On March 15, 2023, Google announced a major algorithm update, known as the Google Core Update. This update is aimed at improving the quality and relevance of results for Google search users. The update is expected to have an impact on search rankings, and website owners and SEO professionals should pay close attention to any changes in their website’s search engine rankings.

What is a Google Core Update?

Google started its core update algorithm on January 13, 2020, and continuing to roll out fine-tuned add-ons. Like Google helpful content update, core update also targets helping websites with high-quality content.

A core update is and major update in Google’s algorithm that affects how the search engine ranks websites. These updates are released periodically, usually several times a year, and can have a notable changes in search engine rankings. Core updates can result in some websites will see an up shift in rankings, while others may experience a downfall.

What to Expect from the March 2023 Core Update

Google has not released specific details on what changes are included in the March 2023 Core Update. However, based on previous updates, we can make some educated guesses about what to expect. Here are some areas that may be impacted by the update:

Content Quality:

Google has always placed a high priority on content quality, and the March 2023 Core Update is likely to emphasize this even more. Websites that provide high-quality, relevant, and useful content are likely to see an increase in rankings, while those that have low-quality or irrelevant content may see a decrease. This means that website owners should focus on creating content that answers the user’s queries in-depth and provides a better experience. Google suggests the best content that you can produce.

User Experience:

User experience (UX) is another area that Google has been focusing on in recent updates. Websites that provide a good user experience, such as fast loading times, easy navigation, and mobile optimization, are likely to see an increase in rankings. On the other hand, websites with poor UX may see a decrease. Therefore, website owners should make sure their website is optimized for mobile devices, provides a smooth browsing experience, and has a clear navigational structure. Make sure your site is well review by an UX expert. (We can help you with a free assessment).

E-A-T:

E-A-T means Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. This family of three are important factors in Google’s search algorithm. Websites that demonstrate E-A-T in their content are likely to have an increase in rankings. If you do not consider this tree, your site may see a decrease in ranking. Therefore, if you are a website owner, you should ensure that the content is written by experts or with expert input, and the website’s authoritativeness and trustworthiness are established through transparent information about the business. One of the best practices to have E-A-T content is asking your expert team members to draft content for you. Or at least an outline based on their expertise.

Backlinks:

Backlinks are still an important ranking factor, but the quality and relevance of the backlinks are more important than ever. Websites with high-quality, relevant backlinks are always can see an increase in rankings. Find any  low-quality or irrelevant backlinks may see a decrease. Therefore, website owners should focus on acquiring high-quality backlinks from relevant sources. Ask your SEO team members to stop any nasty backlink practices. They certainly know what such practices, which Google hate, are!

Spammy techniques:

Google is always working to reduce spam in search results, and the March 2023 Google Core Update is likely to continue this trend. Websites that use spammy tactics, such as keyword stuffing, cloaking, or link schemes, are likely to see a decrease in rankings. Website owners should ensure that their website follows Google’s guidelines and does not use any spammy tactics.

Let us see some steps to be taken, If your website is affected by the Google core update:

1. Don’t get shell shocked: Core updates can be stressful. But it’s important to stay calm and not overreact. Wait a few days or even weeks to see how your website’s rankings stabilize before making any drastic changes. Sometimes sites get back without taking any action.
2. Assess the Impact: Keep watching Google Analytics regularly. Check your website’s traffic and ranking positions before and after the update. Identify which pages have been affected and how much. Also use tools like SEMrush, or Ahrefs to analyze your website’s data.
3. Analyze Your Content: Google core update is about quality content. So, valuate the quality of your content, and ensure that it’s unique, informative, and valuable to your target audience. Make sure that your content is optimized for the right keywords, and avoid any keyword stuffing or over-optimization.
4. Audit User Experience: Check your website’s user experience and identify areas that need improvement. Ensure that your website is fast, easy to navigate, and mobile-friendly. Make sure that your website is secure and has a clear structure. Use Google’s
5. Improve Your Backlink Profile: Major Google Algorithms check for backlink quality. Google core update is also one such.  Check the quality and relevance of your backlinks, and ensure that they come from authoritative and relevant websites. Avoid any paid back link schemes or spammy tactics, and focus on building high-quality backlinks through guest blogging with focused content, outreach, and social media. Use some back-link audit tools. We use Link-assistant. You can also check with SEMRush and see toxic links to be addressed.
6. Enhance Your E-A-T: Review your website’s Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Ensure that it’s established through transparent information about your business. Include author bios, your customer testimonials, and case studies to showcase your expertise and build trust with your site visitors. Tip: Using real names with their social media profile links will add authority.
7. Stay Up-to-date: Keep up with Google’s latest algorithm updates, and make sure that your website complies with the latest guidelines. Stay informed about the latest trends and best practices in SEO and content marketing.

