A/B Testing for Effective SEO
Running PPC campaigns or testing an email is deemed the most challenging task in digital marketing. But do you know what is more difficult? A/B testing for the SEO landing pages. Things become tougher if you are taking help from the Google Website Optimizer.
If this scared you and you are planning to ditch A/B testing already, think again. When I was running a marketing recruiting agency I was not paying much attention to A/B testing. However, I soon learned about its importance. So before I share how it helped me, let’s learn about what it is, and some terms that will come in handy.
What is A/B Testing?
People also refer to A/B testing as split testing. During this test, you change one or more features of your test page and compare the results with the original page’s performance. After you have a look at the results, you can analyze and decide whether you want to make the changes or not.
In case, the audiences’ response is overwhelming, you would want to try the test page. The ‘A’ in the test is your original page while the ‘B’ is the test page. There is nothing much complex about a simple A/B testing. A very straightforward test that will display the comparison before you. Some of the most common features that people test using the split test are CTA messaging and the color changes.
What is Multivariate Testing?
Multivariate testing is more complex when compared to A/B testing. This type involves the simultaneous testing of various sections on a single landing page simultaneously. Here, you get to test the multiple combinations of a single page. And you will have to decide which one receives the best response.
Companies use this approach to optimize their landing pages better. Multivariate testing also gives you insights about how the various elements of a page are working together. It throws light on the impact of one element on the other. Some of the common combinations that companies test include the many combinations of images and headlines. Apart from that, combinations of buttons and body text also get tested quite often.
Impact of A/B and Multivariate Testing on SEO
You might be wondering that what is the need to get into such complexities and why do companies need to carry out these tests. The answer lies in the great impact that these tests are capable of having on SEO. In most of cases, these tests will have a positive and favorable impact. However, if you are not aware of how to manage them well, these tests can even have a negative impact on SEO.
There are many reasons for the tests going wrong and not giving the expected results. Some of them include:
Cloaking – In case there is a huge variance among the test versions and the search engine sees a very different version of the testing age, cloaking occurs. This can demote your website’s ranking. The worse yet is that your website can even get removed from the organic search altogether as a result of cloaking.
Page duplication – If your website’s pages are identical to each other, the search engine will treat them as duplicates. Hence, creating problems.
Inconsistent redirects – If your web pages keep redirecting to other pages, then that can pose problems as well.
What do Search Engines Want?
Because it is SEO aka Search Engine Optimization, you have to listen to what the various search engines expect from you. Only then will you be able to conduct A/B and Multivariate testing with success.
According to Google, it is the stability and consistency that matters the most. Google hates getting redirected to another page whenever the search engine crawls your test page. Everything that the search engine sees after visiting the page is what it thinks the audience will see as well. And that is how it is. Therefore, anything that causes inconvenience of any kind gets labeled as a red flag from Google. Thus, affecting your test.
Bing
As far as Bing is concerned, it is no different than Google when it comes to the stability of the website. According to the reps of Bing, you should run a test over a course of weeks and not hours to get a fair comparison.
How can I Improve My Tests?
Serve the Primary Content
Make sure that you feed Google the primary content that you wish to have a ranking for. If the original page contains a section that is missing in the test page, then Google will not accept this. It cannot access the page to make a fair comparison. Avoid Cannibalization and be very careful when it comes to title tags, internal links, and body content.
Not Very Different Pages
No doubt that if you wish to test something different, the test page will need some tweaking. However, you should be careful when making these changes. The two pages should not come across as very different from each other. In case they are, it gets labeled as cloaking and you would have to request a manual action to get it fixed.
302 Redirects
In case a split test involves redirection, then you should use a 302 redirect between the test URLs. This tells the search engine that the redirect is temporary. Thus, sending a message to include the original page in the index.
Retain the Original Page
Preserving the links’ equity is essential. If you run your test on the various URLs and your test page performs better than the original, you should not just go about switching the original page off. Instead, consider updating the old page with the changes that received a positive response on the new page. In case, this option is not available, you can always bring 301 redirect t to use.
Run Tests When Necessary
You might get tempted to run tests for a long period. However, it will do you no good. Run the tests as long as it is necessary for you too. This will help ensure that you have enough data gathered to make a fair comparison.
When I had to introduce a webpage on my site highlighting the importance of talent acquisition strategies, I remember creating 2-3 variants of it. Then I let the test run for 2 months. It was a great success because I took care of everything.
