Over the years, many things have changed, from medicine and science to social norms and taboos. The way we live our lives and spend money and the way we get them is now different. The same is true for businesses—the way they operate and sell their products and services are no longer the same.
Fifty years ago, many companies thought that promoting their brand via televisions, radios, newspapers, and magazines were quite good enough already. But when the Digital Age came, things changed. It revolutionised the landscape of advertising, and it has become the marketing we know now. They turn and adapt to digital platforms to launch and promote their products and services.
Currently, there are now 7.9 million businesses that are online and promoting their brand to consumers. As this number grows, the competition to stay on top gets fiercer. That is why some companies put too much hope and use the new marketing solution—search engine optimization (SEO) to sell their products and services.
Unfortunately, using SEO is not that easy. The lack of proper understanding can lead to confusion and misconceptions. As they develop a false perception of SEO, they would most likely apply it to their products and services, which can be more or less improper practices.
They are hard to prevent since unfamiliarity would inevitably lead us to a tangled web of SEO, which is why others prefer to rely on SEO vendors instead.
Nevertheless, let us clear up everything. Before discussing the misconceptions and myths about SEO services and their practices, you must first understand their fundamental basics.
The Digital Marketing
As time passes, more people gain more access to the Internet. The rise of smartphones and more affordable computers have given them the gateway to connect to others and many things.
According to a report from the Independent, an average person would spend 34 years of their lives staring at their screen. Here, they would learn several facts and news about the world. They can even entertain themselves by watching the latest shows, vlogs, and gossip. But most importantly, people would use the Internet to get stuff.
They Buy The Things They Needed And Wanted Through The Internet.
As more and more people use the Internet for their needs, businesses use this opportunity to promote their products and services. That is when digital marketing derived from and became now the reality.
Today, there are now 4.66 billion people who connect to the web 24/7. Before they even buy something online, they would often read reviews from past customers of that product or service. These testimonials give them ideas of what they can expect or whether it is worth it.
The information age has shifted the brands’ focus to create experiences and establish values for their consumers. Instead of pushing their advertisement as spammers would, they use digital marketing to connect more with their audience. The idea of creating meaningful interaction with them can increase the chances of success. You only need to grab their attention first before you could get them to interact with you.
That is why digital marketing has become a vital tool for businesses to promote their products and services online.
Because Your Website Is Your Best Marketing Asset
That is true since people would prefer to visit a website rather than going to the physical shops in person. Most people do this to prevent themselves from being disappointed that the store does not have what they wanted.
So the web becomes a highway of fleeting online virtual audiences. Anyone who has internet access could browse the web via Google or other search engine sites, so they could find anything that satisfies whatever they need or want.
If you are a wise business owner, you will not let this opportunity slip away. You would establish a website so people would discover your brand and visit it to make a transaction.
Having a website for the sole purpose of getting more sales is a no-brainer, a vital factor in digital marketing. But creating a market strategy campaign is where the hurdle gets in.
The approach would be for the enterprise to project a compelling experience to prove that consumers’ purchasing journey would be worth the price they paid.
So how are you going to bring more customers to your website?
A responsive, clean, mobile-friendly, and secure website can deliver a positive user experience for your consumer. It hooks and grips them to know more about you and your offer while they traverse your site.
To further attract more potential customers, some websites use and apply a particular strategy. That is when search engine optimization (SEO) would come in. With this, becoming more visible in search engine result pages is possible and easier to do.
What’s the Big Deal About SEO Agency?
Why is SEO so important? What’s with all this SEO stuff if anyone can optimise their website by changing the content? Why does it take an SEO agency to leverage my online website?
You might be asking these questions on top of your head.
We have to remember that a large portion of consumers of about 94%, according to LYFE marketing, say that they do online searches before deciding to buy a product or service.
Meanwhile, a finding by Acquisio states that 75% of mobile searches (within 24 hours) are from store visits and 30% of this eventually ends in a purchase.
The digital market gets more saturated with different services and other goods, making the online market competition more intense as time passes. You should know that global ecommerce is growing and expected to grow more than $ 5.4 trillion by 2022, according to Statista. It would simply stress that online shopping becomes more popular and common in years to come.