Remember, recovering from a Google core update can take time and effort. According to Google, Broad core updates tend to happen every few months. So, content that was impacted in Search might not recover until the next broad core update is released, even you have made improvements in the site.

But by following these steps, you can ensure that your website is well-positioned for success in the long run.

The post Ranking better after Google Core Update 2023 first appeared on Macronimous Blog.

To get business online, the first step is to build a website. But having built one does not guarantee Business Conversions. This both of us know. The real deal begins when we start marketing and see the clients come through. But, given that there are thousands of websites, of which, 100 odd ones are in your own niche, and that too in your own neighborhood, how do we stand apart!! 

Let us accept. The competition is tough. But, still, we need to beat the competition. But how?

Thankfully, I have been in this game for more than 20 years and I have seen the markets and trends change, players come and go. One thing that keeps me up and running is that I’ve been careful to work according to the trends of the market. Trends and strategies in SEO are changing and keep changing. Endurance in SEO learning is what helps us in Macronimous to run and catch up with the changes. Also, to apply those changes in Strategies!

If you will, let me share with you one key SEO strategy that I have been working on. This, if you can share it with your clients, it may prove beneficial. 

There are prospects out there in the online space. But how do we navigate to reach the right client is the key question to be answered. Having helped companies for a long time get their business conversions, I have some insights to share with you for the year 2020. 

There are around 6 major online platforms today when we speak of marketing a business online. They are Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest. I’m sure you know it. Today, I want to share “what” needs to be done on these platforms, especially in Google, for conversions. Our SEO guys call it “ROI driven SEO”

Irrespective of the business vertical, Google is a key player where we need to tap in. With around 3.5 billion searches we have a lot of potentials to tap. So, what to do in Google?

SEO – Search Engine Optimisation First things first. Nowadays, SEO has become a necessary pain in internet marketing. Without optimizing your website, in other words, make it Search-Engine-Ready, we don’t even start anywhere! 

Why? – As a user understands what my website is, what are my business offerings, Google (algorithm) also understands, in fact, a bit more. It understands my website to the extent that, it decides whether to show my website to a certain person’s query or not. To help Google understand my website, I make sure that my website is Search-Engine-Ready. 

How? – Making my website Search-engine-ready is where I “begin”. To do this, my team carefully analyses the major points as per Google guidelines and makes my website compliant to it. This is a careful effort that my team puts in with regards to Keyword Research, Content Optimisation, Website structuring, Back-end compliance, Page Speed, etc. 

What Else? – I know that in every business vertical, the competitors also make their websites Search-Engine-Ready! So what difference do I make? Hence, to have an upper hand in this, my team works towards a strategy called Link Building, where my website gets mentioned (links get submitted) in other relevant sites. Google algorithm picks these data and understands that my website has many mentions too. 

ROI? – Having a Search-Engine-Ready website is my ROI improving? When people search, is my website available right in front of their eyes or not? Making sure that my website is shown by Google in front of relevant people when the search is my KPI for SEO. 

There are scores of a website which are in no shape or form near to anything like this. Why not we help these sites to be Search-Engine-Ready and then up the game by using my team to do Link Building in a consistent manner?

The other strategies like Google Ads and other marketing are done on Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, etc I will share some other time. 

The post The why, how and what else of ROI driven SEO first appeared on Macronimous Blog.

Internet marketers would be aware of the importance of generating maximum visibility for their business. However, they aren’t well-versed with the right strategies to be used at the right time to accomplish this objective. Both conversion rate optimization and SEO work wonders for a site, however, when linked together these two strategies can work in tandem with your enterprise objectives.

If you are looking forward to optimizing your enterprise goals and increase digital representation, the perfect combination of CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) and SEO will be imperative. It’s crucial to captivate potential consumers and always keep them updated with your offerings. With SEO strategies and CRO tips going hand in hand, you are sure to climb up the SERPs quite fast.

