Showing posts tagged with: Search Engine Optimization

June 17, 2020

How To Succeed in Zero-Click Search SEO

If you’ve landed on our Hawaii SEO Marketing Tips blog by accident while searching for Team Vision Marketing, please visit our homepage, creative portfolio or client video testimonials.

How To Succeed in Zero-Click Search SEO

First of all, what exactly do we mean by Zero-click searches? Zero-clicks means that when people do a Google Search for information,  they get the information right on the search results page.  They never have to click on any of the organic or paid search results, which means less direct web traffic for your site. As you can imagine, Google realizes that keeping visitors on their SEO results page is of great value (versus having visitors click out to 3rd party web sites), so they are doing everything they can to provide the information people are looking for  right there within the search results page. A prime example of this is the expansion of their Google My Business listings over the past couple of years.  Visitors searching for your business first see your Google My Business listing which includes your business description, hours of operation, location, phone #, products and services, pricing,  and more.  For many businesses, such as hotels and attractions, you can also book their offerings right from the Google Search Results page.  You get the idea, right?  Google is going to keep adding more and more features that keep searchers on their search engine results page.  This may eventually make your organic search listing irrelevant.

Last year, about 50% of organic Google searches generated zero clicks. Zero-click searches are on the rise and are causing businesses to receive less impressions, CTRs, and organic web traffic.

According to Spark Toro:

  • 34.4% of desktop searches in 2018 resulted in no clicks
  • 62.5% of mobile searches produced no clicks in 2018
zero click search, seo trends, hawaii seo, hawaii seo marketing, honolulu marketing agency, hawaii advertising agency

To stay competitive on the coveted first page, Hawaii businesses must adapt their SEO (Search Engine Optimization) marketing to include optimizing their websites for the Zero-Click Google Rich Features, which are effective for spreading brand awareness and positioning your site as a hub of information. In this article, we will share tips on how you can optimize your website to be featured in Rich Features and take back your top SERP glory!

What are Zero-Click Search Rich Features?

Rich Features are blocks of information that help Google users find the answers they are searching for effortlessly. Zero-click search Rich Features provide the answers to a search query, so users don’t have to click through a bunch of websites to find the desired information—hence the name zero click search.

You may have noticed these Rich Features pop up on the SERP in various formats for key phrases, like “Aloha meaning” (see example below). Voice searches using Siri, Alexa, or the Google Assistant read off of these Rich Features when you ask for specific inquiries, like recipes or trivia questions.

Aloha definition rich feature

Does That Mean That Zero-Click Rich Features Are Bad For Businesses?

No, zero-click Rich Features can be instrumental in spreading brand awareness and sharing useful information. Rand Fishkin, the founder of SparkToro, said in a Search Engine Land interview that zero-click Rich Features are similar to billboards. Both types of media are hard to collect measurable data but are very useful in building brand familiarity and sharing information.

When Do Zero-Click Searches Or Rich Features Appear On The SERP?

Zero-click searches usually occur for the following types of searches:

  • Database Searches
  • Dictionary or Encyclopedia Searches
  • Map Directions
  • Longer tail keyword searches
  • Searching for notable people, companies, places, news articles, and more.
  • Recipes or “How To” searches
  • Asking an FAQ

However, it’s hard to determine which search phrases trigger a Rich Feature to show up. It depends on the search query, the algorithm, and if the other websites on the SERP have optimized their pages for Rich Features. Ahrefs’s report found that only 12.3% of searches produce a Rich Feature. To see the full list of Google Rich Feature formats and where they might appear, click on our previous blog post here.

How Do You Optimize for  Zero-Click Rich Features?

First things first….

  • Research and list the keywords that show zero-click Rich Features that you currently use in your SEO strategy.
      • Ahrefs has provided a useful graph of common keywords that are more likely to meet a Rich Feature, see below.
hawaii search engine optimization, Hawaii digital marketing, digital marketing agencies, seo marketing tips, hawaii marketing, hawaii advertising agencies
  • Identify and optimize the web pages that would work best as a zero-click Rich Feature. You can start by asking yourself:
      • Can my content define any keywords?
      • Do we have a top ten list that’s relevant to a keyword search?
      • Do we have any material discussing an in-depth comparison?
      • Do we have a step-by-step video tutorial?
  • Target question-based keywords. Zero-click searches usually appear on question queries. Revise your content so that keyword terms are incorporated in the sub headlines and the precise answer is listed right below it.
      • You can find inspiration and examples on how to word your questions from existing Rich Features, “People Also Asked” boxes and related searches located at the bottom of the SERP.
  • Create quality content. Of course, the quality and relevancy of your content will help determine if it will be featured as a Rich Feature.
  • Make your content more attractive for Rich Features with schema markups.
      • Schema markups are microdata that create enhanced descriptions of your content. It helps Google understand your content.
      • However, using structured data does not guarantee that your content will show up on the SERP.