What SEO does to businesses is to create an ideal user experience for their consumers. This type of strategic effort would encompass site-building and content development. They would effectively earn trust in return because of the value designed to enhance user experience to your consumers. SEO also generates more effective values for your website pages so you can rank higher in search queries closely related to your tailored content. As a result, your website becomes easier to discover, paving more potential consumers into finding your products and services.
Every SEO agency can provide a gateway as they offer access to high-level SEO tools and utilities. As such, a marketing campaign becomes more manageable and more connected to the target audience.
Long–term focus on this SEO marketing effort can bear fruitful outcomes! Favourable results can only happen through consistent optimisation and prudent SEO performance for greater returns. 74% of business owners considered SEO a vital part of their business operation and success, according to Backlinko 2019 reports.
Even more, today—with our current situation, SEO has become a lifesaver in promoting products and services. However, if you wish to rely on experts, it is also crucial to mind the reputation of the SEO agency through client feedback. Doing this will save you a lot of frustration and negative experiences.
SEO Agencies & Digital Marketing in Singapore
Singapore is one of the Asian countries that actively engaged in SEO marketing. Many business owners want to communicate and interact with their consumers, and that is why they also use social media platforms to promote their products and services.
Social networking is another common element that can help them advertise their brand. Business competition has forced them to seek and explore different ways, making them stand out among their competitors.
With a current total population of 5.90 million, 85% of Singaporeans are actively using social media. A report from Strait Times that 71% of Singaporeans check their social media account at least once per day with a minimum of three hours on mobile phones.
As a well-established country, there is no doubt that Singapore has stable access in the digital realm with one of the highest internet penetrations of 88.5% in Asian countries based on Statista results.
The majority of these people are actively using their social accounts and are aware of the latest news and trends. That is why social media marketing in Singapore is quite an intense environment for their ‘local’ marketing competition, where many would prefer Facebook. The largest and most used social networking service around the world.
SEO: The Good & The Bad
The SEO technique strategies have two sides: the white hat and the black hat. If you noticed, these colloquial terms are also used in computer hacking— to show the distinction, and they also share similar traits. One is in favour, and the other goes against the rules.
But the difference is, we are following the guideline rules of the search engine when it comes to SEO (and hacking is, of course, another thing on its own). Because there is always a right and a wrong way in doing stuff, and usually, violating rules will result in nasty punishments while abiding merits a better return!
Black Hat
Black hat SEOs tend to break the rules of the search engine. They are used to cheat or manipulate the algorithm to gain a higher competitive ranking. It offers a quick return to their site but only runs within short-term advantage rather than long-term investment advantage. Plus, it does not help any users and would only wound up a business reputation.
KNOW MORE 4 Black Hat SEO Techniques That Will Harm Your Website
White Hat
It is the most practical SEO method for every business endeavour that seeks genuine ranking improvement. White Hat SEO focuses its methods to provide a more user-friendly experience while completely following search engine rules. It requires high-quality content for a human audience, relevant and helpful information, keyword analysis, link building and boosting webpage performance.
SEE ALSO: White Hat SEO: Increasing Your Rankings By Following The Rules
Should I Stick With Quality or Quantity?
The answer might not be that simple, but there’s no wrong answer either because each has its strong points depending on what you’re focusing on.
But the ideal thing to do is to have the right balance.
Let’s talk about quantity first.
There always exists an unwritten law that says “more is better.” Having more friends, money, time, etc., is considered better. Perhaps this is also true for businesses that follow the method of quantity. For them, more is a better chance for growth exposure, which would lead to following and traffic. For them, having more published content essentially means a higher rate of being visible and found.
If the tactic of focusing on generating more content and using valued keywords seems to work, then this might be true to you. Doubling or multiplying that effort will also double your SEO success. Also, make sure to focus on a single topic that many audiences would be interested in reading.
Delivering constant updates suggests that your chances of being found are almost relatively proportional to the number of published contents. After all, who wants to be left behind from the latest news and trends? Because people are afraid of missing out on the latest information.
What About Quality?
The path to quality is easy when you have the right resources. This option lets you have a more straightforward automated approach to generating more content. Just make sure the resources you use are facts and properly spread out the keywords, then you are good to go. Doing so should make your content SEO ready for Singapore audiences and target market.
