In modern-day society content marketing is implemented in multiple languages. In this category we talk about trends and executions.

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6 Content Tips for Your Social Media

Social media are perfect channels to create an online community. Thanks to social media channels it is possible to start a conversation about interests you have in common with your audience. Have you ever had difficulties creating a customer community and customer bonding? Read our 6 simple tips on how to create content that allows you to start a conversation. It will help you to get started, even if you do not have any breaking news to share.

#1 Ask questions

Almost anyone can be your brand’s ambassador. Hence, it is important for you to ask questions. This will create a possibility for your audience to respond, to share their opinion or to get to know each other.
By inviting your readers to a conversation about a product, you give them the feeling that you care about them and that their opinion counts. In addition, by talking to your audience you will also gain insight into the way your customers think. Both types of information are extremely useful, and can then be integrated into your marketing strategy.
For example, you can let your customers guess what will be the next product in your webshop and then you can raffle a prize for the winner.

#2 Content with a sense of humour

Lots of people scroll pointlessly through their Facebook walls to look for entertaining content. Make sure that you offer a distraction for these potential customers by sharing appealing content. If you put a smile on somebody’s face followers will naturally visit your social media accounts.

#3 Show who you are

Not only your potential customers are checking your “About” page, Google does also. Therefore, it is extremely important to make a personal “About” page. This way people immediately know who is behind the company and what the motives of company’s team are. Are you an owner? Express yourself. Give some personal information. Are you a marketeer? Give a sneak peek behind the company’s scenes.

#4 Quotes

People love quotes and they get inspired by them. And who would be inspired but would not share that with others? No one! Quotes are extremely popular and they should definitely be part of your social media campaign.

#5 Repost evergreen content

Content spreads through social media with the speed of light. If you continue to share regular news you will not stand out from the crowd and your messages will disappear among the other plain content. Do you have any information, blog post or news in your archive that is still relevant ? Then, share it, once again! Those who have not read that post or message will surely appreciate this move. You can also share the same content with new groups of people in order to attract new potential customers.

#6 Help the relevant content

Imagine: You have read an article that you know will be found interesting by your audience. Then, why not to share it with them? Forwarding attractive content gives your social media a boost.
Be aware of what kind of blogs would interest your customers and leads. Then, share the relevant posts with your readers. This way you provide your audience with valuable content and you create a strong relationship with them.
If your readers find an article shared by you valuable, they will share it with their network. Through “the share-cycle” your social media channels are in the spotlights of a wider audience. That is worth trying out, right?

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How Social Media Influencers Boost Sales

Until recently, our concept of celebrity influence was almost exclusively tied to the silver screen or huge record deals. With the advent of social media, the new generation of Brad Pitts are more likely to be popular bloggers or vloggers (video bloggers). These influencers are pairing up with brands more often to create promotional content and drive sales – a tactic which can especially help small web store owners.

Why include social media influencers in your marketing?

Very simply: influencers are social media mavens, and they know what they are doing. Their entire success relies on his or her being able to influence peers into wanting the same things she or he has posted, so you can trust that they have a firm grasp on how to use their social media channels. Including a blogger with a large audience can help bring in new eyes to your store goods, especially if you sell to consumers aged 12-32. Additionally, native advertising – placing products and services in an organic, rather than artificial, setting – works. One study found that purchase intention among consumers is 53 percent higher for native ads than traditional marketing.

In short? A social media influencer could be just the spice your shop needs. To help you, I have prepared specific tips on attracting new customers via social media influencers.

#1 Choose the right person!

  • Do not run head on towards the first influencer you hear about. Spend some time first thinking about the target audience you want to hit: who is your audience currently? Do you want to expand in age, gender, or another demographic? Once you have that in mind, look for an influencer who matches both your brand (e.g., fashion blogger, technology vlogger, etc.) and is popular among your demographic.
  • Spend a little time following your choice on social media: how often do they post? How many likes do they get? Which platforms are they most active and popular on? Do they have active followers who comment, or is it mainly passive likes?
  • Still having trouble picking an influencer? There are several companies who can help match you through their networks.

#2 Contact potential influencers

  • After you have a few people in mind, contact them. Make sure to start off strong: you want to build a relationship with them. Introduce them to your brand, explain why you think they are the right fit for your company/product, ask which products they like. Engage with them through social media channels, and create a rapport. Get to know them before you make a deal.

