Most people consider this the season to reflect and be thankful, and search engine optimizers (SEOs) are no different. As has been the case over the past few years, this one saw plenty of changes and updates as well as a lot of hitting the panic button. While SEOs endure stress and pressure every year, they have reason to be thankful as well. Here are 10 reasons SEOs should be grateful this holiday season, in no particular order.
Table Of Contents
1. Cost-Effectiveness
With most forms of marketing, once you stop pumping in money, you stop seeing the same results. SEO, on the other hand, functions as a cost-effective long-term solution. Consider these numbers collated by Search Engine Land surrounding average click-through rates for different types of digital marketing.
- Google Ads – 3%
- Organic social – 5%
- First position of search engine results pages (SERPs) – 29% to 43%
While SEO requires an initial investment, it can help businesses increase their digital footprint significantly and deliver a good return on investment (ROI). Given that an increasing number of businesses are hoping to reap the benefits of what this realm has to offer, the need for good SEOs continues to grow, and this growth in demand definitely warrants some gratitude.
2. All the Search Engines
Take a minute to imagine where the world would be without search engines. It would be a hassle, no doubt, and looking for information online would be a pain in the neck. Search engines are the main reason most digital marketers have jobs. Platforms like Google, Bing, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo have really changed the world of search and research, which is why SEOs should be thankful for all the search engines that give them the means to reach out to desired target audiences.
What helps is that search engines reward websites that pay due attention to search engine optimization (SEO). For example, if you invest in SEO and ensure that your website meets the expectations of search engines and its users, it stands to benefit from better rankings and can appear at the top spots on results pages.
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3. All Types of Links
Links, good and bad, deserve a token of appreciation. Good links have played a major role in giving websites the authority they deserve, and they play an important role in search engine ranking as well. When you have external links, it is the equivalent of casting a vote for your website. The more links your website has, the more it appears to be legitimate. However, this is the case only if the links are from reputable websites.
External links from the city council to Forbes.com will not be as effective as links from Time Magazine to Forbes. The best types of external links are essentially when the websites in question belong to the same industry.
There’s something to say about bad links too. If your competitors use bad links to get an edge over others, search engines will penalize them and cause their ranking to drop; giving legit websites a better chance to shine.
4. Google’s Penguin
Introduced by Google in 2012, Penguin appeared on the scene wielding a mighty filter designed to punish websites engaging in shady link-building practices. Back then, keyword stuffing and link farms were all the rage, and Penguin came to put a stop to the black-hat party. Over the years, it has undergone a remarkable transformation, evolving from a clumsy chick to a soaring eagle with a keen eye for quality links.
Penguin truly earned its wings in 2016, when Google fully integrated it into its core algorithm, after which it has become a permanent fixture in the SEO landscape. Now, Google has woven Penguin into the very fabric of its ranking algorithm, and the focus on quality over quantity remains paramount.
If you look at any good holiday SEO strategy, you’ll notice that it touches upon these commonalities to ensure staying in the good books of Penguin.
- Focus on creating high-quality content and building genuine relationships with other websites in your niche, as this helps attract valuable backlinks.
- The relevance and authority of the website linking to you matter more than ever. A single link from a reputable source can outweigh dozens from low-quality websites.
- Don’t rely on just one type of link. Aim for a diverse link profile with backlinks from various sources, including blogs, news sites, and industry publications.
- Building quality links takes time and effort. Don’t expect overnight results, and focus on sustainable and ethical link-building practices.
Penguin’s evolution is a testament to the continuous improvement of Google’s search algorithms. By understanding its past and present, SEOs have been able to navigate the search engine optimization (SEO) landscape with confidence, knowing that quality content and genuine connections will always carry their clients to the top of search engine results.
5. A Myriad of SEO Tools
No matter what holiday SEO ideas you might have, it goes without saying that you need various tools to implement and analyze them. However, even a single tool can give you the ability to track your rankings, find new keywords, and keep a close eye on your competition. Using an all-in-one tool can save you a lot of hassle and money, given that you don’t need different tools to carry out various tasks.
Multiple tools have continuously made the lives of SEOs very easy, allowing them to work faster and smarter. Google offers some great SEO-related tools that come in the form of:
- Google Analytics
- Google Webmaster
- PageSpeed Insights
- Google Search Console
- Google Business Profile
- Google Trends
- Google Keyword Planner
- Rich Results Test
- Mobile-Friendly Test
6. All the Content
SEO plays a vital part in providing solutions to search queries, and when done right, it can help improve rankings and conversions alike. This explains why SEO and content marketing are inseparable. A website has an opportunity to establish authority over a given topic, industry, or niche, and connect with its target audience. This connection leads to higher engagement levels, which is perfect from the SEO perspective.