Quality, on the other hand, urges for higher content output. Yes, it may be less than quantity, but the aim here is to provide the best possible user experience with high-quality content. Therefore, we can arrive at the qualitative solution that having unique and better overall content will result in favourable outcomes.
It is what users wanted to see rather than what you would like them to see. The purpose of a search engine is to provide answers to every user, and as a firm, you want to offer satisfaction and solution to their queries. People look for things and search for answers. In return, you will have to craft the best possible resolution for your prospective clients.
Your quality experience combined with the knowledge of the subject will be your tool to provide the best user experience!
You wanted to show your audience that you know what they were looking for, and you have it posted on your website. Make sure your content sounds good so the readers will feel you are the expert they could rely on the topic or subject.
Though, you will have to invest more time, effort, and even money. Take note that quality is expensive, not cheap!
Paid vs Organic: What’s the Real Difference?
Organic means something natural and not artificial.
Remember about Google search results? Links that appear below right below ads after you search for something in Google are called “organic results.” Organic result links depend solely on the quality output of its site content. Online users who find and visit these organic links produce another term called organic traffic.
The organic SEO method is arguably a natural technique since it yields top results without relying on paid advertising and paid marketing. It purely focuses on creating highly relevant keywords, meta-tagging optimisation, content creation, etc.
The downside of this method is that it takes quite a while to generate and build traffic from its source link. You would not get immediate results, and increasing your organic traffic requires patience and persistence.
We might affiliate this downside with creating quality content; it’s often challenging to create something that will rank your links up, but this yields long-term positive results as a return.
Paid results are ads that a brand paid for promoting their products and services at the top of the search engine. You would often be found at the very top of (the yellow box tagged with “Ad”) above the organic result links right after you search something on Google.
It is the fastest way to get results with the least effort if you are not quite patient and persistent enough. In other words, it is the most non-organic way of getting to the top of the ranking.
The downside of this is that it costs a lot compared with organic SEO techniques. The duration of its ranking spot is also likely dependent on the payment transaction agreement.
This method offers lesser competition compared to organic SEO, which is why some companies turn their heads for paid ads. These types include forms of paid advertising services like pay-per-click advertising (or PPC for short). It generates immediate results and more traffic in a given period. Your placement above organic results also increases brand awareness.
These SEO strategies and techniques are among the most prominent as far as the current industry would go. SEO has seen its fair share of changes as Google shakes its core with its algorithm update. It will almost inevitably undergo particular changes again in the future. But it is still as it was before—it provides traffic solutions needed for the in-bound marketing brands through optimising search engines.
Since we have a firm grasp of the subject, let us talk about its limitations.
Fantasy vs Reality: The Limitations of SEO
SEO is quite a complex discipline to practice. You have to consider many things, from Google’s algorithm updates to other newer ranking alternatives. Some things limit the hold of SEO despite being an effective solution.
Sooner or later, you will notice some SEO vendors will try to charm you with their claims about their easy-win tricks and strategy. Or even entice because of their affiliation with Google. Be careful not to fall into these false and unrealistic promises. To clear some unrealistic expectations, here are its known limitations:
Results Take Time
Sure, you can get paid ads for quicker results, but you should understand that this is an inorganic form. But we are highlighting SEO that solely produces organic methods without third party advertising firms that would lend you a hand to boost your ranking. It is just pure SEO at work.
Studies show that websites can expect results that take up to several months (estimate 4 to 6 months).
SEO is indeed slow.
SEO works can take quite a while, and websites can expect to see results in 4 to 6 months based on a Forbes article. With lots of intense planning, keyword research, content creation, social media management and loads of technical work, it’s not going to be an overnight massive change. SEO was never about a “get-instant-success” marketing solution. It is more of a careful procedural work before you could reap traffic. It consists of monitoring efforts and analysis to maintain consistent results throughout the campaign.
Unpredictable & Uncertain
Google’s algorithms are one of the biggest secrets. Google has complete control of all the matters when it comes to search ranking. Because of this, your expected results will sometimes go against the opposition.
That means there is no guarantee that you will hit the top spot of the ranking apart from having the best possible (and practical) SEO tactics. SEO does not promise 100% success and improvement. You will still get positive results, but it won’t assure you the very top-ranking page that you always wanted.
If you manage to land the number one spot today, you will most likely get dethroned the following day. The more visible you are, the easier for competitors to notice you and devise a better game plan to compete with you.
