and share your ideas and view points. Often times, websites allow you to blog comment with your link and name as the anchor text which is alright.

But it’s even better to write a few lines, or paragraphs (the longer the better) then add your link within the body of the blog comment.

To find a blog in your niche, just search “niche” + blog in Google.

Conclusion

It might be hard to follow each of these steps. However, to do all of this will probably only take about 2 hours out of your day. If you do this for two hours each and every day, I can guarantee that you’ll see ranking improvements within a few weeks.

The post 5 Habits To Help You Improve Your SEO Rankings appeared first on Thunder Rank.

You’re Clients are looking for you online!

If you’re looking for a local service, like plumbing for example, the first place you’ll look is most likely Google or Bing. You’ll pull out your phone, or go to your computer and type “plumber in city name” to find a plumber. Or if you’re looking for a local Chinese restaurant, odds are that you’ll go straight to Google to search for a local Chinese restaurants. And for any type of service, you’ll do this to find out where and how you can get in contact with a local business to provide you with those services.

An online presence is something that is very important for any business. And as time goes on, the more important it will become. Last year, there were over 1.2 trillion search queries in Google alone. That’s over 40,000 per second. So there’s an abundance of potential traffic which can be tapped into online.

How to develop a presence?

The two most effective methods of online marketing for local businesses is SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and PPC (Pay Per Click) Marketing. And there are three places you can potentially show up. You can either show up in the PPC Advertisements, the Local 7 Pack or Map Listings, and last but not least, the general search results which you can see below. Pro’s and cons of each will be discussed below.

Pay Per Click Advertising

Pros: Pay Per Click Advertising works instantly. You go to Google Adwords, deposit some money, setup a campaign and your ads start running instantly. So there is no long waiting to start getting traffic and you online pay for the clicks you receive.

Cons: Depending on the market you’re in, the cost per click can be quite high, and there can be a lot of competitors bidding to get the top spot. So a lot of tweaking and monitoring has to go into this type of marketing to make sure your getting the most out of your advertisements. In the picture below, you’ll see the average monthly searches, competition, and suggested bid for various plumbing related search terms in Mississauga.

Another negative for PPC marketing is that it produces a lower click through rate. Stats have shown that people click on results in the 7 pack, or the general search results more than the paid ads. 

Local 7 Pack & General Search Results

To get into the Local 7 pack, or general search results, you’re site and online brand profile must be search engine optimized and these are the golden spots to be listed in. And in many cases, a well optimized site will be listed in both the local 7 pack and general search results, such as MrRooter.ca as seen above.

Pros: There are no continual costs. Once your business is listed here, you don’t have to pay per click, per visit, per phone call or anything like that. So if you were a plumber in Mississauga, and you were listed here, imagine what that would do to your business! So basically, there is a huge return on investment in the long run if your website is optimized to be shown here.

You also get a higher click through rate, and if you’re business is listed in the 7 pack, it’s very easy for a search engine user to click your phone number on their mobile phone, and initiate a call with you.

Cons: A slower process. Search Engine Optimization doesn’t just happen overnight. It can take anywhere from a month to over 6 months depending on the competition in the search results.

Having an Effective Website

People are attracted to a functional and attractive website. Moreover, with the rise of smart phones, many people people will be looking for your business on a phone.

A business can have the best optimized website in their market, and get a lot of traffic to their site. However, if their site is not designed beautifully and functionally, a lot of that traffic will not convert into proper sales. And if you’re website is not mobile-friendly, you’ll lose a lot of potential customers. So a well designed website that is functional and mobile friendly is key to get the most out of your online marketing campaigns.

The post Local Business Guide to Search Engine Marketing appeared first on Thunder Rank.