Contributed by Steve Fales (excerpted from the April 2019 AdServices newsletter)

To grow your business and get ahead of the competition online, you need the kind of visibility that puts you high in organic (unpaid) search result rankings.

So what are the search engine optimization best practices for achieving a more prominent position and attracting a larger share of traffic? The answers are changing, and what once were considered the SEO rules for high rankings are now often the low road to obscurity.

Consider these necessities turned No-No’s:

• Exact-Match Keywords. There’s no shortage of tools to help you select keywords that match your page’s objective. The No-No: Choosing keywords based solely on what a machine suggests. The reality is, many search engine scans are looking for human-sounding language and pages that readers can trust. If a page sounds like it was written by a robot, it might get sidestepped, regardless of its technical relevance.
• Keyword Stuffing. Once upon a time in the world of search algorithms, stuffing more keywords into your copy gamed the system in your favor. If you struck the right balance of content and keywords, you could satisfy search engine scans and avoid censure. Today’s scans are far more astute in their page and text evaluations and judge validity with a penetrating perspective that goes beyond the artificial repetition of keywords and phrases. Falling back on stuffing is a No-No that can get your page flagged or buried deep in the rankings.
• Keywords as Content Shapers. Another No-No is creating content using keywords as the main ingredient. Fresh, informative messages and stories are vital in today’s online marketing space. Copy that makes a compelling human connection with your prospect is of much greater value than a collection of words that represent a category of products or services. If you do lure people to your page with a heavy keyword approach, you run the risk of alienating them once they see your site is more calculating than consumer focused.

A strong search engine optimization strategy helps ensure that your website will be found, and visitors rewarded with relevant content. Trade outdated tactics for more in-tune techniques, and your rise in the rankings will continue to reflect the approval of prospects well served.

About the Author

Steve Fales is President of AdServices, a full-service advertising and marketing firm located in south Florida. Serving the HVAC industry since 1998, AdServices has helped many contractors develop top of mind awareness. Contact Steve by calling 800.963.1914 or emailing sfales@adservices.net.