#3 Time to make a deal

  • Be very clear in your expectations, as well as what you are offering. This includes number and frequency of posts, which platform(s) they will use, and what your idea of potential success looks like. Be sure to share these with your influencer, as they have the best insight into their audience and can tell you how feasible your goals are.
  • This also includes reimbursement: smaller stores often give product or services for free in exchange for posts, while larger stores generally pay.
  • Do not forget customer service: decide who will answer follower questions on posts!

#4 Track your results

  • Make sure you keep a record of how well each post does. Did followers react? What was their response? Were there conversions? If you are unhappy with the results, share your concerns with the influencer. If nothing seems to change in subsequent posts, consider finding a new channel, or maybe even influencer, for your products.

Whether you are just starting out looking for a social media influencer, or you wanted a refresher course, it is going to take some time to nail down the right person. Do not let one or two misfortunes with an influencer turn you away; do your due diligence, communicate your goals, and you will find a successful partnership.

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5 Social Media Trends to Note in 2016

It may seem self-evident, but social media is in our lives in a big way. Every year, more people are posting, tweeting, pinning, and snapchatting – which means that brands need to keep up to stay in touch with customers. Although social media is the best medium to do this, it can hurt a brand’s image if they make mistakes. Read up on safe strategies below, and see what fits your online business.

#1 Social Media as a Search Engine

As I wrote previously, 88 percent of online shoppers admit to reading online reviews before making a purchase. More people are using social media to find reviews about a product or service instead of simply buying. They treat these channels as search engines.

As an online store owner, you should inform customers via social media about products details. This can be physical (images, specifications, product description), price discounts, or encouragement to write reviews on Facebook or Google. Also, make sure that your products are easily findable. For example, on Pinterest, owners can connect Pinterest accounts with their web stores, helping users easily find their website to buy a specific product.

#2 2016, the Year of Buy Buttons?

Buy buttons, placed on social media sites over a year ago, have not yet been commonly used by the public – yet. However, as social media is becoming not just “social” but commercial, all the big sites are covering their pages in these buttons. Buttons make it simple for people to switch from browsing a platform to buying from it. Soon, buy buttons will be available on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram in multiple countries.

Although few customers seem to be interested in social media buy buttons, retailers expect to see a 34 percent increase in revenues from social media – including from these buttons. Adding a button may be a good idea for online store owners, but it may take some time before your customers get used to and use them on a regular basis.

#3 Live Streaming Apps

Live streaming applications will only get bigger, and brands using them will reach a wider, younger audience – close to 100 million active users on Snapchat alone! Some brands already winning at this strategy include McDonald’s, Rebecca Minkoff, and Acura. They use Snapchat to give sneak peeks behind the scenes, at upcoming releases, or a few minutes with a brand spokesperson (in McDonald’s case, that includes several star athletes).

You do not need a LeBron James to do the same for your business. With Snapchat, Vine, or Twitter-owned Periscope, use your channel to show your own behind the scene moments, answer customer questions, show new products, or give tutorials. Do not be afraid to interact with your customers individually, too!

#4 More Engagement on Social Media

For all the activity of customers on social media, brands have not picked up nearly as quickly. Data shows that as of 2015, only 1 in 8 customers get answers to their social media message to a brand within 3 days, while the volume of social media messages sent globally to brands increased over 21% between 2014 and 2015. In 2016, you can expect even greater volume and activity on social media – you have to make sure you know how to handle it, and answer customers on time.

#5 Social Media Brand Ambassadors

2015 saw the increasing popularity of bloggers and vloggers, especially those active on Instagram, YouTube or Snapchat. Most likely they will continue attracting huge audiences next year.
This is great news for your online store, as you can use popular users as brand ambassadors. Thanks to the massive number of followers these users have, your brand can easily gain in popularity. Stay tuned – I’ll be covering this more next post.

Spend some time on social media, and try some different strategies. If one does not succeed, I have a whole list of others that you can try. It might take a little time to figure out what your customers want, and where you can engage them, but the main thing is to engage. Trust me – your audience will appreciate your participation on the channels they use!

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Content Marketing Trends in 2016

Historically, New Year’s has been a bringer of changes. Although often we focus on the personal, equally important for businesses is new trends in content marketing. In 2016, internet users will consume even more digital content than previous years, so it is important to get on top of the trend forecasting now – and get ready for the new year!