Differences between SEO vs Google Ads
SEO vs Google Ads which is the best? This is one of the most difficult decisions that can be made by users who want to boost their website and is that these strategies bring different benefits. Which one offers the fastest results? If you don’t know whether to apply Google Ads or optimized SEO on your website, which way should you go? Find out below!
Should you invest in ads or just continue with a good organic Search engine marketing strategy?
Well, keep in mind that on the other hand, in the fight of SEO vs Google Ads, they do not bring benefits if you use them simultaneously, this is a myth of many developers and digital marketing specialists. We want to say that having Google Ads services on your website will not boost your SEO, on the other hand, it is advisable to use the 2 methods to have more chances of success on your website.We invite you to stay with us, because this SEO vs Google Ads battle has just begun! Let the battle begin!
what guarantees does it bring in this SEO vs Google Ads battle?
We must be clear about one thing, search engine optimization is usually the most effective technique to achieve instant results and make a quick profit. In addition, it is usually one of the most used by developers, to position any type of content in the first results of Google, it means that if you do not have SEO, you will not achieve anything.
How to position with SEO? Through keyword research, as well as using unique techniques such as On-site SEO, local SEO and off-site SEO, among others that may exist. But only having SEO does not guarantee that your content will be in the first place, you must take into account that there are other factors that influence a visitor to leave your page quickly. One of them is to have lousy interactivity, or a web design quite obsolete, so if you want to position with SEO you must take this into account.
But, consider also something quite interesting, SEO is much more recommended in small niches or newly opened companies, in order to find visitors quickly. Of course, properly applied all the techniques of organic positioning, you will see how more and more people enter your niche, generating profits and popularity to your brand.
On the other hand, if you are a company that has been online for a long time, the best alternative would be Google Ads, you already have a path mapped out, what are you waiting for to gain more visitors! So for newly opened websites in this battle of SEO vs Google Ads, the organic positioning of content takes the lead.
Now, why opt for Google Ads?
Keep in mind that if you’ve been online for a while and you want to increase your earnings by far, this platform fits your advertising strategy like a glove. But on the other hand, consider what would be the most appropriate advertising for you, since you must make a considerable investment if you want your ads to spread across the Internet.
We generally refer to the image that you publish for your Google Ads services, are attractive, simple and attract the attention of the customer. With a considerable investment, you can generate great results and make your entire niche spread across various segments of the internet.
So if you also have a physical location of your business, you can link google ad services with maps, anyone who is using the app to know your location or get to a specific place can find you much faster. This is why it is much more feasible to use it with businesses that are already recognized on the web.
So which one to choose in this SEO vs Google Ads battle? If your brand is well known and you have a wide range of customers, Google Ads is the best alternative for you. On the other hand, are you just starting your website, building your brand or looking for customers? Seo strategies would be the best alternative for you without a doubt!
SEO vs Google Ads? Just consider which is more viable for you and your business. As we mentioned before!
Good luck! Lets talk More about SEO optimisation
5 Smart SEO Techniques Every Business Can Use to Generate More Organic Traffic in 2021
It’s no wonder that an SEO strategy can make or break your business. It can hurt your website rankings and make it difficult to achieve your conversion and sales goals. By using the right SEO techniques, you can skyrocket your rankings, increase your website traffic, and make your business a huge success.
If you are wondering how you can boost your ROI by making small changes in your SEO strategy, you’ll find the answer in this post. The best way t for agencies is to go with White label SEO. Today Let’s explore the top five SEO techniques marketers can use to increase their website traffic and earn more sales.
1. Use Relevant Keywords
Google’s algorithm is updating from time to time. Its main focus is to understand users’ intent and provide them with the best and most relevant results that best answer their queries. Putting your best efforts into appearing your website on the first page of Google and using SEO-optimized content is the best idea. Determine the search terms that are relevant to your business will definitely drive traffic to your website and eventually, more conversions and sales.
Keyword research and competitor analysis can play a huge role in strengthening your SEO strategy. It is important to research thoroughly how your competitors are making the most of search terms to attract potential customers. Also, figure out which search terms their audience use to find their website.
By understanding the search intent, search volume, keyword density, type and other important attributes, you can come up with the most effective keywords for your business. Using long-tail keywords is a better idea to help your potential customers find your website. While creating a list of search terms, make sure to consider what type of devices your target audience is using when they visit your website. It will positively impact your website rankings.
You can use SEO tools such as SEMrush, MOZ, and Ahrefs to get related keyword and topics ideas that you can use in website content for better SEO results.