But honestly, being number two was not that bad. Your targets would still be able to discover your products and services.
This one is an example of Google’s frequent algorithm updates. Clients often experience their ranks getting pulverised out of the organic realm. Because of a simple algorithm update in Google.
Google (And Its Algorithm Update)
Google Panda is an algorithm update launched in February 2011. It massively hits the links with low-quality content and merits high quality and unique content in the high index. It caused many websites to revamped everything, such as their content—to keep up and recover with the update change.
This one is an example of Google’s frequent algorithm updates. Clients often experience their ranks getting pulverised out of the organic realm. Because of a simple algorithm update in Google.
Algorithm updates are used to provide better and more accurate search results. It can either greatly reward or punish your links.
The only resolution for this case is to have strong SEO, relevant content and tactics for immediate change response. With that implemented, you would not have trouble climbing up the ladder again when your site went under-valued by the update.
SEO Myths That Won’t Fade (And Why You Shouldn’t Believe)
SEO can be an easy subject but hard to practise. Harder to master. Apart from the limitations we discussed, we will further uncover the myths that have kept us from truly understanding SEO.
Every industry has its myths that would not go away. But the more we raise awareness and proper knowledge, the more we can equip people with the right facts. Whether a professional or an average individual.
Myth 1: “Keywords Are Not Relevant Anymore!”
The days of stuffing tons of keywords were now long gone. Thanks to an algorithm revamp called Hummingbird. Google’s Hummingbird algorithm update has brought massive changes in the way Google provides search results. It reduces the excessive use of keyword density.
The days of stuffing tons of keywords were now long gone. Thanks to an algorithm revamp called Hummingbird. Google’s Hummingbird algorithm update has brought massive changes in the way Google provides search results. It reduces the excessive use of keyword density.
Since then, many would assume that keywords targeting have little to no use at all. But in reality, it changes the approach towards keywords. It shifted more on the contexts of words rather than a particular word. It uses an approach that would evaluate the searcher’s intent and reason. In return provides more accurate return results for searchers/users to meet their needs.
It did not abolish the use of keywords but establish another approach that will make more sense behind every user search. Keywords remain vital for knowing what users want. It brings them much closer to what they are looking for. Because at this stage, it’s still quite impossible to find exactly what you’re looking for.
Keywords help inbound marketers to know what online users want.
That is how important they are.
Myth 2: “Meta Descriptions Have HUGE Influence on Search Rankings!”
The answer is “not really.” For those who do not know, the meta description is under the title in search results.
It has no or direct impact on the overall official search ranking. But this alone does not render it obsolete. It may, in some cases, help but not entirely or directly boost your ranking. Despite this, meta descriptions remain an integral part of on-site SEO practice and provide a brief preview snippet of what your webpage contains.
Meta descriptions are an optional component for your links. Even if you don’t have meta descriptions, Google would still find the most relevant texts from your website (usually it’s in the first few lines of a paragraph) or even select texts from different areas of your website.
However, it still gives an impression on your consumers. If they find your description interesting and feel you have what they want, they will click through your website. In this case, a well-written meta description can influence your click-through rates (CTR) or the numbers of people who click on your search result (much like a conversion rate) but not directly your search ranking. Take note that CTR is not part of the ranking factor.
In the end, the meta description is still an essential component in providing interesting snippets to attract online consumers. So it’s still worth investing your efforts in it.
Myth 3: “Long Content Is The Key To The Top”
There is no denying the fact that Content is King. Content is an indispensable element for a better ranking as well as gaining editorial links.
But does your content have to be that long?
Google does not care how long your content is.
For many people, looking at the content is equal to the value depth of a written piece. But this may not always be applicable. The true goal of good and well-written content is always to put the readers at the top priority.
How well does your content value appeal to the interest of your potential consumer?
Some good contents are long, while others are kind of short.
A content marketing piece must inform and deliver quality regardless of how long or short your article piece has to be. Your piece’s intent should always match the consumer’s intent. It has to be comprehensive and showcase trustworthiness to evoke a strong sense of value. In that way, you will earn traffic and the trust of your consumers.
Myth 4: “You Only Need SEO For One-Time”
As we mentioned earlier, SEO is a long process. It never promises instant success or a 100% win rate. SEO is a long-term investment and a long journey to make it to the top.