The ‘bond’ that lasts long

SEO and CRO have to work together in order to deliver the expected outcomes in improving the visibility of the business among your potential customers. Here are some ways in which it can be done to boost your business’ search rankings:

• Focusing on individual products
• Using keywords strategically
• Having compelling, relevant, and crystal clear headlines
• Creating simple conversion processes
• Testing

Tools to look for

Combining SEO efforts and targeted CRO strategies would be a tough game without support from the right set of tools. Here’s a sneak peek into the world of exclusive, innovative, and sought-after SEO tools:

1. Optimizely

When it boils down to achieving professional-grade AB Testing, nothing can get better than Optimizely. Let’s take a look at the benefits of this particular tool:

• Easy to sync as the tool supports a wide provider-base
• Availability of Multivariate Testing
• Testing of diverse variations
• Easy to edit with basic HTML and CSS knowledge
• Presence of advanced testing features

In spite of these features and highlights, Optimizely isn’t quite within the reach of general users. Most of its attractive features are available in the enterprise plan which makes it a bit inaccessible too.

2. Crazy Egg

Understanding people’s interaction is of paramount significance for a site owner. You must have an idea of how people react and interact with the attractive elements in your page. The four standout features include Confetti, Scroll Maps, Heat Maps, and Overlay Tools. Crazy Egg Users have come up with the following benefits:

• Neat and clean overlay features
• Confetti enables click-viewing and also aids in the identification of search terms, referral sources, and location.
• Built-in segmentation for new features
• Visualization of paths taken by potential visitors in the sales funnel

Crazy Egg doesn’t allow API integration with 3^rdparty software which might pose a restriction for users. Those looking for standalone AB testing tools might not find the best support from this tool.

3. HotJar

HotJar can prove to be the right resource for CRO optimization if you can tap into the right areas. Here’s how to go about the process with HotJar:

• Setting up Heat map for pages with high bounce rates and traffic
• Identifying drivers with huge traffic
• Send ‘Hotjar user survey’ via mail
• It needs a ‘live chat’ module for better user efficacy

Signing off

You will never wish to offer a negative experience to your visitors. Without the perfect amalgamation of CRO and SEO, it won’t be possible to keep users hooked on to your site. These tools will accelerate marketing thus helping you achieve the highest search rankings.

The post CRO Tools That Can Go Hand In Hand With Your SEO first appeared on Macronimous Blog.

However, the reality is, there have to be some returns and for sure – profitable, which is keeping the SEO industry alive. But, let us dive into – why this vagueness – and fish out the clarity that SEO professionals need to have, to explain to their clients.

There are 2 basic things that we need to keep in mind as we try to wrestle with this!

They are What are the Results of SEO efforts? And How can you price them (SEO efforts) based on returns? Let us check them out.

A. What are the results of SEO efforts?

Without figuring this out, we cannot even begin. We have put below the funnel, which captures how this unravels.

1. Attracts Traffic, resulting in an Increase in Traffic: The web world is full of users. But what is it that makes the user come to your site? Here comes the role of SEO, who optimizes your site to be visible to the users – not ‘any’ user, but ‘potential’ users. Any SEO professional knows – this is the toughest part, and it takes loads and loads of work – and no shortcuts work! Not only that, if you set this up well, then almost half the work is done.

2. User Engagement: Here comes the next step, where you engage the user with Quality Content. We have a detailed blog on User Engagement and how to improve the same.

3. User Conversion: Once the user is engaged well, the chances of conversion begins. From a maze of decision-making factors, a certain percentage of users truly move on to the decision of making a purchase

4. Actual Purchase: The final part of moving the user from the point of conversion to actual purchase is such an important factor that, appropriate functionality and features need to be provided for success.

If you have observed, the journey of a user beginning from attracting to a certain website to the actual purchase is pretty much an SEO’s (if he is a good one) turf.

B. How can you price them (SEO efforts) based on returns?

 Now let us talk about pricing the SEO efforts based on the returns. The price tag that comes with hiring an SEO team is usually very clear. Most of them have some criteria. Now, using Google Analytics or similar tools, you will be able to see actual data on visitors and the journey of the visitor to each of these to a certain extent. Putting a monetary value for the user moving from one stage to another would help you to come up with the returns. This would help you to figure out whether your SEO efforts are a liability or an asset.

However, this method is a very simplistic one and the “actual” ROI cannot be evaluated per se. Now let us see some facts involved in measuring the actual ROI.

Identifying the actual ROI – Some factors:

This is actually a tricky game!

Yes, The actual ROI is a tricky game to put one’s hand on. As a simple example, let us consider the people who visit the website and gather the information and then walk into the shop and does a purchase. Some would do a purchase at the shop physically based on the information from someone else who did an online purchase. There are many such cases where the Online and Offline segregation is almost difficult. But in the case of online shopping portals, we can have a better evaluation. However, these are information which may not be available with the SEOs and hence would find it difficult to do an honest evaluation.

