SEO Resolutions for 2013

It’s nearly New Year’s Eve and with the 31^st of December comes the annual tradition of making those resolutions that, let’s face it, we won’t be keeping.
Promises of giving up smoking, being healthier, reading more and giving more to charity are all made with the best intentions but come the 27th January all will have been long forgotten.
However as we are all in the resolution mood; if you are an online business or you rely on your site to bring in valuable business then maybe there are some resolutions you seriously should think about making and keeping during 2013.
Unlike making fad lifestyle resolutions that you’re just not going to keep, changing the way you work with your site could help make 2013 a very good year indeed.
So here are my top four resolutions that all site owners should make (and keep to):

This year I will write great content

Don’t just write content – write great content.

Gone are the days of simply writing for the sake of creating a link. If you just write a generic article, submit it to an article submission site that realistically isn’t going to be seen by anyone then you will be wasting your time. You won’t even be getting the benefit of the link you were looking to create. Why? Well links from these free article sites don’t hold any value.
Google want content but they want great, unique content. Content that will engage an audience, content that will provide valuable information. Content that will give searchers the information they were searching for.
They also want you to create content that people will share.
With Google’s continued authorship push this is also going to be an element you will need to keep an eye on.
There are so many ways you can create great content but before you even think about writing externally – you need to check your own site.

• Does your site content do the job?
• Does it provide the information your potential customers need? Does it answer their questions?
• Does it sell?
• Read it back to yourself, get others to read it – is your message coming across?

If you answer no to any of these questions, then it could be time for a refresh.
Once your site is up to speed then it’s time to look at all the other avenues content can provide. But before you start it is highly important you know exactly who you are writing for. If you aren’t engaging with your audience then you won’t truly be writing for anyone.
Do you actually know who your audience are?
Think about the type of content you can create. What purpose will it serve; does it answer any questions or provide a resource that would be helpful?
What types of content can you create? Well here are just a few ideas to get you going:

• Add a Blog to your site
• Hubs
• Guest Blogging
• Whitepapers
• Press Releases
• Guides
• Whitepapers

Of course, the type of business you are will determine what you can write about and what platforms you can create content for. Don’t just write for the sake of it – have a purpose.

This year I will become more social

No; this doesn’t mean you should spend even more time down the pub. If this is one of your New Year’s resolutions then fair play but this isn’t what I mean.
Something I have spoken about quite a bit in the last year is my frustration at online businesses that refuse to embrace social. They “don’t think it is for them” or they “don’t have the time”.
2013 isn’t going to slow down the importance of social and the more you hold off having a presence the more you are going to be left behind.
Social signals are now unavoidably important.