Retail Observer

RETAILOBSERVER.COM JANUARY 2023 54 Y ou've probably heard the term Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and you may understand the basic premise: making your site and the content you publish easily discoverable and relevant to customers using search engines like Google and Bing. So why – you may wonder – isn't SEO a one-time effort? Why can't we just set up these things on our site and forget about it? If my site ranks well in search today, I'm all set – right? Think of your site as a garden – ongoing maintenance is the equivalent of eliminating weeds and making room for the flowers and vegetables to thrive. SEO optimization and strategy is an ongoing requirement because of the dynamic nature of the digital space and the significant boost that site traffic can provide for your business. ALGORITHMS CHANGE Google, Bing and other search engines constantly update their algorithms – the formulas and weighting they use to rank search results. In 2022, for example, Google introduced their "helpful content update" – a change that penalized entire sites (not just individual pages!) that included content clearly designed specifically to attract search traffic without offering real value to satisfy the customer's "search intent." As algorithms change, so must your SEO strategies and content. THE CLEANLINESS OF YOUR SITE MATTERS Search engines look at technical aspects of your site when determining how high your site should rank in the search results listings. These tech aspects include, among many factors, checking for broken links (links to pages that no longer exist or have moved), missing images, duplicate content and stale content that hasn't been updated in many months. With the dynamic nature of e-commerce sites that continually add new products and brands, remove old models and rotate promotions and packages, there's plenty of opportunity for "digital junk" to accumulate that should be cleaned up. STALE PAGES COUNT AGAINST YOU Regular technical SEO edits to clean up that digital junk and add proper structure and metadata to newly added content will demonstrate to Google and other search engines that the site is presently up to date and receiving regular updates. That, in turn, will strongly signal to Google that your site is relevant and worthy to rank highly in search. Also effective are edits to the content on your homepage, your testimonials, your location pages, etc. The dynamic content on your site should not be limited to your products and pricing. YOUR DIGITAL STRATEGY MAY CHANGE We all know the fast pace of independent retail. Just as your sales strategy in your stores will change and evolve based on new products, market trends and consumer habits, so should your digital strategy. The keywords, blog content, metadata and even URL structure that served you well in the past may require re-evaluating to highlight new trends or drive traffic to the products and categories you want to emphasize the most. At the same time as your priorities are changing, the data you collect through analytics can inform shifts in your strategy: highlighting under- visited areas of your site that you'd like to boost, or content that is unexpectedly popular. YOUR COMPETITION ISN'T SITTING BACK Rest assured, big box retailers and other competitors aren't taking their foot off the gas when it comes to SEO. They're investing in people and tools to try to outrank all others. While you won't have the same resources, there are plenty of SEO strategies that lean into the advantages of a trusted independent dealer: content such as product reviews and explainer articles and videos from a trusted source and a real person; localized content that speaks directly to the neighbors and families who've shopped at your stores for decades; leveraging your deep understanding of your customers to highlight what matters to them. Taylor Ansley, senior director of digital and e-commerce, Nationwide Marketing Group Taylor Ansley SEO Trends RO SEO IS A CONTINUOUS INVESTMENT

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