2. Long-form Content
It’s no wonder that content plays a dramatic role in generating organic traffic and highly qualified leads. In fact, the longer the content, the higher the chances of getting top rankings. Writing detailed and informative blog posts that satisfy user intent can do wonders. However, it is not necessary to write 1500 or more words for every post, sometimes information presented in bulleted points are enough to provide what users are looking for.
Remember, your ultimate goal will be to solve customers’ pain points by writing an informative post. You can improve your content marketing efforts by writing a long-form blog post. Repurposing your existing blog post that is performing well on Google is another great idea to improve rankings. By adding some relevant keywords and updated information, you can easily appear on the top SERPs.
3. Create SEO Friendly Video Content
Today nearly everyone prefers to watch videos to solve their problem. Businesses can take maximum advantage of it by creating more engaging and informative videos. Marketers can use video content to drive maximum engagement and more website traffic. Don’t forget to optimize your videos for YouTube, as it is the second most popular search engine that people are using to find what they are looking for. From an organic point of view, it is important to host your video through YouTube; otherwise it will become difficult for Google to understand the content.
You can add the relevant keywords in the text transcripts to increase the rankings of your video content. When you write a detailed video description that includes relevant keywords will help YouTube Spiders to understand what your video is all about. It will also help readers to know exactly what your video contains. By optimizing your video content, you can successfully build a massive list of subscribers that will eventually help increase the organic traffic and website rankings.
4. Internal Linking Matters
Interlinking is a great idea to guide your visitors to other site pages and keep them on your website for longer. It is an effective SEO strategy that can positively boost your website rankings. Avoid using too many internal links as it looks spam for readers. When it comes to adding links, make sure they are relevant to the content, and have the highest number of external links.
One of the best parts of using an internal linking strategy is that it makes it easier for your pages to easily index and rank. It increases your chances of getting more conversions and leads. Google also likes pages that have more links and gives more importance to the page compared to other website pages that have no internal links. Internal linking is a great way to give your low-value pages more value by adding links of the home page, about us, contact us, brochure design or any other service pages. You can also add contextual links on authoritative websites to improve your website credibility and reputation. According to a study it is found out that internal linking does help in increasing the ranking of specific keyword if it is linked on a domain that have good stats.
5. Don’t Underestimate the Power of Social Media
Stay active on social media and regularly update your digital marketing channels such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and more with interesting images and videos. Social media marketing is a powerful way to attract a wider audience to drive more leads, user engagement and website traffic. For instance, if you are a web development company in Dubai and thinking to tap into potential customers that are actually interested in your services.
Wrapping it Up
By following these easy SEO tips will definitely increase the organic traffic that will help you get highly qualified leads and more sales. It is a great idea to stay up to date with Google algorithms to update your SEO strategy and come up with more effective SEO tactics to gain engagement and rankings.
10 Common SEO Issues for Search Ranking to Drop
Wouldn’t it frustrate you to see your search rankings drop after months of pure hard work? Anyone who’s done SEO or search engine optimization for years now knows that this can happen to anyone―even to the most dedicated marketer.
Before you end up losing all your website traffic and potential customers, you need to do two things. First, figure out the reason behind the decrease in your rankings. Second, fix those issues as soon as possible so that you can get back on track.
In this article, you’ll find a checklist of all the possible reasons why your SEO performance has plummeted. But if that hasn’t happened yet, consider this a helpful guide to minimize, if not completely avoid, such problems soon.
Let’s get started.
1. An algorithm update
While this isn’t an SEO issue, to begin with, it’s worth mentioning! As a website owner, you need to check for a recent algorithm change that you might not be aware of. This is a good place to start.
Google has done countless algorithm updates, with hundreds being done each year. The reason? To ensure that its users get the best possible search experience.
What to do: Keep up with algorithm updates. You can do this by following Google Search Liaison on Twitter. They often announce the updates there. At the same time, join SEO online forums.
2. Slow page speed
Page speed refers to the time it takes for a web page to show its content. Google made it clear that it considers page speed as one of its ranking factors. So, be sure to include speed on your SEO success checklist.
Slow pages lower rankings by causing visitors to bounce or spend less time on the page. One of the reasons behind slow-loading pages are big, high-resolution images. Another culprit is bloated code.
What to do: Diagnose speed issues using Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool. Simply enter your URL and click ANALYZE. Google will provide an overall score and a list of suggestions to boost your page speed.