The online marketplace is an intensely competitive environment, and they commonly do not compromise if one will overthrow them in the market hierarchy.
Some companies might have experienced failed SEO campaigns or did not meet their expectations. Some might have already found satisfaction with their successful SEO endeavour and refuse to make changes.
SEO does not simply end there.
Success requires consistent and continuous striving for improvement. Otherwise, your website’s content and links will be left outdated and with algorithm updates pushing you down below until it falls away to obscurity.
The thing is to maintain your edge in the competition. Never be afraid to take the time to think about what you need if the whole SEO process is getting to you. Have your time as a space for improvement, analysis or anything else that will make your time valuable.
Or else your competitors will take their time to level up their game and beat you to a pulp!
Myth 5: “SEO Doesn’t Work”
SEO takes some time to work and produce a result.
It does not promise a 100% win rate for your site.
It is also not as simple as stuffing keywords, not like in the past. It is almost deceptive because the process is understandable but to make excellent execution that works is complex.
Its workflow constitutes developing high quality, unique content and creating an enhanced user experience that will generate traffic. You can monitor and observe this kind of work by just looking at the organic results. They have keywords, contents and a lot of SEO elements that make an optimised site that ranks.
If you try SEO and expect it to produce a quick result within a week, then you’re doing it wrong.
The Facts & Truths That You Should Know About SEO
Everything Is All About Quality.
Gone are the days of the past where it talks the language of Google. The world of SEO has moved up towards creating and sustaining relevant information. It speaks the language of humans.
Companies would need to leverage their inbound market base and use the search engine. As a result, they would become more visible and reach out to their consumers and audiences.
SEO Will Eventually Reach $80 Billion.
According to Forbes, businesses in the United States are spending more or less $80 billion on SEO. It shows that companies are migrating to the niche services of the SEO industry.
Great Visuals Make Content Look Great!
There is an artistic side to SEO. We are talking about colours, shapes, and graphics. Because why not?
You do not want to bore people with a wall of texts!
According to statistics, 90% of information from the brain is visual.
We are not just referring to still images, but they can also be videos.
Graphics play a crucial role in adding value for your content. It enhances the way you communicate your message or ideas to your audience and increases their response rate.
A decent visuals increase (like infographics) the chance of users sharing your content via media platform and will lead to more visibility and traffic for your website (we can call that “viral capabilities”).
Good visuals can help optimise your page.
Mobile-Friendly Pages Are A Must.
According to Statista, 3.5 billion people have smartphones and estimated that 70% are internet users, and 60% of Google searches are done on smartphones.
We can expect that this statistic will rapidly grow in the next five years due to the progress and innovation that the smartphone industry will accomplish.
An optimised mobile-friendly is a critical part of any SEO campaign, and we can agree that people hate it when mobile sites are not optimised and mobile-friendly. A loss in this area will be a tremendous blow for your SEO success. That is how significant mobile-friendly sites are.
Google Is The Undisputed Search Engine.
Google is arguably renowned for acquiring a massive-scale of 3.5 billion searches per day and 1.2 trillion searches per year, according to the Internet Live Stats. It also has a gigantic average market share of 90% in the search engine worldwide.
Now, imagine what those searches could be!
Many companies make the best out of these statistics with every opportunity they could have. Since the number of incoming search queries is ridiculous, being visible in Google’s SERP is enormous leverage for inbound markets.
FINAL REMARKS.
The competition in online marketing is at high stakes. It takes the right knowledge and complete understanding of SEO to bring all the odds in your favour.
As competitions become more aggressive, the more you need to spend time learning more about it. Make sure to read the latest trends, changes, and updates about SEO.
Failing to comprehend will misguide and undermine all those efforts. As such, your business will become less visible, and people will not discover your products and services.
You have to keep in mind that the SERP ranking is a relentless competition, which is why you should use the right SEO tactics.
Knowing what SEO services can do and understanding what they can provide to your marketing brand can bring significant results. A genuine strategical tactic takes a lot of work and effort to yield desirable results.
That is why it is vital to choose the right SEO agency in Singapore or any local SEO company for your business. Make sure they bear promising and realistic results.
To learn more about SEO in Singapore, contact OOm! Our SEO specialist will be happy to explain everything you would like to know.