It is important that SEOs express gratitude for content but most importantly, for the writers. After all, good writers can help a great deal in creating new links. They create keyword-rich content that web users are looking for and provide blogs, articles, whitepapers, or any other type of content.
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7. Social Media Platforms
Whether you believe in the power of social media in relation to SEO or not, you should know that these platforms can increase views of old and new content. Sharing posts and links via social networks like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn is a great way to increase traffic to a website. Businesses can also improve sales through social media ads.
Social media has become one of the most efficient ways for a business to engage with its customers and prospects. It is common for customers to ask questions or inquire through these platforms. The response is faster and more people now prefer using social networks instead of needing to make phone calls.
8. Mobile Traffic
Data released by Statista indicates that more than 60% of the world’s internet users use mobile devices to get online, and this number is only set to increase. This is because a lot of people access the internet on the go and don’t want to wait until they are home in front of a computer. Besides, there are scores of mobile internet users who don’t even own desktops or laptops. Over the years, this has translated to added web traffic and more work for SEOs.
In recent times, mobile traffic has redefined the playing field in a significant manner. Now, just about every website worth its salt relies on responsive web design, ensuring that it delivers a great user experience across all types of devices and screen sizes.
The increased use of voice search might soon surpass traditional text-based searches. As per data collated by Semrush Local, the volume of voice searches increased by 146% from 2019 to 2023, going from 3.25 billion to 8 billion. It also adds that 71% of web users favor voice searches over text-based queries.
The increased and continually growing use of mobile devices to access the internet has given businesses from different fields the means to reach out to much larger audiences than before, and this is a factor that can definitely do with some gratitude.
9. WordPress Plugins
Depending on one’s technical expertise, WordPress can be a complicated or simple solution in the web development world. Some of its overly-packed themes can slow your website down, which is not good for rankings. Photos might take up too much space and affect load time adversely, especially if you have an eCommerce platform. Fortunately, you have plugins that can solve a number of issues in WordPress.
Yoast SEO continues to remain among the most popular WordPress plugins for SEO. Some search engine optimizers also use other plugins like Rank Math, Squirrly SEO, SmartCrawl, and Slim SEO.
These plugins will give search engine optimizers an easy way to optimize web pages using metadata, descriptions, and keyword data. They also get useful tips to help improve the results of their efforts. When there is a green button next to the page you are working on, you can rest assured knowing that everything is in order in relation to page optimization.
10. Web Users
Without people getting online, there would be no searches, and search engine optimizers would not exist. After all, it’s web users who fuel the cyber world with their need for information. SEOs should, without a doubt, be extremely thankful that people turn to search engines to look for information because, without this, they would have little or nothing to do in the digital landscape.
SEOs should overlook how silly and negative some people can be in the online world. Instead, they should be grateful that web users get online to search for information and engage with businesses. Search engine optimization is all about making sure that information is available for the right people, without whom the information would just exist on the web, serving absolutely no purpose.
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Holiday SEO Tips
If you take a close look at some of the best holiday SEO examples, you’ll notice one or more common factors that find favor with search engines and web users. Here are some tips that come right out of the SEO best practices book for the holiday season.
- Research. Use tools like Google Trends and Ahrefs to identify trending holiday search terms and related long-tail keywords. Consider the intent behind these searches – are people browsing for gift ideas, comparing prices, or ready to buy? Then, tailor your content accordingly.
- Spruce up landing pages. Optimize all your landing pages and highlight holiday promotions. You may even consider creating dedicated landing pages for popular holiday gift categories.
- Bring out the festive cheer. Consider coming up with holiday-themed blog posts, gift guides, and infographics because these can attract organic traffic and establish a positive brand image.
- Track your progress. With your efforts in place, use analytics tools to monitor website traffic, conversions, and keyword rankings. Moving forward, you might need to adjust your strategies based on what’s working well and what’s not.
Conclusion
When it comes to reflecting and being thankful, it’s only fair to acknowledge and appreciate what your professional life has to offer. Sure, riding the search engine optimization wave might feel like a roller coaster ride at times, but new tools and technologies give SEOs the means to stay on top of their game. Irrespective of the trials and tribulations that are part of the job, simply generating a good holidays SEO report is often reason enough to show some gratitude.
If you wish to increase your online presence or create more awareness about your brand by using search engine optimization, consider partnering with a digital marketing company. This is because succeeding in this realm requires paying attention to different intricacies, and it’s best to leave SEO to the experts.