SEO Priorities Survey: The Results

Local business listings
More than half of the respondents indicated that the optimization of local business listings is important or vital in 2010. Last April SEOs noticed that Google had begun returning local results for queries without geo-modifiers. Google now analyzes a query to determine if there is a local intent, even if it isn’t specified. For instance, Google recognizes that there’s a good chance a search for “pizza” is an attempt to find local pizza restaurants. With Google’s increasing emphasis on local results and with users’ increasing use of mobile devices, local search listings can’t be overlooked.

Link buying
Again, more than half of the respondents indicated that link buying is a tactic that is not important or is merely somewhat important over the next year. Google has cracked down on link buying over the last year, and the tactic is a risky one for almost any business. Most businesses can’t afford to face the penalties exacted by Google when link buying is detected. While generating inbound links remains a goal of any SEO, buying links is one tactic that will generally be avoided this year.

Link building through strong content
Rather than buying links outright, more than half of the respondents reported that when it comes to link building it is important or vital to generate links by publishing strong content. Attracting links through valuable content is a long-term link building strategy, however the links gained are typically long-lasting and originate from highly relevant sites.

On-site optimization
Here the message is clear. All respondents indicated that on-site SEO is important in 2010. An optimized Web site is the foundation of Internet marketing, and on-site optimization is now a basic requirement of doing business online. Not a single respondent marked on-site SEO among the two lowest priority levels, which was unique among all other tactics listed.

Building or rebuilding a site with siloed architecture
The tactic of siloing, or theme-based site architecture, was a unique tactic in the survey because both extremes — not important and vital in 2010 — were represented equally among responses. I attribute this to the fact that siloing remains a misunderstood SEO tactic. Logical site architecture that groups pages into related themes with a strong landing page at the top of the silo is not only user friendly, it also demonstrates to the search engines a site’s subjects of expertise.

Targeting a new demographic
The most popular response for the tactic of targeting a new demographic was “not important.” I take this as a hopeful sign because it suggests that SEOs understand the importance of creating content and targeting keywords based on the intended audience, to the point where it is no longer a priority in 2010. However, Internet marketers should not close their mind to the fact that finding new user niches for their product or service can be an effective way to grow a business.