3. Duplicate content
Duplicate content means that the same piece of content appears more than once on the same website or in different places on the internet. Sometimes, this is done to manipulate rankings. Other times, it happens unintentionally.
For instance, let’s say that you run an e-commerce website. You use the same descriptions across multiple product pages. That’s considered duplicate content. Yet, it’s clear that this wasn’t done with any malicious intent.
Google is smart enough to identify duplicate content with the intention of manipulating search results. In such cases, a website may suffer from a penalty or get deindexed.
What to do: Be sure to specify which page is the right one. One solution is implementing a 301 redirect from the “duplicate” page to your preferred page. In case your content is being syndicated elsewhere, tell that website owner to “noindex” that page. That way, Google won’t show it on its search results.
4. Bad backlinks
It’s no secret that links matter for SEO. Backlinks or links coming from another website to yours, specifically. Whether you’re building backlinks to rank higher or have already been getting them naturally, they need to be high in quality.
Toxic or bad backlinks are those that come from unreliable sources. Common examples include private blog networks (PBNs) and cheap link services like Fiverr. Websites in niches that Google monitors closely often experience the impact of these bad backlinks.
What to do: Got a bad link from a site without your knowledge? Contact the site administrator and request for the backlink to be removed. Alternatively, you can use Google’s disavow tool. Note that Google recommends using this tool only if you’re convinced that your backlinks have caused SEO problems.
5. Redesigned website
Don’t get this wrong. Redesigning your website can actually help increase your SEO performance, user experience, and conversions. However, if you’re not careful, you could lose your rankings.
A common mistake is changing your URL structure even if there’s nothing wrong with it. Concerning that, another mistake is not setting up redirects.
What to do: Should you decide on a website redesign, avoid any disaster by first saving your old website on a dev subdomain. Do the necessary redirects and do not fix what isn’t broken! As much as possible, have a professional do it for you―someone or a team with a good track record.
6. High bounce rate
First of all, what does bounce rate mean? It refers to the percentage of visitors who arrive on your website without taking any sort of action. They don’t click any button or read other articles. If you’re seeing a high bounce rate in your Google Analytics, that might help explain why your rankings are not improving.
A high bounce rate can mean a lot of things. Basically, it tells you that your site has problems that prevent people from converting.
One possibility is a slow-loading page as we’ve discussed earlier. Another is that your content hasn’t met their needs or is low in quality. If visitors are bombarded with ads or pop-ups, they won’t hesitate to leave.
What to do: If you see a high bounce rate of at least 70% coupled with low conversion rates, you need to do something about it. Try to identify potential problems from a user’s perspective. Are there technical errors? Is your content enticing? You might also want to use heat maps to better understand visitor behavior.
7. Lost backlinks
Backlinks still remain as a factor that determines your rankings. If you’re getting quality backlinks that helped boost your website traffic, you’ll also want to make sure to not lose them.
The most common reason for losing a backlink is a change in your website’s URL structure. You may have created a new page and forgotten to set-up a redirect. Another reason is that the website that linked to you changed their outbound links from dofollow to nofollow.
What to do: First, find out whether you’ve lost some links by using a backlink tracking tool. There are many tools to help you with this. Once you’ve confirmed a lost backlink, reclaim it. Reach out to the webmaster of that website via email and ask that they link to you again. Be sure to include the new URL in your email. Not all webmasters may respond, but this strategy is worth a shot.
8. A change in search behavior
This isn’t an SEO issue on your website but rather it reflects your audience’s behaviors that may change over time. A perfect example is the recent COVID-19 pandemic that shifted people’s preferences to help them adapt.
Certain topics in your niche may increase in demand and what’s currently on your site may no longer be relevant. As a result, you will see a drop in your article or page rankings.
What to do: Make an effort to stay up-to-date with current search trends. You can know this using Google Trends. Next, create valuable content that reflects your audience’s new reality. Update outdated content where possible. By doing this, you’re letting Google know that you’re being helpful!
9. The Core Web Vitals
Have you heard about the Core Web Vitals? If not, then you should know that this will become a ranking factor in 2021. Once it rolls out in May, it’s going to impact search results for both desktop and mobile.
The Core Web Vitals takes into account the overall experience of your users. It measures the following: A page’s loading time, interactivity, and visual stability. Low scores mean a poor user experience and therefore, lower rankings.
What to do: Find out how well your site is performing in terms of the Core Web Vitals. There are many Google tools to help with the investigation process, but a good place to start would be the PageSpeed Insights tool. It’ll show scores for all 3 web vitals and suggest actions for improvement.