Now, let’s proceed to our top recommendations for zero-click Rich Features:

How To Optimize For Definitions Rich Features

  • Start your first sentence by defining the keyword using verbiage like “[keyword] is a….” or “[keyword] means to….”
  • For keywords definitions that require further explanation, organize your content using the inverted triangle method: share the most important and concise information first, important details second, and general information last.
Definition Google Rich Feature, zero click search, organic SEO, Hawaii SEO, SEO tips, Hawaii digital marketing, digital marketing companies, Honolulu search engine optimization,

How To Optimize for “People Also Asked” Rich Features

  • Sometimes, Google will show alternative questions other users have searched for and provide the answers for them in a dropdown toggle box.
  • Write complete questions and answers.
  • Use clear, plain language. Google likes to share clear and to-the-point answers.
  • Avoid sales language. Remember, people want to find answers to their questions on search, not see promotions.
  • Add Q&A schema to your webpages.
Google rich feature, google rich snippet, SEO, Hawaii SEO , Honolulu SEO marketing, hawaii digital marketing, digital marketing tips, advertising agency

How To Optimize For List Rich Features

  • Lists work best for searches that are asking for step-by-step tutorials. For example: “Why is SEO marketing important” or “How to win at zero-click searches.”
  • Lists can be unordered (bullet points) or ordered (numbered).
  • How you structure your lists is very important. Start a list with a title incorporating the keyword in a question format and make the title H2, H3, etc.
  • List major points that relate to the search query and make sure the text is readable and clear.
  • It can also work for FAQs and “Top Best” lists
Honolulu SEO marketing, Hawaii SEO, SEO marketing tips, SERP ranking, zero-click searches, hawaii seo, honolulu, hawaii digital marketing agencies

How To Optimize For Comparison Rich Features

  • It’s recommended to use tables to map out comparisons. This is because it’s easier for Google to read and searchers to study the pros and cons, or similarities and differences on a topic.
  • Similar to how to optimize for a list rich feature, Comparison rich features should have a title incorporating the keyword in a question format above the table and make the title H2, H3, etc.
google, comparison snippet, zero click search, rich feature, google, seo, SERP, seo tips, hawaii seo, hawaii seo tips, honolulu, seo marketing

How To Optimize For Image Rich Features

  • Google pulls images from different websites to accompany Definition and Text Rich Features.
  • To make your images zero-click SEO ready, add alt text that’s a variation of the headline used for the Rich Feature.
  •  Also, place the image directly under your Rich Feature optimized text or within content, full of relevant keywords.
Hawaii digital marketing companies, google rich features, zero-click search, Hawaii SEO marketing, SEO, Honolulu SEO, hawaii, honolulu, team vision

How to Optimize Google Business Listing Rich Feature

  • This Rich Feature usually appears on a branded search on the right side of the SERP. It displays your business’s contact information, operation hours, location, reviews, photos, and more.
      • This Rich Feature is a great way to be displayed on the SERP for branded searches.
  • To use this Rich Feature, you must claim your business’s listing or create one of your own. Then, optimize it by filling in all the required fields about your business with the most recent information:
      • Business name
      • Hours of operation
      • Contact information
      • Address
      • Photos of your brick-and-mortar store, logo, products
      • Additional optimization tips:
          • Frequently create posts about your products, business, tips, offers, etc.
          • Collect Google Reviews
          • Answer questions and reply to Google reviews.
Hawaii SEO - Google Rich Result Feature

The Takeaway…

With the rise in Zero-Click searches, securing a position on the top of the Google SERP for your Hawaii website has become even more challenging. Although your company will see lower CTRs and organic web traffic, using Google’s Rich Features for Zero-Click Searches can be a valuable organic SEO strategy and it can help generate awareness for your brand and position your website as a credible source of information.

If your Hawaii business needs digital marketing help, please reach out to Team Vision Marketing, Hawaii’s leading advertising and digital marketing agency for over 20 years. We’d love to help!

This is the blog of Team Vision Marketing, a full-service Hawaii advertising agency located in Honolulu, Hawaii and serving clients on Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island of Hawaii.

 

Contact Us:

Phone: (808) 536-0416

Email: info@www.teamvision.com

Web: www.www.teamvision.com

Dolly Moreno, former Director of Sales & Marketing at Honua Kai Resort & Spa on Maui, talks about her experience working with Team Vision Marketing on all of her advertising, graphic design and digital marketing needs.

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November 9, 2019

Your Guide to Google Rich Search Features

If you’ve landed on our Hawaii Marketing Tips blog by accident while searching for Team Vision Marketing or Hawaii Advertising Agencies, please visit our homepage, creative portfolio or client video testimonials for more information. If you’re here to learn more about SEO strategies, please continue reading.

Is your business looking for more effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategies to improve your online presence and search engine results? A critical SEO strategy that many small businesses overlook  is Google Rich Search Features or Rich Snippets. Using these enhanced search features can help boost your SEO ranking and drive web site traffic.

What are Rich Search Features?

Rich search goes beyond the typical page title, page URL, and meta description optimizations. It  displays information extracted from your web pages that can help make your web site look more attractive on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) based on specific schema markups, which are snippets of code that help Google’s algorithm read your site’s content. Rich search results can include reviews, images, contact information, carousels or other elements. You may have already noticed other sites using these rich search features, as seen in the comparison below.

