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The only constant in search engine optimization is change. SEO is much different today than it was just a few years ago, and it’ll be different again a few years from now. Knowing what’s working right now for SEO—and being willing to let go of outdated SEO tactics—is critical for crafting an effective content strategy. Here’s what we’ve noticed so far for 2017.
Keywords Still Count
What’s the deal with keywords these days? In the ever-changing landscape of SEO, keywords may not hold as much sway as they once did. You can trace the demise of keywords back to the Panda rollout in 2011. A move by Google to help rid the internet of cruddy keyword-stuffed content, the update was decidedly a good thing. For legitimate businesses and quality content creators, at least. Not so much for the people making money by exploiting the old algorithm.
That’s not to say that keywords no longer matter, because keywords are still an important element in how Google evaluates your website pages. You just have to use them the right way. And by the “right way,” we mean not cramming them in awkwardly every which way just for the sake of including them.
Backlinks and Anchor Links Still Count, Too
Backlinks and anchor links influence the way your site is indexed by Google and other search engines, so you should still care about them in 2017. Anchor links are the outgoing links you embed in your content. Backlinks are links coming in to your content from somewhere else on the web.
Just like with keywords, links in your content should make sense and never seem forced. Building up backlinks is an important part of a good SEO strategy, but make sure your tactics are strictly white hat. There was a brief trend toward shady folk buying backlinks, but only a truly authentic, organic backlink network will benefit your SEO.
Write for Your Audience, Not for Google
As Google gets closer and closer to becoming fully self-aware, the hard and fast rules surrounding SEO get blurrier. While once upon a time there used to be a huge emphasis on choosing certain keywords and placing them a certain way a certain number of times, today Google mainly cares that you’re just plain creating excellent content.
User experience is the new “content is king.”
Gone are the days of publishing absolute garbage for the sole purpose of dumping a bunch of keywords onto your site. Google’s too smart these days to pull that nonsense. You won’t have to worry too much about keywords and backlinks anyway as long as you’re posting good, meaty stuff that your audience wants to read. This is why you absolutely need to have a good content strategy in place.
The Future of SEO
While the basic tenets of SEO remain the same, changes are predicted to the way search engines index your content in the near future. The change that’s most important to keep an eye on is a trend toward prioritizing user experience. Our search engine and internet activity is tracked and used to create a more customized experience for us (whether we are totally cool with that or not is an issue for another day). As a result, we can all expect that search results will likely become more personalized to the individual searcher in the future.
As we keep on slogging our way through 2017, just make sure you’re keeping on top of the latest and greatest when it comes to SEO. With all the changes afoot, it’s more important than ever to make sure you’re working with a marketing team that isn’t stuck in last year’s SEO playbook.