There will be even more content created

Compared to previous years, businesses in 2016 will create even more content – not just business to consumer (B2C), but business to business (B2B) as well. The high number of smartphone owners with internet connection make mobile content an increasingly important focus for business owners – but also means that consumers and other businesses online are receiving larger amounts of information at a more constant rate. At this peak information overload, it will be even more difficult to get the attention of your preferred audience. The answer? High quality, personalized content.

Video is the future!

The amount of video that now crosses IP networks monthly is staggering. It would take an individual 5 million years to watch just one month’s traffic – and that amount is only increasing. Thanks to wireless connection and internet speed increases, people have more access to video while on the go. Combined with a written content market that continues to become oversaturated and increasingly impatient users, the demand for high quality visual communication is sky rocketing. Cisco research states that video will account for 80 percent of internet traffic in 2019, up from 67 percent in 2014.

Online videos are no longer simply for entertainment purposes, either. They are also an important source of information, as well as a prevalent form of advertisement. As I have previously written, using videos in your customer service can be a great alternative to traditional assistance, and I am sure that you have noticed an ad before a YouTube video. The three biggest search engines – Google, Yahoo, and Bing – are even getting into the game, and testing video ads in search results.

Personalize your content

The best way to stay ahead of your competition in 2016 is personalizing your content for users. Online business owners should get to know their customers by reading social media where their customers are active. Use these posts to find out if they have any issues with your product, but moreover to see what their interests are apart from your business. Analyze their and your competitors’ social media and blog posts from the past, and use these to create content tailored specifically for them. Targeting and audience segmentation is key for this step.

More content publishing opportunities?

2016 will surprise us with fresh opportunities for content publishing. Interactive content will emerge, as consumers are already more accustomed to individualized results in the digital world. This will switch to personalized content, and a demand that content shifts to users prompts. The unveiling of Oculus Rift and other virtual reality headsets may be the first realistic step in the direction of consumer directed content.

Other mediums we already know may shift how they operate. Twitter is building a new product that will allow users to write tweets longer than their trademark 140 characters, allowing long form content to be shared. Facebook is experimenting with allowing articles to be published straight to their “Instant Articles” platform, rather than being shared in various newsfeeds. Google is soon introducing their own version as well, so expect new content publishing platforms to spread across various social mediums.

Get ready for 2016

Although 2016 will be another record year in terms of content marketing and consumption, you should not be nervous going into the new year. Instead, use this year as a chance to outdo your previous years. Try to create visual aids or ads that add to your online business. Do not use an algorithm for publishing – make it original.

Most of all, do not neglect your audience: use your resources and listen to your customers, so you can present them content tailored to their needs. If you do these things, you will stand out from the crowd – and more importantly, you will stand out from your competitors.

Happy New Year’s!

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How to Make Your Website Findable With Keywords?

You have all the technical aspects of your website in order. There is however one more thing left to do: adjustment of your content in a way that will make it optimally findable in Google. But how can you make your website easier findable with the help of keywords? That is one of the questions concerning SEO that clients often ask me. That is why in this blog post you will find information on how to use SEO keywords effectively in order to help positioning your website.

When you are surfing the internet for usage of keywords you will find that the opinions of SEO experts are divided. That is why I would like to share my experience in what works best for online shops. The mission is easy: to make your website findable! Organic findability usually means a huge boost in your sales and it also saves you a lot on marketing expenses.

Keyword density

Keyword density is being displayed by almost all website analyzers. Website analyzers are companies or websites responsible for in-depth analysis of your webpage(s). What does the keyword density actually tell you? It gives you the information on how often a specific keyword appears on your page.

But what is a good keyword density? Whenever you ask this question to SEO experts, again you will receive many different opinions. It is striking that most of the experts say not to calculate keyword density at all.

Personally, I stick to one rule: put the keyword combination in at least 3 important places. This can be for example in the URL, page title and the header. I try to use one keyword per approximately 100 words on a webpage. This method helps to make our website findable.

Long texts are being preferred

In a previous blog it is explained why you should not overload your text with keywords. In short: Google has a preference for longer texts that go more into depth.

The research from SERPIQ shows really clearly that pages with long texts rank higher in search machines. Thus, if you want to be found on a keyword that has a high competition rate, you should make sure that your page has more than 1500 words. This will significantly increase your chances of a higher rank in the search machines.

Less competition with a long-tail

Approximately 70 percent of all search queries are performed on so-called long tail keywords. Long-tail means that the search query consists of at least 4 words.