1. Incoming Traffic Measurement: The incoming traffic is nothing but the marketing cost. To see the effect of the SEO efforts that have been put in, the traffic before and after SEO implementation needs to be compared. Also, in the upcoming months, a certain cost needs to put for this.
2. No of Users Visiting a Page: A particular value in money can be associated when the users reach the ‘Contact Us’ page or ‘Query page’ or ‘Get Quote’ page. This would be another measure of ROI.
3. Savings on Paid Ads: Money saved is money earned. The keyword for which the users have visited organically versus the price that would have been paid if the visitors came in through paid ads (PPC) for the same keywords can be evaluated. A comparison of the SEO team payment versus this will show the money saved (or lost)by engaging the SEO professionals/team. However, to do PPC work you will again require a team, and they also need to be paid. Hence, unless the SEO team is doing things seriously wrong, you will mostly see money saved than lost.

As you would have figured out, ROI surely can be measured but requires an honest and unbiased approach from both the SEO professionals and the business owners. Since we are business owners, who are SEO professionals, we are able to evaluate the SEO efforts in a seamless way and thereby figure out the ROI. If you are hiring an SEO agency, the best way to measure the return on your investment is working with them closely. It naturally becomes a collaborative effort.

For years, we have been helping our clients to know what they earn out of their SEO efforts with us, showing them the proof of ROI in SEO has always been a challenging but interesting job. We have been kept writing about ROI. Check our past articles on how we can measure ROI using Google Analytics, ROI basics

We would be more than happy to journey with you in your SEO efforts. Let us know your queries in enquiry@macronimous.com

The post 3 best ways to measure ROI in SEO first appeared on Macronimous Blog.

To those who have never had their websites’ positioning in top search engines or “punished” due to unethical SEO practices, you’re just in time. You’re in much better shape than those who have been victimized by unscrupulous SEO companies that will do anything to get their business – and anything to achieve top results – even if it means violating the major search engines’ acceptable use guidelines. Such methods are known as “black hat” in the SEO universe, and the top search engines rarely give second chances when such practices are employed. Pleading ignorance rarely works, as you, ultimately made the decision to employ such a company. It’s your website after all, right?

How Do I Know If My SEO Company Is Legit?

It’s imperative to screen your prospective SEO partner carefully, check references, confirm physical address and phone number and use any other means to verify credibility. While this still is not 100% foolproof, your chances of falling victim to the “quick strike and run” companies are greatly reduced. How can you further improve your chances of finding an ethical SEO company?

1. Ask questions. While “successful” SEO companies rarely give away the ingredients to their “secret sauce” (and understandably so), they should be able to answer general questions – without hesitation – about their practices. Here’s what we tell our clients: “We use only white-hat SEO techniques, primarily because we’re ethical, but secondarily because we want you to be our client for years to come. The easiest way to lose clients is to ‘cheat,’ using bait-and-switch techniques or irrelevant content and inbound links to obtain quick results that will “impress” the engines for a few months – only to drop your site like a hot potato because the methods utilized have violated the engines’ acceptable terms of use.
2. Beware of “Guarantees.” In the world of organic SEO, there is no such thing as a guarantee. We don’t own the search engines – so how can we tell you how they will treat your website? How can 10 different companies “guarantee” their client’s top placement under the same search term? Sure, we feel very strongly about our methods, but we’d never profess to “speak on behalf” of Google, Yahoo! or Bing. We can; however, assure you that we will do whatever we can, within the acceptable guidelines of “white-hat SEO” to provide the search engines with highly relevant content specific to your website. We can also show you what we’ve done for others, and invite you to speak directly with our clients for an unbiased testimonial of our services. Don’t just take our word for it!
3. Delete “anonymous” emails. Many of our clients receive dozens of emails weekly from “SEO experts” who guarantee No. 1 results. Well, we’ve already discussed “guarantees.” Now it’s time to consider the source and ask yourself more questions:

• If this company is so strong in organic SEO, why does it need to solicit me by email?
• Why is there no phone number?
• Why is there no company name?
• Why is this “expert” sending me an email from a “free” email platform (Gmail, Yahoo, MSN, etc.?) instead of a corporate email?
• How did this person find me? (Many times, it’s because you’re at least moderately positioned in Google already!)

“Cheap” Is Expensive

So many of our clients have fallen victim to the many email scams out there, as briefed upon above. Unfortunately, such companies give our industry a bad name, and thousands of dollars – or even tens of thousands of dollars – are lost before clients come to us. If you want quality, LASTING organic SEO, accept the fact that there are no shortcuts and that you usually get exactly what you pay for. Cliché as it sounds, if it sounds too good to be true… It is!

