As a company that offers SEO in Vancouver, we know the process is always evolving. SEO is both an art and a science. Today, meeting search engine criteria is not enough.  Writers, designers, and developers have to be mindful about creating content that people want to read and look at, because that’s the only way anyone is going to want to work with you.

Of course, the process is further complicated by changing algorithms and technology. Google is always trying to refine its search engine while people are exploring the web with different technologies that require their own consideration. Being an SEO consultant in Vancouver means staying on top of the trends. To help busy people stay competitive, we’ve put together a few tips for 2019.

Quality over quantity

SEO requires people to write and publish blogs. In fact, this is the reason most websites even have a blog. Companies targeting SEO in Vancouver (or anywhere else) need to find a good content strategist—or an SEO company—that’s going to deliver keyword-rich blogs as part of an ongoing strategy. Google is becoming more sophisticated about identifying quality content, and that’s a trend that’s likely to continue in 2019.

Pro tip: when blog writing, pay attention to user-friendly URLs, optimizing images, and internal structure and linking.

Website speed and usability

Have you heard of SEO web design? If you’re developing (or redeveloping) a website, it’s important to work with people who understand the requirements of search engines and account for it during the design and development process. Speed and load times have always been important to the user experience, but today they’re even more vital thanks to Google’s mobile-first index policy. Ideally, a website should load in about a second. That means pictures, content, and layout need to be optimized for speed.

Pro tip: generally a faster website means a better Google rank.

Re-measure and revise

Search engines often tweak the algorithms and technology to determine website rankings. To stay on top, it’s important to have a general idea of how your website is performing and make adjustments/improvements as necessary. Growth and change are a natural part of the SEO process. If your web traffic suddenly drops, don’t panic. Try to figure out what happened and implement the solutions necessary to get back on track.

Pro tip: there are plenty of free tools and apps that will help you measure what’s happening on your website. One of our favourites is Google Search Console.

Start social pages and talk about your brand

Have you heard about linkless mentions? While building quality backlinks remains an important part of SEO, even having your business mentioned or talked about can be beneficial. Linkless mentions (where people name the business without a backlink) is rapidly becoming a factor in assessing website quality. One of the best ways to get your business talked about is to create social accounts that celebrate who you are and what you offer.

Pro tip: everyone should be posting on social media regularly, even if you don’t have much of a following. Aim for 3-5 posts a week.

It’s not all about Google

While Google is certainly the industry leader, don’t forget those from Apple and Amazon. Amazon is the biggest store on the planet, which means anyone selling a product should have a basic understanding of how their search engine works! There’s an excellent article here from Search Engine Journal.