The number of search queries on specific long-tail combination is however lower. As a result the competition is also lower. With a low competition keyword there are fewer regulations concerning the keyword density. Thus, you do not have to write long texts to be found organically if your product is very unique or specific.

Who sticks to it, wins

Making your website findable has often to do with being very persistent. Obtaining a high organic ranking in a search engine often takes a lot of time. Of course it depends more factors than only writing texts. Nonetheless, if the technical aspects of your websites are in order, you can continue to improve the textual elements in order to leave your competitors far behind.

Are you going to write a new page, product description or a blog post? I would advise you not to pay too much attention to the number of keywords. Rather pay more attention to the content of the texts and make sure your readers are not being bothered by excessive use of keywords.

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7 Warning Signs That Your Blog is an Advertisement

Writing a blog post in order to boost traffic to your website is a good idea – just make sure you are not secretly, or even unintentionally, writing an advertisement rather than an informative article.

We speak of advertising when your text includes hidden commercial message(s). At first glance, this type of article appears to be informative, however it is actually meant to promote a product or service. This is similar to advertisements on television – they are amusing until you realize that they actually foist something on you.

The greatest threat of an advertising blog is that it impairs your company’s image and it can deter potential customers. Do you want to know how you can prevent this loss and maintain your integrity so your website visitors will be naturally transformed into leads? Check the 7 warning signs that show your blog is an advertisement. If you recognize your blog’s characteristics in here, do not worry – you can always change it.

#1 You shout it from the rooftops!

Are you only using your company’s blog to tell how great your business is or when you have a new product online? If that is the case, you are doing more harm than good for your business. Visitors who were initially interested will soon drop out. Just think of how often you flick through channels on TV to avoid ads. A blog advertisement is treated similarly by its readers.

Instead, your blog should serve as an essential source of information. By showing your customers that you know what is going on in the market and by giving useful tips, you inspire them. You should work towards the situation where your customers are shouting your content from the rooftops, instead of you.

#2 You promise something, but you do not show it

Think of a pizzeria that has a blog post called “5 bizarre pizzas”. Scrolling through the article you realize that this blog post only explains why this pizzeria supposedly has the best pizzas in town. There is nothing written about the bizarre pizzas.

When this happens, the blog’s visitors will feel deceived and will look somewhere else in order to find the information they were looking for. There is a big chance they will never come back to this blog. Therefore, you should avoid false promises in your title.

#3 You do not listen to your audience

When you are not listening to the needs of your audience, it can be that you write about too broad topics. Take for example promotional topics that are not specifically linked to a target audience. This can cause your potential customers to leave you because they cannot find anything interesting or applicable information.

If you want to decide who you want to reach, it is important to imagine who your ideal customers are. You can, for instance, imagine them as different characters. Then you can use this information in order to create content that aims at a specific audience.

#4 Your posts are stuffed with call-to-action buttons

Have you once tried putting yourself into the position of your customer? When you do, ask yourself if you would truly find your article interesting? Do you feel inspired after reading the text or did the text teach you something new?

Company blogs are often seen as appropriate channels to advertise, but appearances can be deceiving. Commercials and advertisements are not the things people are looking for when they are searching for information on or solutions to their problems. Blogs are valuable channels when you want to teach your customers something. When they consider the information you share to be valuable, the step towards a purchase will occur naturally. That is why you should not use too many call-to-action buttons.

#5 You serve yourself, not your visitors

Ask yourself if you are writing for your company or for your visitors. As a marketer, your goal should be to serve your visitors. If what you write is not valuable for your visitors, then there is a chance that they will leave your blog and never come back.

Surprise your visitors with content that stimulates them and gives them an incentive to return to your blog.

#6 You are not yourself

Are you one of those people who believe that there is nobody on this earth providing the same product or service? I hate to break it to you, but the reality is probably different. Even though your business is the best of its kind, it is almost impossible that no one else is offering the same product or service.

You do not need to criticize other companies in your blog to show your company is valuable. If your blogs have the interest of the reader as their fundamental goal and if they are informative, then the readers will regard you as an authority in your industry.

#7 You are selling instead of informing

Logically, you are writing from a subjective point of view. That does not mean you cannot provide sincere and authentic information. Your potential customers are looking for information that will help them make a decision. When they click a link thinking they are going to be informed about possibilities and they end up reading a blog which tries to sell them a specific product or service, they will feel dissatisfied. Try to be the source where a customer can find information that will help him or her to make a choice.

