You tackled your brand development, website, SEO, and online marketing campaigns. Hours upon hours of figuring out Google, indexing, crawlability, platforms, mobile compatibility, rankings, and all things search engine optimization and marketing relevant. Whew! Take a deep breath. Relax. OK…that’s enough. Back to work.
Unfortunately, the world of online marketing does not allow one much time to rest on their laurels. It’s a fast-paced world where things can change, sometimes drastically, by the end of the day. Staying up-to-date with SEO is like a doctor needing to know the latest in medical care to treat a wide variety of illnesses. Ok, it’s not life or death here, but you might need serious first aid for your business if you make the wrong choices or don’t dedicate enough time to this craft.
So how do you make sure you and your team stay relevant with the latest SEO practices? Follow as many of these tips as possible to stay ahead of the curve.
- Google analytics certification and resources. There are a variety of search engines where people go for information, but it continues to remain very clear that Google is king. It doesn’t appear to be changing anytime soon so investment in their training offerings is paramount.
- Follow the leaders. Search for the most active groups on Facebook, the SEO leaders (the real ones, not the “gurus”) on Twitter, and popular, new professional articles on LinkedIn. Dedicate several hours each week to staying on top of current information spread through social media.
- Work with a team. Collaboration in SEO is incredibly important simply because knowing all of the possible information is nearly impossible for one person. Find a team on MeetUp, with a coworker space, or a marketing mastermind group online to share and learn from on a weekly basis. The best groups don’t hoard their tips and tidbits, so you may have to jump around a while to find the right group.
- Invest in conferences. Conferences are an ideal place to hear directly from experts, see and learn about vendor offerings that are applicable to your industry, and network quickly. It’s an immersive way to get information, and you can sometimes even stream conference speakers online. Just make sure you follow-up and continue your training over the next few weeks by reviewing your notes, contacting key peers, reaching out to experts with questions, and making the most of your conference experience. You should plan on getting to at least a regional conference about every quarter.
- Create a resource manual. You’ll find new SEO resources every day when you are staying aware. Keep adding these to your resource manual (and deleting those that are no longer applicable) so you can have a toolbox to go to when the need arises.
