When you run across an old website that was written in the early days of SEO, it looks and feels incredibly outdated and a little ridiculous. The days of packing keyword on top of keyword to get the most impact are certainly over and they actually didn’t last as long as most websites seemed to believe they did. This change is a very good thing.
What we’re talking about here is on-page SEO which is very closely tied to the user experience. This is also the place where a split is beginning to form in the old world of SEO.
At Filament we always recommend having a solid search engine optimized foundation, and we will always stress the importance of researched keywords, images, meta data, titles, etc. Your website back end needs to be strong, well-thought out and designed to draw your target audience. This is the “traditional” SEO but the field is constantly evolving and it’s the on-page SEO that is seeing the most change.
Let’s think about those old websites. Even the good ones replaced every pronoun with a keyword and were written in a very repetitive, robot-like manner. While you got the information you wanted and actually learned to ignore the bad writing, it was awkward and largely un-enjoyable. The modern SEO approach has moved leaps and bounds from those days and now focuses on the user experience.
To get the most from your new, user experience SEO model you need to turn to the user. Gathering search metrics from your website is the first step and can give you scads of valuable information about what people like, what they return to, and what they shy away from.
The next step is to actually communicate with the user. This can be accomplished in many different ways with anything from surveys to in-depth focus groups. But it is through this open dialogue that you can gather some of the most insightful data.
While compiling data and learning more about your user is vital, it’s completely useless unless you implement some changes. Google now “rewards” SEO plans that improve user experience and inspire interaction. Whether you accomplish this through something simple like removing awkward keyword stuffing or something more involved like an active social media presence, a little extra effort will help you reap the rewards.
Great on-page SEO begins with a conversation that continues between you and your audience, and a conversation goes back and forth with you doing your part to keep it going.
If you’re looking for ways to begin – and build upon – those user conversations, Filament can help!
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