The Anti-SEO Report is still displayed on our free resources page, and we will stand by what it says. However, the title alone doesn’t paint the whole picture because we are not anti-SEO in the sense that it should never be used. We’ve adopted the stance that it can’t be your first and only solution for digital marketing. For people who work in an industry where marketing isn’t their primary focus, the term “SEO” has become so ingrained in their minds that they think it is the only and best way to market themselves on the internet.
We are a content marketing agency because content is the foundation of good marketing. Too many people believe that SEO is. Our clients, predominantly attorneys, focus on a few practice areas, and so do we. There are multiple types of digital marketing, and ours is and continues to be content. SEO fails more than it succeeds, leading to content being created solely for its value to search engines. For us, content should be a means of connecting with people. This is why we say we create content for people, not robots.
Despite our focus on content, we do several things that affect SEO. Because of how many people ask us whether we do SEO in any capacity, we wanted to provide a definitive answer. The simple answer is that we do it indirectly. The longer one is this:
We Produce Quality Content
As Google and other search engines become more advanced, they have developed the ability to mimic what a person does when searching for information. Websites that produce content regularly (e.g., blogs, videos) will be attractive to Google because they aren’t running a stagnant website.
The type of content you post matters, too. While there is room for novel or trending topics, evergreen content is still the best option. This content won’t get outdated and will continue to provide value regardless of when a potential (or existing) client reads it. Because it is relevant longer, it holds more value and has a higher potential to appear in search results. That is why our blogs are written with this in mind. Most SEO companies offer more blog articles than we do, but they are stuffed with keywords and are geared toward Google’s crawler bots rather than for the people reading them. While those keyword articles generate another URL for the site and add to the keyword bank for that URL, the overall content is weak. It’s designed to impact a search engine instead of being informative.
Our Websites Provide a Positive User Experience (UX)
A website designed to be easily navigable and searchable provides SEO benefits. Clearly labeled links with corresponding URLs make it easy for search engines to index the site and push it into relevant rankings. Google also tracks how long people stay on and move through the site.
Site Speed & Device Compatibility
When we create websites, we ensure they are optimized to load quickly. Google accounts for load times when determining site rankings. One way to do this is to embed media files from YouTube rather than loading a massive file directly onto your website. Another element is to include compressed images and other files that take up less space. \
Google rewards websites that load quickly and correctly on different devices and screens. Spotlight Branding programs our sites with responsive design, meaning that no matter what size screen you have, the website adapts in real time and displays correctly.
Links, Image Tags, & Meta Descriptions
Websites that link internally have several SEO benefits. Internal linking allows visitors to follow a track or line of thought to find more related information. It also improves search results for specific keywords. Lastly, they enable Google to crawl through your site and index it. To accomplish this, simply link your content with older posts and include links to your contact page.
Meta descriptions are an older SEO trick that is becoming less relevant. (A meta description is a summary of a webpage’s content that appears in search engine results, designed to give readers an overview of what the page is about.) Our websites use an SEO plugin that generates these meta descriptions. They act as the first few lines of teaser text underneath Google’s search results.
Tags, which are not the same as image tags, are pieces of code programmed into the site. They tell Google what a particular portion of the website is. There are two primary sections, <head> and <body>. From there, different elements of the page are entered into the markup.
Image Tags don’t yield many SEO benefits for our clients outside of their logo. However, adding alt-tags to images does impact SEO when it comes to people doing image searches. Google can’t see images, so adding alt-tags to images lets Google know what that image is and if it’s relevant to a search. For our clients, adding these alt-tags to images increases the likelihood of their logo appearing on a Google image search.
Content Still Has SEO Benefits
If you focus your marketing efforts on content, you don’t have to abandon some of SEO’s benefits. We prioritize meaningful connections over mere rankings. Our approach to digital marketing—focusing on quality content, positive user experiences, and the nuanced use of SEO tactics—ensures that our clients stand out for the right reasons. By emphasizing content for people, not robots, we adhere to the evolving standards of search engines and forge deeper connections with audiences. Part 2 of this blog series focuses on headlines, social media, and URL redirecting. Furthermore, we will address which components of the SEO strategy we avoid—and why.
Spotlight Branding
Latest posts by Spotlight Branding (see all)
- How Santa Claus Could Be Killing Your Law Firm - December 6, 2024
- Learn to Be Proactive: It’s What Winning Firms Do - December 5, 2024
- Your Marketing Needs This, But You’re Not Going to Like It - December 4, 2024