Basic Vs. Rich Search Feature

Hawaii SEO - Basic Google Result Feature - Hawaii SEO
Basic Google Result Feature
Hawaii SEO - Google Rich Result Feature
Google Rich Result Feature

In this article, we provide an overview of our most recommended rich search features that your brand should consider adding to your website. That being said, implementing rich search features on your web pages requires some technical knowledge. Contact us if you would like more information or assistance with your Hawaii SEO needs.

Why Use Rich Search Features?

Rich search features are used to enhance the SERP, making information about local businesses and content more discoverable and easier to access. Companies who take advantage of rich search features are not only able to gain access to prime SERP real estate at the very top of the search results page,  they can also have their content displayed in an enhanced designed container to draw attention.

This can help boost your SEO ranking, increase organic click through rates (CTR), and potentially boost conversions.

How to Implement Rich Search Features

Each search feature has its own code to help Google crawl through the information and translate it into its designated feature design. This gives you the ability to control what information will be displayed in the enhanced search feature. Read the introduction to structured data on Google Search Developers to learn the standard guidelines required by Google Search and the specific guidelines for your content type and any enhancements.

It’s important to note that there is no guarantee that your page will appear on the SERP with its assigned specified feature. This is because search features depend on many factors, including the search device type, location, and whether the Google algorithm thinks the feature would provide the best search experience for the user.

Recommended Rich Search Features to Use:

Reviews

Your brand should consider adding the review rich search feature markup because reviews are so influential for conversions. According to a 2016 PEW Research Center study, 82% of Americans read online reviews and 51% trust their accuracy.

Once the structured data is added to your site, it will show up as an aggregated or singled out star rating on the SERP, as seen below. Depending on what code you use, your brand can also feature how many reviews were made, display the percentage of people who gave you high star ratings, and more.

You can also create a review snippet in the Google Knowledge Panel, an information box that appears on Google when you search for entities.

Hawaii SEO - Google Review Rich Result Feature
Review Rich Result Feature
Hawaii SEO - Google Review Rich Result Feature
Review Rich Result Feature on a Google Knowledge Panel

Business Listing

We highly recommend that local Hawaii businesses add schema about your business information, including contact information, business hours, reviews, price scale, address, and so on, to show up prominently on the SERP. Google uses this information to populate a large Knowledge Graph that may appear in Google Search Results or on Google Maps. In addition to adding your business information, you can also add a Call-to-Action button like “Book an Appointment.”

Tip:

  • To yield the best results, complete your Google My Business profile to strengthen your local business presence.
  • Make sure the information in your local business schema matches up with your Google My Business profile.
Hawaii SEO - Google Local Business Rich Result Feature

Product

If you manage an e-commerce website, we highly recommend your company take advantage of the Product schema markup. Google will use this information to display detailed product information in rich search results and Google Images, including the product’s price, availability, and review ratings directly on the SERP.

Using this rich results feature can help your brand attract potential customers. We recommend that you regularly update and maintain your product information to attract more potential customers.

Tips:

  • Use markup to highlight a specific product, like a bestseller.
  • Do not use the product schema markup on a category or list of products.
Hawaii SEO - Google Product Rich Result Feature

Top Stories

This feature is ideal to use if your site has a blog page. This feature can show up as a rich result or rich result list, such as headline text and larger-than-thumbnail images, depending on the code you use (see example below).

Tip: When structured data is combined with Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP), your rich results can provide search audiences with a better experience on mobile by having the content exhibited in a Top Stories carousel, host carousel, and in visual stories. Our team highly recommends adding AMP codes in addition to rich search markups to your web pages because 141.9 billion searches are were made on mobile so far in 2019, according to Statistica.

Hawaii SEO - Google Top Stories Rich Result Feature

Events

Have an upcoming event? Instead of relying on a Facebook Event or an EventBrite post to spread the word, use the event markup so that users can easily discover  your events through Google Search Results and Google Maps. With these code snippets, your brand can share the address, date, time, Call-to-Action button, and more.

Additional Tips:

  • Do markup for multiple day events correctly by specifying the start and end dates for the event.
  • If there are several different performances or keynote speakers on different days, each with individual tickets, add a separate event element for each performance or lecture.
  • Don’t promote non-event products or services as events. For example, “A Hotel Package for 5 nights or more” is a non-event product.
  • Don’t promote short-term discounts or purchase incentives, such as: “Cheap trip to Hawaii — buy your tickets now.”
  • Do not promote business hours as events.
Hawaii SEO - Event Rich Result Feature combined with AMP
The Event Rich Result Feature combined with AMP

Social Profile

Use this schema to add your brand’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media profiles to the Google Knowledge Panel. By signaling Google to add your social media profile to the SERP, your channels are getting much desired exposure. As we mentioned in our 2019 SEO Tips blog post, optimizing your social media efforts will drive a lot more traffic to your web site which can positively affect your SEO rankings. Utilizing the Rich Search Features can result in your website gaining more traffic, brand awareness, and social media followers.

Video

Add structured data to your video content to make it easily discoverable on Google’s Search Page. The Rich Search Result can include a description, thumbnail URL, upload date, and duration of your video. You can also add additional structured data to enhance your video preview with a video carousel, which displays multiple videos that you’ve produced.

