If you missed the January 16 meetup, following is a quick overview of the key concepts and tips we covered.

The first thing to know is …

Google is always changing
– Google has tested over 200,000 experiments within the past year.
– 2,400 of those changes were implemented.

That’s why you don’t want to be chasing the algorithm.

Instead, consider: “What constitutes a Google-friendly site?”

In a nutshell, Google tells you to:
1. Make your site easily accessible to both humans and the spiders that crawl your site.
2. Give visitors the information they are looking for.
3. Make certain that other sites link to yours.

With all of the above in mind we have created a new methodology for describing and performing SEO, which we call Future Proof SEO.

2 the Top has three pillars to its Future Proof SEO process.
1. Architecture
2. Content
3. Engagement

We’ll be taking a deep-dive into all aspects of our process during our February, March, April and May 2020 meetups, but we kicked off the January meetup with an overview of “all you need to know about SEO in 2020.”

1. Web Accessibility = Good UX = Good SEO
Be descriptive! That is, make sure you do a good job describing your content.
– Title tags
– Alt tags
– Headings (H1, H2, etc.)
– Anchor text (clickable words)

Also, provide written transcripts of your videos and make sure pdf’s are accessible.

2. Mobile-First Indexing
There is no longer a desktop index; Google only looks at the mobile version of your web site.

3. Speed
Site speed is as important as ever. And in 2019, Google, in Chrome, started showing which sites “usually load slow” using a “Loading …” icon.

Bottom line: You should be investing as much as you can to get your pages to load as quickly as possible, as it’s extremely important in terms of conversions.

4. Structured Data
Structured data is the programming code behind every page on your web site.

If you don’t know how to code, there are a number of schema generators available to use, and most of them generate valid schema.

You can mark up:
– Products
– Events
– Offers
– Contact Info
– Jobs
– Recipes
– Q&A’s/FAQ’s/How-To’s
– Ratings and Reviews
– Speakable Content

Also, keep in mind that new schema opportunities come out on a regular basis.

5. Content
When it comes to content, make sure to:

– Give your visitors what they are looking for.
– Be exceptional!

That means make sure you:
– Provide comprehensive content at an appropriate level of readability
– Satisfy searcher intent
– Present good semantic markup (what is this page about?)
– Better … media, format, proprietary data, summary

E-A-T or “Eat Up”
– Expertise: Show you’re an expert on the subject matter.
– Authority: Who else says you are an authority?
– Trust: Are you transparent? Are you available? Are you accurate?

Plus …
– Utility: Does the content get the job done?
– Presentation: Is your content easy to find and easy to read?

Keep in mind: It costs Google money to crawl your web site and put it in their database. Google has a crawl budget for your site, and if your site is more valuable they will devote more resources to it.

6. Google My Business and Local SEO
When Google believes there to be a local intent to the search, that’s when you see a map.

Who shows up on a map and who ranks on a map is different than when there is no map.

The map is primarily tied to your Google My Business (GMB) page, which is significantly more important than it was a year ago.

GMB Ranking Factors
– Proximity
– Category
– Name
– Name, Address, Phone Number (NAP)
– Reviews
– Photos/Videos
– Posts
– Web site SEO

Is your GMB page complete and updated?
– Hours
– Questions and Answers
– Attributes
– Products/Services
– Messaging
– Short Name

Again, Google is always changing, which is why you want to future-proof your SEO.

On February 20 we begin a 4 part series on learning SEO with an overview of A.C.E., our philosophy on Future Proof SEO. Then we’ll cover each of these three pillars—Architecture, Content and Engagement—in more detail during our March, April and May 2020 meetups.

Need Professional Help with Your GMB listing or another aspect of Digital Marketing?
If you need help with SEO or your GMB listing—or another aspect of digital marketing—2 the Top Web Design and Marketing can help you achieve the marketing results you are looking for. Give us a call at (615) 874-1455.

Meanwhile, be sure to attend our next Nashville SEO Group meetup.

RSVP here for the next Nashville SEO Group meetup, which will take place on Thursday February 20, 2020 at 6:30 pm.

If you can’t attend on Thursday evening, Ross will be doing an encore presentation at noon the next day. The Lunch and Learn is $20 and will be held at 2 the Top Web Design & Marketing (615 Main Street in Nashville) the Google Partner Agency that Ross founded in 1997.

See you then!