Top 6 SEO Strategies for 2010

There is one certainty about search engine optimization (SEO) – the game is always changing. 2010 is the year of real-time, personalized results, growing importance of social, community and collaborative platforms and web mobility. We need to adapt our SEO strategies to stay ahead of the curve. If we cling to “normal” SEO, we stand no chance of survival.

The king is dead, long live the king!

Top 6 SEO Strategies for 2010

In 2010, the following 6 areas deserve more attention then ever:

Blogging

If you are not blogging in 2010 you are missing out big time. Blogging is one of the most powerful ways to promote your company/website online today. Concentrate on lots of unique content and write as frequently as you can. Then promote your blog in blog directories, blog search engines and through social platforms.

If you cannot commit to regular blogging, write guest articles for other blogs. Make sure to write content-rich, focused and relevant articles. You want to provide top quality, useful and practical information the readers will want to not only read but spread around (viral content).

Community Involvement

One way of getting more involved in your industry is by commenting on relevant blogs. Done properly blog commenting can increase your exposure to new audience, build trust and increase traffic to your site. Remember to provide valuable, relevant information to generate interest and build authority, so that the readers will want more of you and your expertise.

Content Optimization for Returning Visitors

Branding will be more important then ever. You will want your loyal visitors and brand fans searching the SERPs for your listing and clicking trough, which will ultimately improving your positioning. Your website should then be optimized for returning visitors and those who click your link in search results because they trust you.

How do you optimize for regular visitors, not just the casual search visitors? Instead of screaming headlines and catchy topics, create more in depth articles, concentrate on substance and themes that solve your readers problems.

Social Media Marketing

There is no doubt that social media optimization should be on a to-do list for any small business competing online. Your social media strategy should be concentrating on proactive online reputation building through positive company image, trust and authority, engaging in online communications, monitoring and excellent customer response – rather then reactive PR management after the damage has been done.

Google’s Personalized Results

Just last month Google rolled out personalized search results which basically means that the results you get will be different from what others see; your results will be tailored to your (personal) browsing history.

Does this mean SEO is dead? No, it means that there is no such thing as “normal” any more. Substance and content are more important then ever. Title, description and anchor text are more important then ever. Visitor loyalty is more important then ever. Google’s personalized results is “the new normal” and is here to stay.

Web Mobility

While the mobile web is still in its infancy, more and more people are accessing the internet on their mobile devices. This is something you should and ultimately have to embrace. Why? Mobile web use is on the rise. There are predictions that mobile web will overtake the desktop within 5 years. Already 1 in 5 Americans access the mobile web each day. In the future, the vast majority of visitors to your website will be on a mobile device. Soon enough you will want to make sure that your website is mobile-friendly. Also, Google has a separate index for mobile content. It’s close to empty so ranking at the top there should be fairly easy.

2010 will most certainly bring many changes and challenges for the SEO world. What are your top SEO strategies for 2010?