Tip:

  • There is a structured data option available for live stream videos. Once added, your live stream video feed could show a “Live” badge right on the video card during the time it’s live on the search results page.
Hawaii SEO - Google Video Rich Result Feature

How-To

This markup is great to use if your brand has tutorial blogs or if you have posted a tutorial for your product or services. Use the How-To structured data to alert Google that your content is a How-To post. Depending on how you mark it up, the instructions will show up in either an accordion or carousel format. If properly labeled, your marked up How-To content may be eligible to be featured on the How-to Action for the Google Assistant or voice search, which can help your site reach the right users.

It’s important to note that optimizing for voice search is a trending SEO strategy that Google users find convenient for searches on trivia questions, recipes, how-tos and more. Not convinced? Here are a couple of voice search statistics:

  • 50% of all searches will be voice searches by 2020, according to comScore.
  • 6 million Americans used a voice-activated assistant device at least once a month in 2017, reported by eMarketer.

To learn more, check out our recent post on Google voice searches.

Hawaii SEO - Google How-To Rich Result Feature

Logo

Use the Logo markup to provide Google with the correct company logo to use in the rich search results for your company. This markup is also a strong signal for Google’s algorithms to show the logo image in Knowledge Graph displays, as shown in the example below.

Hawaii SEO - Google Logo rich result feature

Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) Snippet

Brands can use this type of markup to display their FAQ page in the FAQ Rich Search snippet, which is different than the Q&A snippet. If properly labeled, the FAQ pages may be available as a rich search result on Google Assistant, which means that your content is available for voice searches.

Additional Tips:

  • Don’t use the FAQ mark up for advertising purposes.
  • Make sure each question code includes the entire text of the question and the answer code includes the entire text of the answer.
Hawaii SEO - Google FAQ Rich Result Feature

By deploying rich search features, your business can make its website content more discoverable and easier to access on the search results page, making it possible to earn a higher SEO rank and increase organic click-through-rates and conversions. These are just a few of the many ways your brand can beef up your SEO. To learn more, reach out to Team Vision Marketing. We’ve been a leading full-service Hawaii advertising agency, Web design company,  and digital marketing firm for over 20 years. Take a minute to view some our client video testimonials and hear directly from our key clients on how we’ve helped grow their businesses, or check out our most successful digital marketing and advertising projects in our portfolio.

 

Contact Us:

Phone: (808) 536-0416

Email: info@www.teamvision.com

Web: www.www.teamvision.com

Hear from Harry Saunders, President of Castle & Cooke Homes Hawaii, on his experience working with Team Vision Marketing.

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October 3, 2019

What to Expect After A Google Broad Core Algorithm Update

If you’ve landed on our Hawaii Marketing Tips blog while searching for Team Vision Marketing, please visit our home page, creative portfolio or client video testimonials. If you’re interested in learning more about Search Engine Optimization and SEO, please continue reading.

 

Ever wonder how Google’s algorithm works, and how it ranks the millions of web site content updates that are published every day? Sadly, we’ll never get to know exactly what factors go into their ranking system, but we do know that the Google team is constantly making to maintain their search engine algorithm. Although these updates usually go unnoticed, several times a year the algorithm goes under a big update called, the “Broad Core Algorithm Update.” With these big updates, you may notice some changes in your search engine optimization (SEO) rankings. 

If you’re just hearing about the core update now, don’t worry. In this blog post, we provide a brief explanation on how these updates might affect your web site and what your brand should do after the update to upkeep the success of your online presence.

What is a “Broad Core Algorithm” Search Engine Update?

The broad core algorithm update is one big update that improves Google’s overall algorithm. With these updates, the algorithm changes the weight and importance of its ranking factors, then it reassesses everything on the internet, based on these improvements. 

Broad core updates are not as major as the Penguin, Panda, Pigeon, or Fred updates, which were implemented to address specific faults or issues in Google’s algorithm. Instead, these updates are made to help Google provide the most relevant and best information to their audience.

What will happen to my web site’s SEO rankings?

Unfortunately, Google has a reputation for giving vague explanations on what issues the updates will address, so we don’t know exactly what will happen when the changes roll out. The rare times that Google has explained how an algorithm has changed, they were trying to promote a specific behavior, such as mobile responsiveness or the adoption of HTTPS as a required part of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) best practices. 

However, you can expect to see notable changes to your web site ranking and web traffic. The improved algorithm will edit the web sites ranked on SERP, prioritizing the most relevant and up to date content. Luckily, Google announced the planned core updates in advance, which allowed companies to make last-minute improvements to their sites Search Engine Optimization strategies in order to lower the chances of any negative changes resulting from the algorithm update. 

My web site SEO rank dropped! What should I do?

Remain calm. A shift in your SERP rank after a core update does not mean that Google is penalizing your site, nor does it mean that your web site is low quality. Keep in mind that this broad core update is reassessing your content against all the other content that has published since the last update, making newer and more relevant web pages more discoverable for everyone. Google used a wonderful analogy to describe how the core algorithm update operates:

“…Imagine you made a list of the top 100 movies in 2015. A few years later in 2019, you refresh the list. It’s going to naturally change. Some new and wonderful movies that never existed before will now be candidates for inclusion. You might also reassess some films and realize they deserved a higher place on the list than they had before.”