10. Website downtime
Google doesn’t want to rank websites that are down to avoid bad user experiences. Keep in mind, though, that website outages do not result in a penalty. Rather, your search performance decreases when Google bots crawl and the outage happens during that time.
While outages aren’t 100% preventable (they can happen and that’s the truth), make sure that your site isn’t down frequently. If not, your rankings won’t only suffer, but your brand also loses its credibility.
What to do: Invest in a high-quality web host. Do not use shared hosting to prevent overcrowding servers and reducing your own website’s performance. It’s also important to prevent hacking attempts by updating your plugins, using stronger passwords, and making security checks regularly.
Conclusion
These are just some important issues that lead to a reduction in your website rankings and traffic. When you experience it, start making your diagnosis by employing checks right away so that you can recover in no time.
Even if you’re satisfied with your current performance, stay up-to-date with the best SEO practices. As mentioned previously, Google updates its algorithm frequently. Whether these are small or big updates, being on top of your game is the best way to stay visible on search.
Importance of Domain Authority in SEO
SEO and other white label marketing services have gained immense popularity in today’s market. The term “Domain Authority” or DA, is pretty common these days, one that a lot of people might have seen floating about when searching for SEO solutions. The question of the importance of domain authority might be lingering in your mind.
Domain authority might seem like a complicated solution or a non-important part of the bigger picture, but experts suggest that Domain Authority is extremely important and relevant to having perfect SEO solutions.
Domain authority is a simple tool that is used to track the performance of a website. It is not the only important aspect of SEO, but it is one of the metrics SEO’s use to get a sense of how well a domain would rank and how valuable it is in the market.
Having high domain authority instantly improves website traffic and how credible a website is rated on search engines. A site with a high DA score is more likely to rank high on SERPs, so if you are wondering how to increase domain authority, read on.
DA: What is it?
Domain authority is essentially a ranking score that was created by the SEO company called Moz. It helps determine how likely a site is to pop up on the first few results or first page of a search result. Studies state that nearly three-quarters of searchers never really scroll past the first page of a search result, so the first page, especially the first few sites that prop up has the highest chance of gaining visibility and traffic.
The scoring system Moz uses ranges from 1 to 100 and helps to gauge how well a site is optimized for Google. A site with a score of 100 is much more likely to appear on the first page while a site with a score of 1 probably might not show up at all. Therefore, companies whose sites have a higher DA tend to do a much better one with low scores.
Of course, DA isn’t the only factor that contributes to how well a site is doing, the relevance of the page matters to a high extent as well. What DA is really useful for is having to do more with letting you know the potential trajectory of your site for clicks, without showing if it is thriving with tangible results.
How to Improve your Sites DA
To influence your site’s domain authority, you would ideally look into practicing what is referred to as White Hat SEO. This technique focuses on the links you use on your site which seems like an easy process but in reality, it is pretty complicated. When you first register your domain, it often takes a while to build up your site’s authority.
There are many factors to be considered, like proper on-page SEO, ensuring your website’s content is of high quality, keeping your website mobile-friendly, and also the loading speed of your site, something that is often not paid much attention to.
This is how most White label SEO Company build a site’s DA:
- Backlinks: Backlinks are links that are created when one website links to another site. Looking at the quality and number of backlinks you have can have a huge influence on your site’s DA. Low-quality links will harm your domain authority and are those which come from irrelevant or low ranked sites. Getting rid of any bad backlinks is the first step to influence your DA.
- Get Good Links: Getting good links is step two of the process. One of the best methods to do so is by making your site attractive with fresh, relevant, and engaging content that adds value to the product. A lot of this step involves content marketing and relies on sources like blogs and articles. Video content can also be an important source to procure good links. These links must be embedded in the message you want to relay and thus is important to have a value-added content strategy.
- Internal Links: Internal links are those which link one page to another inside the site. This is also a good way to boost a site’s domain authority. They are also a great way to boost Google’s page rank as it crawls your site. Ensuring that the internal links are related by topic or theme, the users will have an easier time navigating the website.
The bottom line is that, if you’re wondering how important DA is or how you can build domain authority, it is quite relevant to building your site’s success. DA scores are highly useful to give you a sight of how your website is doing, which allows you to make certain changes and ensure a high score.
White label firms use many tools to calculate and assess your site’s DA and suggest relevant changes and strategies be enforced, to boost this score. So if your site is not doing as well as you thought, try consulting an expert immediately.