In the past, Google’s algorithm was not quite clever or sophisticated enough to ignore the poor quality links these techniques garnered but that is changing. The Panda and Penguin updates represent perhaps Google’s most aggressive attempt to clean up its search results and in turn, this is having a major impact on the approach that needs to be taken to link building in particular. The type of permalink you pick influences the way these two parties see and value your site. A URL with a load of incomprehensible gibberish at the end is a lot less shareable and enticing than a short and simple SEO-friendly URL. It’s clear that there is a link between the websites which rank highly for a certain keyword and whether or not that keyword appears in its URL. However, this is unlikely to be the only factor that determines whether or not a site can rank well. Before you decide which keywords are right for your brand, spend some time thinking about what your SEO goals are.

Use unique page titles on all pages throughout your website

Google is constantly evolving to better understand the context and intent of user behaviour. Make sure that your website’s main menu only features the most important categories. Since heading tags typically make text contained in them larger than normal text on the page, this is a visual cue to users that this text is important and could help them understand something about the type of content underneath the heading text. Make the content flow easily to keep people intrigued and reading.

A Google +1 can indirectly lead to a better page rank

But here’s the thing: it takes time for search engines to discover (and index) new websites. There are increasing opportunities to use schema markups, depending on your niche. There are numerous schema opportunities for news, recipes, and even fitness video. As time goes on, there will increasingly be more and more opportunities to use schema to enhance your website, tell Google more about your website and make how your website shows up in search results better. Internal backlinks connect different assets — including content, product pages, or other information — together. Naturally, external backlinks will lead to increased brand exposure and sales. User-generated content can increase the relevance and freshness of a website. Users can interact with your website in many different forms. The most common ways include blog comments, question and answer boxes on products, and reviews!

Use unique page titles on all pages throughout your website

You need to get all sorts of links - not just comments, or profiles, or blog posts. A typical site will get links from all over the place and with all different anchors. You need to follow that strategy too (especially true after the Penguin and Panda updates). Target local trade by including place names in your search terms and keywords. This is particularly important for small business website SEO. When it comes to local SEO, it’s more important than ever that you optimise your on-site and off-site SEO strategies for clients and customers who may be searching for your local business. Local competition is heating up, and if you’re not on top of your rankings, you can bet your competitors will be. By following this advice, you will save a lot of hard work and time creating high quality content for poor quality sites. Gaz Hall, a Freelance SEO Consultant, commented: "If you have covered the technical issues of a new website, you’ll have properly prepared your site for all the great content you’ll be adding."

Find out which tools will give you easy, intuitive, and accurate insights

Faked and manipulated website content (even backlinks) can actually harm a website’s SEO. For this reason, creating newsworthy content that inspires viral sharing and natural linking is the best way to ensure valuable SEO-rich backlinks. Paying people to link to your site won’t pay off in the long run, and could seriously damage your search rankings. Mobile does not necessarily mean on the go. Studies find that people often grab the nearest device to look something up and in most cases that’s their smartphone. Search analytics is a new and emerging category of tools. Search analytics tools specifically monitor how your website interacts with the search engines. Though search engine rankings keep on changing from time to time (it’s normal), make sure that you have built your site in the right way and regularly posting quality content to drive a steady stream of traffic to your pages.