If your website is bringing in less traffic or is currently ranking lower on the Google search engine results, Team Vision Marketing suggests you do the following:

  1. According to Google executives, a drop in ranking probably lies in its relevancy factor. We recommend that you regularly post new blogs or publish new content on your web site.
  2. Look through your content. Make sure you are publishing well-written content that provides quality information and accurate data.
  3. Go through your web site to see if there are any technical issues, like slow loading pages or bad links, that you need to fix. You should be using Google Webmaster tools to regularly evaluate your site.
  4. Update and enhance your SEO strategies to make it easier for Google’s algorithm to crawl your website’s content.

Will my web sites SEO ranking recover?

Your ranking and web traffic may or may not improve in the next update. It’s not guaranteed that all your improvements will help your site recover to its former search engine ranking. Improving your web site’s rank on Google is not a one and done type of job. It requires regular maintenance to keep up with the competition. You may want to check out our recent Hawaii SEO Tips blog post, designed to help local Hawaii businesses improve their Search Engine Optimization strategies. 

My web site rank went up! Will it stay like this forever?

That will depend on you. SEO best practices are constantly changing over time. Team Vision urges all brands, including the ones who are currently ranked at the top of the SERP, to regularly make improvements to their web site and their SEO. Regular web site maintenance is the key to sustaining your web site’s successful online presence. 

To conclude, Google’s broad core algorithm update ensures that it’s providing the best information for everyone. The core update may or may not affect your online presence, but all brands should actively publish new content and practice webmaster approved SEO tactics. If you are a local Hawaii business that needs assistance with your advertising, web development and/or strengthening your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts, reach out to Team Vision, a Hawaii full-service Hawaii advertising and digital marketing firm. We have designed and built web sites, and provided SEO management services for Hawaii clients on O’ahu, Maui, Kauai, Lana’i, and the Big Island of Hawai’i.

 

Contact Us:

Phone: (808) 536-0416

Email: info@www.teamvision.com

Web: www.www.teamvision.com

Hear from Harry Saunders, President of Castle & Cooke Hawaii, on his experience working with Team Vision Marketing.

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Contact Us for Help with All Your Marketing Needs

Call Us Today at (808) 536-0416.

September 1, 2019

Hawaii Search Engine Optimization – SEO Companies

If you’ve landed on our Hawaii Marketing Tips blog while searching for Team Vision Marketing, please visit our homepage, creative portfolio or client video testimonials. If you’re interested in learning more about Search Engine Optimization and SEO, please continue reading.

Search Engine Optimization – SEO Tips for Hawaii Businesses  

Updated: September 1, 2019

Chances are, if you own a business, run a business, or market a business, you’re familiar with the term Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, and many of you are implementing Hawaii SEO strategies at one level or another. What we’ve found in our 20 plus years of web site design and development experience, is that many small businesses are either overlooking SEO completely, they’re doing it themselves at a very basic level, or they’re assuming their web design company is handling SEO properly – and they’re often not.

This article is designed to provide small business owners an overview of some of the best practices currently being utilized in the world of  Search Engine Optimization and things that we know work because we actively use and test them for our Hawaii clients. That being said, SEO requires a large investment of time on an ongoing basis, it requires some technical knowledge, and it also requires you to consistently monitor changes in SEO best practices and then adapt to those changes regularly. If you do decide to handle SEO on your own, here are a few key SEO tips to get you started. Contact us if you would like more information or assistance with your Hawaii SEO needs.

Why Is  Search Engine Optimization So Important?

Before we get into recommendations to help you improve your web site’s SEO, it’s important to start off with why SEO is so important for your web site. If your web site does not appear on the first page of search results (Google, Bing, etc.) when users execute a keyword search, then your company will basically appear as non-existent to online users. Therefore, it’s critical that you get into the mindset of your customers, determine which keywords they employ most often to search for and find your web site, and then optimize your site’s Search Engine Optimization strategy for those keywords

1. Web Site Design and User Experience for SEO

Many marketers don’t realize just how critical their web site’s design, navigation structure, functionality, content, and even the Content Management System (CMS) are to an effective Search Engine Optimization Strategy. Because Google can’t rely on your keywords and content alone to gauge the value of your web site, design and user experience now play a major role in how Google evaluates and ranks your site in order to provide searchers with the best possible listing results they can.

What are the key indicators Search Engines look at when evaluating web sites for search engine rankings? Here are two of the big ones.

  • Bounce Rate – this reflects the amount of people that go to only one page of your web site and then leave. For example, if you were to search for Hawaii Advertising Agencies, click on Team Vision Marketing’s search result, hit our home page, and then immediately click the back button to go back to the search results, then that would be considered a bounce and reflect poorly on our search engine rankings. If too many people only visit one page of our site and then leave, eventually our search rankings will drop. This is why it’s important for businesses to monitor web site analytics regularly and make adjustments to your web site when you see negative trends such as high bounce rates.
  • Time on Site – this one is self-explanatory. The longer you keep visitors on your site, the better. This shows Google (and other search engines) that you are providing relevant and high-quality content that users who land on your web site are truly interested in engaging with.

How can I improve bounce rate and increase time on site?