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Content Tips for E-commerce Sites

Many online marketers have predicted that in some industries Content Marketing would be overtaken by big data. However, in the e-commerce sector Content Marketing still takes the first place on the podium.

In a recent research of Smart Insights, marketers were asked what would have the biggest impact in the e-commerce industry in 2015. Below, you can find the results:

Content is key to success. However, content needs to be created first and then needs to be properly used to have impact. Therefore we give you some tips on how to make your content profitable.

There Is More Than One Type of Content

Relationship building content is what many people think of when they hear Content Marketing. This form of content can be published through a blog, Instagram, YouTube or other platforms that are designed to attract visitors, to gain their trust and to present you as an expert in your field.

Good content should not contain your sales text. It can, for example, refer to your products, but it should mostly consider general issues, advice, guidelines and new ways of thinking about industry-related issues.

The so-called Transitional Content is developed to allow customers to switch from brand familiarity to the stage of product search and eventually to the product purchasing stage. A good example of a company that creates Transitional Content is Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola has created multiple sub websites which are not only informative but also entertaining. Some examples of the Coca-Cola’s campaigns are The Ahh, Coca-Cola freestyle and Share A Coke.

Use Videos and Pictures

Writing blog posts and frequently asked questions is helpful, however, it is not the only way you can use content. According to Video Brewery 45 percent of the Internet users have watched at least one online video during a one month period of time. There are approximately 100 million Internet users who watch at least one online video every day. 90 percent of online shoppers find videos helpful when they make online purchases.

That is why it is important to think carefully about the possibilities of using videos. Videos can be used in an instructive way or to as product presentations in order to bind potential customers. In addition, the same goal can be achieved through usage of Instagram or Snapchat.

A good example of companies that bind customers through videos are Red Bull and Blendtec. Blendtec, for example, has more than 830,000 subscribers on its You Tube channel. Quite good for a blender producer, right?

Use Instructional Content

Almost all companies try to get likes, followers and clicks or to draw the customer’s attention. Your company must be quite appealing to make people take any of these actions. However, when you create instructional content and people find that content interesting, then you do not even have to ask them for likes. The likes will follow naturally.

Stimulate Clients Reviews

Who can better tell something about your brand than a customer who has already purchased your product or service? Nowadays, customer reviews are a crucial element for the decision making of online shoppers. A research of Dutch Cowboys shows that 92 percent of the surveyed online shoppers read customer reviews before they commit to buying anything. That means that people prefer to read the opinion of other online shoppers before they trust a company and make a purchase.

There is always a possibility that you will get a negative feedback. Remember that you can use negative feedback as an extra impulse to show the quality of your customer service. If you have no customer reviews, however, potential customers can choose to make a purchase at your competitor.

For now, the motto Content is King will still remain true. If you take the right actions and make the right decisions now, it will definitely pay off in the future.

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2 SEO trends for 2016

Google has been adjusting quite some aspects of its search algorithm and it is wise to keep a close eye on these adjustments. As a web shop owner it could just happen that, unexpectedly, one day you will generate less income just because of Google’s changes. We advise you to be especially up to date with these changes when content marketing, search positioning and SEO are the part of your daily routine.

In short, you will mainly have to pay attention to mobile search and voice search.

#1 Mobile is the future

There will be more mobile than desktop searches in 2016

According to eMarketer 2015 is the turning point when it comes to searches. The majority of the search results comes from mobile devices and this specifically involves organic traffic and paid clicks.

What does it mean for you as for an online entrepreneur?

Besides making your website mobile friendly and creating a responsive design for all devices, there is still more to be done.

Try out your website on a mobile device yourself and see how a client experiences your website. Determine in advance how your content should appear on mobile devices before you start creating a lay out for a website, product pages and landing pages.

Your goal is to give your mobile website visitors the same optimal experience as desktop website visitors. In other words, companies that are present in a digital world have to pay attention to their:

  • Mobile marketing strategy
  • Mobile design
  • Mobile search marketing and advertising
  • Mobile e-commerce and payment
  • Mobile CRM
  • Mobile coupons
  • Integration of social media on mobile devices

Claim your business in Google Search, Google Maps and Google+

A recently published research from Google shows that 72 percent of consumers who googled information about local stores ends up in a shop that is within a 8 kilometre radius.

The optimization of this information has an enormous impact on local businesses and especially on companies in the retail and catering industry.

