Online marketing is constantly changing, and things won’t slow down in 2021. As you plan for a new year, it’s necessary to know what works and what doesn’t. While some strategies are essentially timeless, some current trends are important to understand and implement right now.

The following is a guide to help you develop a 2021 online marketing strategy to get your business found in more searches.

1. Develop Content That’s Rich and Fresh

develop strong website content
Image via HalGatewood.com via Unsplash.

Content is still just as important as it’s ever been if you want to rank in search engines. However, it’s all about the quality over the quantity of content and keywords. Google appreciates readable content that people find easy to digest. It won’t matter how many keywords you add or the number of H tags, links, images, and videos you embed within – Google won’t reward old-school Search Engine Optimization (SEO) practices.

Keywords are still important, but they aren’t the basis for your content the way they used to be. First and foremost, write for readers, not Google. If you can write engaging content that people actively read and are willing to share, this could signal to Google that the content is worth ranking over competitors.

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Also available as a Podcast:

My guest on this episode of Suds & Search is Barry Adams, owner of Polemic Digital, a specialized SEO Consultancy based in Northern Ireland.

Barry is an in-demand conference presenter and frequent trainer on topics related to Technical SEO. A few places you might’ve heard Barry present include Brighton SEO, Ungagged, SMX Munich, SMX Paris, Pubcon, Chiang Mai SEO, and many other places.

His consulting business has worked with some of the world’s largest brands. Polemic Digital has won several awards including the UK Search Awards, DANI Awards, and the coveted Global Business Insight Award.

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In this week’s video, I share an advanced Local SEO strategy called “Local Content Silos” that will help you gain visibility in nearby cities. If you want to show up somewhere and you don’t have a location there, this strategy will help you out-SEO your competitors and gain additional visibility outside your area. It won’t help you show up in the map pack – you need a physical location for that – but it can definitely help you to show up in the organic results in nearby areas!

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Also available as a Podcast:

My guest on this episode of Suds & Search is Joy Hawkins. Joy is the Owner and Founder of Sterling Sky. She is one of, if not the, most recognizable Local SEO personalities in the world. It’s hard for me to think of anything in Local SEO that Joy isn’t at least somewhat involved in.

She has spoken at every major Local SEO conference… most of them multiple times. A shortlist of places you might’ve heard Joy present includes Mozcon Local, SMX, Pubcon, and Whitespark’s Local Search Summit.

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In this week’s video, I’m sharing an update about another video. Just a few weeks ago, Moz released an episode of its highly popular Whiteboard Friday series, and I was the host! I rocked a killer whiteboard and talked all about Google Posts and how to use them to help your business stand out from competitors. And for all the people out there who thought I cheated and used a Photoshopped background and a green screen, I show proof it was a real whiteboard…

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Google ends Target CPA and Target ROAS bidding strategiesManually optimizing hundreds or thousands of individual keyword bids and various bid adjustments in Google Ads can easily be a never-ending task. Although Google Ads bidding can be complex, most advertisers have a simple goal in mind for their ads – to get more traffic, to outrank their competitors, or the most conversions for their budget. That’s why over the years Google has introduced several automated bidding strategies to help advertisers optimize toward their specific goals without requiring hours of bid management every week. Two of the oldest of these bidding strategies, Target CPA and Target ROAS, allow advertisers to optimize their campaigns towards a specific cost/conversion (CPA) or conversion value/cost (ROAS). Target CPA and Target ROAS are among the most popular bidding strategies in Google Ads for its efficiency towards optimizing toward a specific CPA or Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).

However, in a recent post on the Google Ads Developer Blog, Google unceremoniously dropped the major news that these two bidding strategies will be reorganized in the coming months! In their post, they share that they will announce more details at a future date:

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Also available as a Podcast:

My guest on this episode of Suds & Search is Ginny Marvin, the former Editor-in-Chief at Third Door Media. Third Door Media is the publisher of Search Engine Land, Marketing Land & MarTech Today. They also host the popular conference series Search Marketing Expo with nine events scheduled in 2021.

At the time our episode was filmed, Ginny had just finished her tenure at Third Door Media and we spend most of our conversation reflecting on her time there. Very recently, Ginny announced that she has accepted a role at Google as its new Ads Product Liaison.

Over the course of her career, Ginny has had a truly unique perspective on the industry. I started reading Search Engine Land back in 2008. It has remained the go-to destination for search marketers seeking daily news coverage, breaking stories, industry trends, feature announcements, and product changes.

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In this week’s video, I share 10 ideas for local blog posts to help you write better localized content. Adding more localized content to your blog helps cast a wider net and get your brand more exposure, so use these ideas, or springboard off of them and come up with your own. You’ll show up in more local searches and outpace your competitors, which means more leads when local customers are ready to buy!

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Also available as a Podcast:

My guest on this episode of Suds & Search is Carrie Hill. For over 13 years, Carrie has been one of the most important voices in digital marketing for small and medium businesses. Carrie has contributed her talents at industry conferences, on podcasts, webinars, and blogs.

She has presented at virtually every Local SEO conference including LocalU, Whitespark Local Search Summit, and all of the different Pubcon events. She’s a prolific writer as well. She has contributed to Search Engine Land, Search Engine Watch, and on the Sterling Sky company blog.

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In this week’s video, I share why it’s important to have a blog and how it affects potential visibility in searches. With the right strategy, a blog can drastically increase local visibility, which leads to more customers and more business. Watch the video for all the details.

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