Your web site’s design, user interface and content can all affect bounce rates and time on site. The good news is that you can improve many of these items on your existing site if they are not currently up to par. Here are some questions to ask yourself about your current web site. Does your web site look current and incorporate responsive design techniques so that your content is optimized for whatever device and screen size your end user is viewing your site on? If not, you may have to think about starting over and creating a newly designed site. Does your web site include current information, pictures and videos that encourage web site visitors to keep reading and viewing? Does your site feature strong content that provides value to your users and encourages them to share it with others? Does your site funnel users through a path to get them to click on multiple pages until they reach the point of purchase or a contact form? By using a strong design strategy and well-developed content, you will be able to guide users to where you want them to go and then make them feel good about it when they get there. This will increase time on site, lower bounce rates, and improve your overall search rankings.

2. Web Site Optimization for SEO

In addition to having a strong web site design, it is important that your web site be optimized for the following – before you even begin developing your list of target keywords.

  • Fast load times
  • Quality user experience
  • Mobile-friendly/responsive design web pages
  • SSL security (a must since July of 2018)
  • No 404 Page Errors

We’re not going to go into detail on each of these items, because if you aren’t already familiar with these terms, you probably shouldn’t be handing your own SEO. The bottom line? You can have a great web site design, quality content, and even a sound keyword strategy, but if your site doesn’t include the recommended optimizations above, your search rankings will suffer.

3. Crawlable and Accessible URLs

It’s critical that you design your site so that Googlebot’s (and other leading search engine’s)spiders can access your web site and understand everything on it, from navigation, to text and keywords, to videos and anything else you want Google to index. This step is another critical piece of the puzzle. Without it, none of your other optimizations are going to matter.

4. Content Best Practices for SEO

Although the basics of content marketing haven’t changed much in the last year, we have to include a section on Content when talking about current SEO best practices. Here are a few key strategies we recommend.

  • Leverage video content.
  • Update old blog posts with current information.
  • Review and edit the content on your site to make sure it’s still current and high quality.
  • Regularly review and update your backlinks strategy.
  • Optimize your content for long-tail keywords ( long-tail keywords are keyword phrases that contain at least three words. They’re more specific and less competitive than generic keyword terms).
  • Linkless mentions (mentions of other brands in your text without linking to them).
  • Topic clusters (a collection of interlinked articles or pages around one umbrella topic).
  • Longer blog posts (current recommendation is 2,500 words or more).
  • Interactive content.

5.  Compelling Title Tags and Meta Descriptions

Depending on which articles you read, some will say that Google no longer uses meta descriptions and tags for search rankings, and others will say that it is still used and important. From our experience in managing and studying SEO results for our clients, we feel it’s still very important to optimize your site’s meta titles and descriptions. Even if they are not used in the search rankings algorithm, there is a high percentage of time that the meta description and the meta title from your web site are used in the search results text. How Google displays your search engine result can determine whether people click on your listing or a competitors, so make sure you develop strategically written titles and descriptions, and monitor your competitors search listings results so that you can evaluate and modify your meta data to remain competitive.

6. Primary, Secondary, and Long-tail Keywords


What are Primary keywords?

As the name suggests, a primary keyword is a keyword that is used before any other keywords on a web page or in an article. It’s the most important keyword on a web site and should be used in a site’s title, domain, as well as in the site content. Primary keywords are the main keywords for which you want your site to rank in search results.

What are Secondary keywords?

Secondary keywords are those which play a supporting role to the primary keywords. They can be a more flexible than your primary keyword. Try to pick words that people are most likely to use when searching for your product or service.

What are Long-tail keywords?

Long-tail keywords are more specific keyword phrases that visitors are more likely to use when they’re closer to the point-of-purchase or when they’re searching for a very specific product or service. They can be hugely valuable if you know how to use them. For example, as an advertising agency, our primary and secondary keywords might be “Hawaii Advertising Agencies” or “Honolulu Advertising Agencies.” A long-tail keyword would appeal to users searching for a specific advertising agency service, such as “Facebook Ads Management Companies Hawaii.” Long-tail keywords may have less searches, but the conversion rates are much higher, and they are less competitive because they are so specific.

Once you have all your keywords in place, don’t limit yourself to using them on just your web site. Incorporate them into your social media channels and posts, in any website-related blogs, in your e-newsletters, and in any digital press releases.

7. Social Media as part of SEO

Does social media marketing have an effect on search results?

Yes. Social media is designed around mass sharing. Optimizing your social media efforts will drive a lot more traffic to your web site which can positively affect your SEO rankings. The more people that share your content or link to your web site from your social channels, the more visibility and traffic your web site will receive – both important factors in SEO. In addition, we already know that Google crawls and displays personal Facebook accounts, Twitter accounts, and LinkedIn pages. And more recently, we have begun to see business pages (i.e. Facebook Pages) being returned as search results for keyword searches that are linked to the Services descriptions that Facebook now offers.

Well there you have it. These are just a few of the many Search Engine Optimization tips and best practices that we deploy here at Team Vision Marketing, and there are many more. You didn’t think we’d give away all of our secrets, did you?