This fact stresses also how important it is to have your business registered (including your location). Google + and Google Maps offer you the possibility to fully personalize your page. That means a complete description of your products, services, images, videos and reviews.

#2 Voice search

Do you talk to Siri (Apple), Google Now or Cortana (Windows)? If not, try it out! More and more people talk to their phones to have their searches performed.

People who have simple search requests will more often talk to their devices in order to search for information. This is better known as Voice Search. Voice Search help you find answers for simple questions like how, what, where and why. When you ask for example: ‘Where is the closest supermarket?’, your phone will show you results instantly. It will provide a list of supermarkets nearby and it will show you a Google Map so you know how to get there.

Voice Search changes the way we work, because the answer to your search result can be delivered faster. That is because having the phone reading the answer to you is faster than you reading the text yourself. This new technology has been developed as an answer to the ever increasing popularity of mobile search. Thanks to Voice Search, mobile searches are being streamlined and that saves you time.

What can you do to move forward with this change?

You should give a boost to your local SEO. Search results depend on many factors, including a full description of your product or service (price, location) and reviews. All these factors are important when it comes to ranking your website higher in the search results of mobile devices.

It is also important to make your apps search friendly. Recently, an increasing number of apps is being integrated into Google search results because Google began to index app content. Companies can make sure their app can be found easily in the results among web and applications and therefore make it more accessible for their users.

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How Google qualifies your content

The time when you could trick search engines with systematic implementation of keywords is over. Google is now focusing on increasing the true quality of content.
For most of the marketers this is not big news. However, the way that Google assesses “content as good” changes on continuous basis. Recent reports show that the time spent on the website also influences the position in Google. That is why it is extremely important to bond the reader to your page.

Below you can find the most valuable tips that are necessary for the creation of “good content” for your website or web shop.

#1 Make it relevant and readable

An element that is still becoming more important is the number of words and the Flesh-Kincaid Readability score. You can have your text scored here. If you look at all the big players you will see that the length of the website texts have increased by 25% on average since 2014. This suggests that Google looks at the length of the text and appreciates the longer ones.

Naturally, it seems a logical concept, because if you create a short text you cannot go deep into a subject. A lot of people distribute similar content about a specific topic and that is the main reason why Google has found a way to distinguish the quality and depth of the texts on websites.

Readability is the second logical reason for that movement. No matter how spectacular the content you create is, if your text consists of complex linkages and contains meaningless jargon, you will lose the readers’ attention.

#2 Focus on User Experience

As it has been already mentioned in many of the SEO articles, it is a very important element and it is probably not a surprise that Google takes it into account for the website ranking.

If people can easily navigate through your content and if it is well structured, they will be less inclined to look somewhere else to find information they are looking for. When people spend more time on your website, Google receives a signal that your content is relevant and valuable.

The focus, however, lies not only on the desktop experience but also on the usability of the website on mobile devices. This trend will develop even more in the following years.

#3 Stop worrying about keywords

It was not so long time ago that the pages were completely filled with keywords that were related to the topic of the page. Sentences were fully modified to ensure sufficient keyword density.
Fortunately, this is in the past. This phenomenon certainly has influenced what we are still presented with when we are using the search engines. Nowadays, however, consumers benefit more from improved readability and marketers can express their creativity in other ways.

Thus, when you write a text for your website, no matter what the subject is, your main goal should be to provide the reader with high quality content. That means that you should aim at creation of interesting and well readable texts.

However, if the content you write is relevant for the keyword, you should, naturally, implement keywords that are relevant to the topic.

#4 Backlinks are becoming less important

The relation between backlinks and search engine positions have become less significant over the recent years. Instead of link building you can better spend your time on writing content that people want to read and share. This will result in more social media links. Backlinks with a keyword in the “anchor text” are becoming even less relevant. This implies that the unnatural backlinks will no longer be appreciated by Google.

#5 Social media?

It is a gray area, but many see the correlation between the number of social media posts, users and the position in Google. The more people share your link, the more visitors will end up on your website. This is not only essential for your brand awareness, but also for the number of visitors of your website.

In addition, the signals from social media are of relevance to marketers and help them find out whether the content appeals to the audience or not.

#6 What now?

Now it should be clear: the quality of the content is important. In conclusion, most of the former tricks to help keep your Google position high, do not (really) work anymore. Results from the past simply do not provide any guarantee for the future.

Would you like to read more about this research? Click here for the full study.

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