Employing an ethical SEO company like Macronimous to help get you to the top – and keep you there – is the right move not only for companies that have been snake bitten by scammers but first-timers who want to get it done right the first time. Call or contact us today to see what we’ve done for others – and more importantly, what we can do for you!

The post Ethical SEO Companies first appeared on Macronimous Blog.

Presume you have worked on site SEO and now you have got Good/desired SEO results with your website – you are on the top of your business competitors with your targeted business keywords.

Thinking of what’s next? Do you want to leave the site with the results that you have attained and  forget SEO since you have got your results? Nope. You shouldn’t.

If your targeted keywords generate enough revenue then think of how much competitive your keywords should be and how many of your competitors will be using those keywords and working for good number of quality links for their site

Search engine algorithm gives better value for frequently updated a site with keywords around the content and for a site that continuously gets quality backlinks.

Watch closely your competitor and find out what they do to compete for your site. Here are the factors that need to be frequently monitored:

1.  Content updates – It is always recommended to fine-tune and update your content at least once in a month or two with keywords around meeting keyword density and keyword prominence.

2. Brushing up your Keywords  – As always monitor your top ranking keywords and fine-tune it according to the number of total search results and compare with your competitor’s activity on those keywords of your target. Check out the areas in your content to know where you can focus your top keywords and build quality backlinks for those keywords as anchor text. Be sure to meet keyword density and do not stuff keywords.

3. External site link juice – Check whether all the links build exits with the time period since some may be removed or moved out to some inner folder level and the algorithm might not identify those backlinks. So, build equal and relevant links as an alternative to those links that had been masked and improve or retain the position with a good number of quality links.

4.  Monitor traffic – Analyzing your traffic is one of the essential factors were you need to know how a site performs with search engine organic clicks and directories or sites referrals. If you notice any drops in traffic, identify those areas and work on them to set your goal.

And also here is a set of questions which you can use it as a checklist that can help you to maintain SEO results and withstand the competition.

• Check how your competitors rank in Google, Yahoo and Bing for your keywords?
•  Have you updated your content that meets current target market and information?
• Are you tweaking your website structure for search engine friendliness that meets current algorithm?
• Are you working on building quality links regularly?
• Are you optimizing your site with the current popular keywords?
•  Are you analyzing your traffic to know from which location your visitors are coming from and optimize the site for those locations based search engines?

These important factors and checklist will help you to measure the site strength and weakness of your site. Now you should have known that search engine optimization is not one-time activity and search engine algorithm gets updated often and competitors fight for your top keywords position. Keep in mind, your website needs continues SEO in order to retain and improve your good SEO results.

Maintaining the SERPs (result/Position) are equally important as your SEO process. Continuous SEO within the process of SEO is necessary to generate  business queries. So keep up the good SEO, Always, do not think about stopping your activities.

The post How to maintain good SEO results you obtained after great efforts? first appeared on Macronimous Blog.

Link bait is one of the tasks in link building that takes both quantity and quality in links, relevant and irrelevant to your website through various types of tricks and practices.

The tricks and practices are huge enough and it can’t be covered as a theory since all these tricks would differ from person to person ideas and their needs. Few may try running an SEO competition, quiz or awards that represent their business website or blog and few may try writing negative contents on a branded company or about a high profile person around the web so that many would come forward to have the content link on their website or blog in which they may think such collections that would again get them linked from different website or a blog. This works as a chain.

Now one of the most adopted link bait technique is by providing free tools with a code embedded link back to your site or blog and this has been more successful. In fact, many SEO companies do link baiting as a service in different forms

To link bait or Not to Linkbait?

Many people go with a logic Linkbait by default is something bad, is it so?

Before writing this post I just surfed the web to find what bloggers and industry leaders have experienced about link bait. Few were moderate and few feels it has both bad and good

I would say it is how we use, see and perform to the web. We have a lot of debate on this topic, still, some say it as a spam technique and some say it as a quality information or link distribution. Techniques that are open and user-favorable with a link falls under ethical and they are a good portion of link bait and techniques that are off as said attacking a brand for their website publicity, hidden stuff and spamming through various means falls under unethical that results in bad link bait. As I have already told it is up to us whether link bait is good or bad. Besides I would like to get your opinion about link baiting techniques that you have come across or used

The post To Link bait or Not to Link bait first appeared on Macronimous Blog.