If you found this article on Search Engine Optimization interesting and insightful, please give us a call at (808) 536-0416 to learn the rest of our SEO secrets, and find out how we can help you improve your digital marketing efforts? We’ve been a leading full-service Hawaii advertising agency, Web design and digital marketing firm for over 20 years. Take a minute to view some our client video testimonials and hear directly from our key clients on how we helped grow their businesses. Then, search for Hawaii Advertising Agencies on Google and tell us what you find.

Contact Us:

Phone: (808) 536-0416

Email: info@www.teamvision.com

Web: www.www.teamvision.com

Hear from Bruce Barrett, VP of Sales & Marketing at Castle & Cooke Hawaii, on his experience working with Team Vision Marketing.

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Call Us Today at (808) 536-0416.

July 11, 2019

Know The Common Difference: Black Hat SEO vs. White Hat SEO

If you landed on our Hawaii Marketing Tips blog by accident while searching for Team Vision Marketing, please visit our homepage, creative portfolio or client video testimonials to learn more about us.

Know the Common Differences: Black Hat vs. White Hat SEO

What is Search Engine Optimization or SEO?

If you’re not in the know, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a vital digital marketing strategy that is used to improve a website’s Search Engine Results. SEO  helps drive web traffic to your site organically. You can read more about SEO marketing and additional tips on our SEO Tips for Hawaii Businesses blog post.

Black Hat SEO vs. White Hat SEO

In this blog post, we provide an overview of the Black Hat and White Hat approaches to common SEO Marketing strategies. By understanding their differences, you can confidently distinguish which SEO marketing tactics will improve or hinder your online presence. 

You may have heard that White Hat or Gray Hat is the preferred and ethical practice of SEO marketing. This idea is prevalent because the White Hat approach follows the Webmasters Guidelines, which lists techniques that have long term benefits for your online presence. These techniques will also reduce the risk of being penalized by Google’s algorithms because they’re geared towards creating a valuable audience experience on your site. Going the White Hat route does require more effort and time on your behalf, but the payoff is well worth it. 

Black Hat SEO marketing includes “quick win” approaches that work outside the Webmaster Guidelines, thus manipulating the search engine’s algorithms to get a higher SERP ranking. Although controversial, these methods do work, but only for a short amount of time and the result of using these taboo techniques may get your web site penalized by Google and other search engines. We here at Team Vision Marketing  highly recommend avoiding the use of Black Hat SEO techniques because they cater to the search result’s algorithms, instead of benefitting your customers with rich content. Remember, the health of your online presence relies on the number of people that visit your site, how long they stay on your site, and how many pages they visit. 

What Happens When You Use Black Hat SEO?

You can’t cheat your way to the top of the SERP unscathed. Although it’s not illegal, Black Hat SEO tactics are shady tactics that violate the Webmasters Guidelines. If caught, Google will send a preliminary warning against your site and lower your ranking, giving you the chance to correct the wrong. Once you fix your SEO issues, you can submit a reconsideration request to restore your ranking. If your site continues to break the search engine’s rules, the site will be excluded from the SERP. Ultimately, this will your weaken your online presence and negatively impact your company’s reputation.

Creating Web Content

Content is one of the top key factors that affect your search rankings. However, your web page’s content is a broad web component that isn’t limited to materials created by you. It also includes the information or materials shared from other content creators.

White Hat:

White Hat SEO marketers understand that Google rewards sites that regularly post valuable content. The higher the rank, the more likely you will receive increased web traffic and new leads to your site.

Knowing this, you should create excellent content that covers trending topics, and that includes popular search words and phrases. Your content should also include credible links and share other high-quality materials, like videos or infographics, that help your audience discover new content creators or in-depth information sources. You should also regularly update older pieces of content with current information.

TIP: We suggest writing longer blog posts (current recommendation is 2,500 words or more). Longer blog posts help make your posts stand out not just to your audiences but to Google, as well. Think about it, longer content means more keywords and backlinks.

Black Hat:

When it comes to creating content, Black Hat SEO marketers will try to use auto-generated content. This is content created programmatically, using a set of rules or scripts instead of original content to trick Google filters. If you come across an online article that is full of grammatical and spelling errors, has duplicated information, is full of spam adverts, or includes nonsensical strings of keywords, it was probably auto-generated.

Adding Keywords and Key Phrases

Mixing in popular, relevant keywords and key phrases in the content, tags, and metadata are important to improving your  SERP ranking. These tactics help direct leads to your web site via search engine inquiries.  

White Hat:

The proper way of using keywords is to pair  your content with a blend of primary and secondary (AKA related) keywords. We suggest brainstorming search phrases related to your content or research keywords with tools like Google Trends, Google Search Console, and Google Correlated. You can even use the “Search related to _____” section at the end of the SERP for keyword inspiration (Image 1). 

Hawaii SEO, Black Hat vs White Hat SEO, Search Related Social Media Marketing

TIP: Optimize your content for long-tail keywords (long-tail keywords are keyword phrases that contain at least three words). They’re more specific and less competitive than generic keyword terms. Long-tail keywords are also optimized for voice searches.

Black Hat:

A common Black Hat hack for incorporating keywords into content, according to HubSpot, is keyword stuffing. Essentially, keyword stuffing is using an unnecessarily large amount of irrelevant or repetitive keywords in an attempt to rank higher for key search phrases. This is most commonly seen as blocks of text repeating the same words or phrases so often that it sounds unnatural. 

