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2011 was undoubtedly a year that witnessed some significant changes with regards to the Search Engine Optimisation landscape and 2012 looks to be replicating its path. We were introduced to “optimising for local search” promotions, Bing’s re-introduction, Google Instant Search, Google Places and finally we saw Google start to consider online activity via social signals. 

For you business to remain competitive in today’s marketplace, now more than ever, it’s critical to ensure your business is found online by your prospective targets. It is almost certain that your competitors have entered the Search Engine Marketing world in a bid to increase their search engine rankings and their online presence. This being said, it is absolutely essential you employ these helpful tips for Search Engine Optimisation in Gold Coast, Australia. 

1. Keyword Phrases: If you’re targeting the wrong keywords, your SEO campaign will obviously be a flop. If your leads and sales through search engine optimization were dismal throughout 2011, it’s time to re-evaluate your keyword targeting. Be sure to specify location in your optimization strategy if you’re targeting local prospects whilst also considering linguistic SEO if you’re targeting a specific demographic. 

2. Content: The content you create should not only be built around keywords you’re targeting, but also around what consumers are going to find useful whilst also accommodating to the likelihood of being shared and linked to. Think of the various ways people like to consume information; articles, videos, podcasts, etc. 

3. Mobile Optimization: If your website isn’t mobile friendly, you’re losing visitors, and quite possibly leads and sales. We’ve become a mobile dependent society and adapting your website to mobile devices increases the likelihood of acquiring new leads and sales. 

4. Local Search: Google Places has become the default for many industry specific searches. 2011 marked the year of key changes in the local search sphere, and consumers have ultimately acknowledged these results as dependable. Appearing in the “Google Pack” starts this trust with your prospects. 

5. Link Building: Search engines play close attention to your internal, outgoing and incoming links, and 2012 will be no exception. If you want to increase your search engine rankings, you have to increase your incoming links – this is no secret. If you only embark on one strategy this coming year, focus on building a strong link building strategy that encompasses internal and external linking through relevant websites, content, directories, blogs and social media. 

6. Canonical Pathway: Creating a clear and precise canonical pathway domain will avoid multiple page variations. The search engine spiders are unable to determine which is the preferred pathway for your website, (http://www.yourwebsite.com and http://yourwebsite.com) therefore, you need to manually establish one pathway. This will avoid what search engines classify as duplicate content within your website. 

7. Image ALT Tags: Often times ALT tagging images and photos is forgotten. Search engines cannot read your photos and images, but they can see and index the text that is associated with it. Creating ALT tags that contain your targeted keywords not only prevent the stop gap for search engine spiders, but also allows an extra source for keyword density. 

The usage of devices such as laptops, tablets, desktops and mobiles is undeniably increasing day by day and this goes hand in hand with the amount of people gaining access to the online portal. People are searching online and they trust the search engines to give them results.