By Darren Gilbert

“SEO is neither a science nor an algorithm that is known to anyone else other than the actual search engines providing the organic search results and rankings,” explains Thomas Pays, CEO of Just Perfect. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t attempt to understand it.

Create rich content for people

First and foremost, when you consider content, you need to consider who you are creating it for. With search engines constantly changing, it’s easy to think you need to pander to them. However, this is far from the case.

For Stuart McGarrick, Search Lead at Rogerwilco, you need to create content for people, not search engines. “Search engine algorithms are being developed by Google and other search engines to be more and more like people,” says McGarrick. “[This] means that overusing keywords is actually likely to negatively affect your searc h exposure.”

“Don’t think you can cheat the system,” says Pays. “Therefore look at creating an ethical strategy that makes your website relevant to what your user would search for. If your website offers a quality experience for your visitors, you have developed the foundation for a successful website.”

Above all, consider your audience first. Think like your audience. Act like your audience. Create content for your audience.

Promote your business in related digital platforms

“Links and citation (being mentioned on another page without a link) remain key ranking factors,” points out McGarrick. “But to be valuable, they need to be relevant. If you own a website that offers wedding services, you shouldn’t be trying to get links from a car enthusiast’s blog.”

At the same time, be careful when anyone approaches you, promising great ranking results in a short period of time. If it should too good to be true, it often is. Building links and getting citations takes a long time.

Hellen Oti, founder of MarketingWorld, in an article for Business 2 Community, writes, “Whenever you talk to an SEO company or professional who makes such wild guarantees especially, without even knowing your specific keywords, you should be weary.”

Consider mobile SEO

With Google’s mobile algorithm change in April, the need for websites to be optimised for mobile has become a necessity. And especially so if you’re a business.

“We’ve been hearing about it for years: Websites and brands should have a mobile marketing strategy. In 2015, it’s safe to say that the year of mobile is well upon us,” wrote Jim Yu, founder and CEO of BrightEdge in an article for Search Engine Land earlier this year. “When it comes to search engine optimization, creating a mobile site should be at the core of any solid SEO plan.”

For inbound marketers, Moz, there are a couple of things that you need to consider including page speed and not blocking CSS, Javascript or images. For Pays, it’s about ensuring that your website loads quickly and is compatible across multiple devices.

“[R]emember … Google wants sites to render above-the-fold content in under one second. Slow sites could negatively impact mobile rankings,” adds Yu.

What are your thoughts on SEO? Do you have any other best practices? Tell us below.