Here’s an example of keyword stuffing:

Honolulu, Hawaii Search Engine Optimization - Keyword stuffing example
Image 2

Another common controversial keyword hack is hiding text, which is used to trick audiences without raising red flags. This method can trick the search engines into taking account of all these keywords and ultimately result in a higher search engine ranking. 

Here are the following ways Google says that black hat practitioners can disguise text and links:

  • Using white text on a white background
  • Locating text behind an image
  • Using CSS to position text off-screen
  • Setting the font size to 0
  • Hiding a link by only linking one small character—for example, a hyphen in the middle of a paragraph

Getting More Backlinks

Backlinks or inbound links are incoming links to your web site. These links help add credibility to your content, as they are considered as a vote of confidence that your content is high-quality.

White Hat:

There are a number of authentic ways you can increase backlinks, but they do require time and effort. Here are our 3 tips on effective, Google-compliant methods of increasing backlinks:

1. Build a reputation as an expert in your field by frequently producing high-quality content, like blog posts, infographics, videos, or reports. Once established, other reputable web sites will want to share your content on their site and add backlinks to your site.

2. Network with popular blogs relating to your field or participate on news web sites as a guest blogger. Guest blogging, when executed within Google’s guidelines, is a highly effective SEO marketing strategy where you publish your content on another web site. This gives you the opportunity to increase brand awareness and create backlinks, thus enhancing your web traffic with a new set of audiences.

3. Moz.com suggests trying out “Ego Baiting”, which is a type of well-researched content that recognizes the excellence of highly reputable bloggers, industry leaders, etc. for the purpose of building a link networking relationship. “The hope is that, by being included, these people feel better about and are more inclined to share the content with a link,” according to Moz.com. This process includes outreaching to the recognized companies or individuals to encourage them to share the link to your “ego baiting” content on their site. 

Black Hat:

Creating Private Blog Networks (PBN) is a Black Hat SEO technique used to increase backlinks inorganically.  PBN are a collection of spam web sites or blogs that will backlink to a central web site (see Image 3). PBN cheat Google’s algorithm by artificially boosting the “trustworthiness” of the central web site. You can easily tell if a website is a part of this scheme if the content of the PBN web sites are basic or repetitive and if they all backlink to one site.

Hawaii SEO Tips - Black Hat vs White Hat Hawaii SEO Blog Post
Image 3

Building Structured Data & Schema

Think of Structured Data and Schema as something similar to metadata. These HTML tags help organize your web site’s data and add more descriptions to your content. This, in turn, helps search engines understand your web site better to create enhanced search results via rich snippets like reviews and phone numbers. 

White Hat:

White Hat SEO marketing will use Structured Data and Schema to enhance their look on SERP by adding extra helpful details that their search audience will find valuable. For example, a boutique hotel will add tags to include room rates (Image 4) or a cooking blog will add tags that will show the calories of their dishes (Image 5).

Hawaii SEO, Honolulu Search Engine Optimization, Black Hat vs White Hat SEO Blog Post Hotel Rich Snippet
Image 4
Hawaii SEO Strategies - Black Hat vs White Hat SEO Blog Post Recipe Rich Snippet
Image 5

TIP: Write strategically compelling tags that will help your site stand out from your competitors. Make sure to monitor your competitors search listing results so that you can evaluate and modify your Structured Data and Schema to remain competitive.

Black Hat:

Someone practicing Black Hat SEO will abuse Structured Data and Schema by providing inaccurate information to fool search engines and users into clicking onto their web site. For example, you can use Schema markups to artificially inflate your positive reviews or ratings with a fake review site, and use structured data to make the fake reviews stand out on search results pages.

 

Conclusion:

White hat Search Engine Optimization is the best way to sustain your long-term online presence and increase your overall web traffic. With our White Hat tips, you can increase your web traffic organically, build strong networks with other reputable sites, and strengthen your site’s credibility. 

Black Hat SEO techniques should be avoided as much as possible. While these shady tactics can achieve short-term results, search engines have created specialized algorithms to penalize Black Hat techniques:

  • Florida, which penalizes keyword stuffing
  • Panda, which penalizes content farms
  • Penguin, which penalizes certain bad linking practices

These penalties include lower search engine rankings, a decrease in web traffic, having your web site banned on the SERP, and a crippled reputation. 

If you found this blog post on common White Hat vs. Black Hat Search Engine Optimization techniques interesting and insightful, please give us a call at (808) 536-0416 to learn how we can help you improve your digital marketing efforts. For over 20 years, we’ve been a leading full-service Hawaii advertising agency, web design and digital marketing firm. But don’t take our word for it, please view our client video testimonials and hear directly from our key clients on how we helped grow their businesses.

 

Contact Us:

Phone: (808) 536-0416

Email: info@www.teamvision.com

Web: www.www.teamvision.com

Hear directly from Dolly Moreno, Dirctor of Sales & Marketing at Honua Kai Resort & Spa, on her experience working with Team Vision Marketing.

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Contact Us for Help with All Your Marketing Needs

Call Us Today at (808) 536-0416.

Sources:

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/331480

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/black-hat-seo

https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-link-building/tactics