What Is Important With SEO and What Can Be Left By the Wayside?

The SMX East Panel Convention happened not too long ago and many topics were presented for panelists to weigh in on. One of the topics placed on the table was SEO and the ranking factors.

In 2017, what part of SEO is still the most valuable and what can be tossed away?

The algorithm is one element of SEO that can either make or break your search engine results. Algorithms are in a constant state of development and evolution. One point of discussion from the panel is how certain things that used to be of concern for SEO are no longer in play. Elements like mobile-friendliness and HTTP are more of a concern than others.

What is of the utmost concern and what is not?

1) The HTTP, which is more commonly known as website security. The panelists did confirm that 65% of domains that have high-volume keywords are secure, but more needs to be done. More people need to switch over to HTTP to ensure the security that is already in place.

2) The panelists found that about 45-50% of the content does have a positive effect on the rankings. An example is comparing the content on pages 1-3 versus page 20. Pages 1-3 are found to have content which is 45% longer when compared to content on the 20th page under a search engine check. This bodes well because the first 3 pages are the ones most people get their results from anyway.

The Key Point To Remember

Do not just write content in order to rank higher. This is another part of the topic that the panelists discussed. The content has to be relevant. The content has to be sufficient enough to reach out to the user's intent. Writing content for the sake of it is not going to get you anywhere. Investigate in what your competitors are doing. Angle your content so that it provides more value than what your competitors are doing. Your content has to make those customers choose you over them. This is why the first 3 pages matter more than the rest.

3) The keyword discussion is still a relevant topic and one needs more refining and discussion.

a) 35% of all content is not using the main keyword in the title. Some say the algorithms understand context more, so the use of the keyword in the title is not needed as much. Others say different.

b) Very few links are found in the anchor text. This is suggesting that this is not a necessary component anymore.

4) Website traffic still matters. High-volume keywords and traffic are interconnected. You cannot have one without the other.

5) Links are still relevant in this day and age. The backlinks matter too, especially when it comes to links that have less than 10,000 searches in a month.

User signals are important too. Examples are things like the bounce rate and the pages per session.

Summing It All Up

Panelists from the convention came to the conclusion that traffic is still the most vital component of SEO. You can have the right content and the right keywords, but without the right traffic tunneling through it does not mean anything.