This might be the result of a penalty from Google, poor SEO practices, or simply because of a thing we call SERP volatility.

SERP volatility can be defined as a change in the search engine results—often for the worse. It threatens to undo months or years of work and rank maintenance or improvement with a competitor site, especially when coupled with intense competition. You might notice a dip in organic traffic, search visibility, and your place on the first page, which is damaging given that the #1 result on Google gets 32% of all clicks.

So What Do You Do To Combat This Issue? 

If you’re left scratching your head and wondering, “How can I improve SERP impact for my website?” or are looking for tips on adapting SEO strategies for SERP fluctuations, you’ve come to the right place.

Our local SEO experts have the experience, knowledge, and insights to help you understand factors that contribute to SERP volatility and generate an actionable plan to overcome them.

Let’s dive right into it, then.

Search engines like Google and Bing have varying requirements for SERP rankings as they take into account numerous factors to assess the relevance and quality of a website’s content in relation to specific search queries. While some ranking factors may overlap, others can be specific to each search engine.

This means that you can’t apply the same strategy from one search engine to the next and need to take a tailored approach for each platform, focusing on what works based on their individual requirement, algorithm, and your own business strategy.

That’s where the challenge lies—there’s no one-size-fits-all SEO strategy. And if you try to create one, it’s very likely that you’ll fall victim to SERP volatility.

Let’s learn more about it below:

The Many Factors That Lead To SERP Volatility And Changes

Among the various factors—both within and outside your control—that have an impact on local and mobile SERPs, some of the most common include:

• It can be attributed to Google Algorithm changes that take place 500-600 times a year to maintain maximum relevance, efficiency, minimize spammy or low-quality content, and stay up to date with efficiency guidelines. You can combat this by adapting your website and its content based on the latest trends and requirements.
• But it may also be in response to user behavior and search intent, which are known to change over time. Google focuses on the user and centers all content and information around their needs, so any changes in user intent, search questions, keywords, and the type of pages they visit can indicate a shift in your rankings. The simplest way to test this is by searching your keywords or looking at analytics related to it and revising your strategy based on SERP impact and user intent alignment.
• …or perhaps your competition is wiping you out and overtaking your SEO, which definitely isn’t great for you. It means they’re doing something that you’re not, and you need to conduct a competitor analysis to know what that is.

Recommended Read: 8 Crucial Google Ranking Factors You Shouldn’t Ignore in 2020

How SERP Volatility Impacts SEO Performance Adversely

In the big picture, losing one keyword or having one poorly optimized webpage or a couple of penalizations from your Search Engine isn’t terrible.

However, when you put these factors together, you stand to lose a lot of organic traffic, your rankings are dragged down, and most of all, you lose money. Not only will you stop generating revenue from these low-ranking pages and see failed conversions and lower sales, but you’ll also lose money spent on marketing which can cost anywhere from $1500-$5000 a month—and who wants that?

Here’s a quick overview of the impacts that SERP volatility has on local and mobile:

It’s time-consuming, but being thorough is what will help you the most. Individually look at which keywords are being impacted the most, what type of content is generating engagement, and what kind is performing poorly, and do a complete audit of your website to see if it’s functioning optimally.

Sometimes something as inconspicuous as a technical fault at the backend, slow loading speed, poor backlinking, and other on-site issues could be costing you valuable rankings.

Let’s talk about one of Global-marketing Inc.’s oldest clients, Ancient Hair Secrets. Their case exemplifies how fluctuations in search engine rankings can significantly affect a website’s visibility.

Ancient Hair Secrets was operating in a competitive market for its products. They ranked for their top keyword, ‘African Americans hair growth serum,’ at number 6—which isn’t ideal because the average CTR falls sharply after the third position.

Through Global-marketing Inc.’s SEO interventions, Ancient Hair Secrets saw a drastic improvement in their keyword rankings (see the table below).

This demonstrates the importance of staying proactive and adapting to SERP changes for better results.

So, how should you go about it? Let’s break it down for you.

Recommended Read: 3 Insights from Google I/O 2023 for Local SEO

Adapting SEO Strategies To Minimize SERP Fluctuations And Maintaining Your Rankings

What are some great tips to boost SERP impact and visibility for your website and brand?

How do you stay on top of your game and mitigate SERP’s impact on user behavior and engagement?

You take a detail-oriented, custom approach to addressing any and all possible causes.

Every website has its own issues with SERP volatility, which is why you will require a detailed audit to identify where the issue lies in yours and take necessary action to rectify that. Here are some tips:

• Update keyword lists, optimize higher-performing keywords more, remove all technical faults and issues, and double down on your local SEO practices. Routine audits should be a part of your local SEO
• It’s not going to be a quick fix, and it’s a lot easier to lose your ranking than it is to regain it, given that 90% of content gets no Google search traffic. But you need to be persistent with content creation and quality, focusing your strategy based on the numbers.
• Always follow the latest guidelines, like the Helpful Content guide from Google, to know what these search engines are rewarding and what they’re penalizing.
• Keep your SEO strategy flexible based on the results and numbers you’re seeing. What worked for you 6 months ago may not work for you now.
• Look at what your competitors and industry are generally leaning toward. Again, a professional analysis can help you determine what you should be doing to keep up and take the lead.

Here’s how we helped one of our clients, Western Mass Auto Insurance: They ranked on the first page of Google for only 4 keywords, which wasn’t working in their favor. Through a combination of SEO strategies, including content marketing and lead generation, we increased their organic traffic by 29.34%, and they shot up to number 1. They also started ranking on the first page of SERPs for 14 other industry keywords.

Need Some Stability in Your Life? Hire Our Local SERP Impact Services

Global-marketing Inc.’s services focus on evaluating local SERP impact and work closely with you to adapt SEO strategies to manage SERP fluctuations.

Our team will evaluate mistakes and issues that could be hurting your ranking and devise customized strategies to mitigate their effects. It’s one of the most effective ways to boost your rankings and maintain your position despite changes in the algorithm.

This is what a winning SEO strategy would look like for you:

Are you ready to let us be your guide to success?

Don’t let SERP volatility drag you down—give us a call today!

The post Navigating SERP Volatility and Mitigating Its Impact appeared first on Global-marketing Inc..

Being an independent contractor with an optimized listing on Google Business means you’re halfway there. The second part is making your website visible to the local audience. That’s where things get tricky.

Most of your target audience is looking up construction services in their locality on their smartphones (see the statistics below). If your business doesn’t have a mobile-optimized website, it may not appear on the first pages of local searches. So how do you put yourself in front of your clients when they need you?

The answer is simple: Mobile SEO combined with an all-encompassing local SEO solution.

If your’re struggling to find new clients, especially when you’ve exhausted traditional advertising methods and word-of-mouth referrals, invest in SEO for contractors to generate more leads.

Think about it: when people find your website through search engines, they’re more likely to request quotes, fill out contact forms, and make inquiries. It’s easier for you to track too!

Ensure your contracting services shine like a beacon, guiding lost sailors (read: patrons) to your services.

How, you ask? Keep reading!

What is Mobile Search Engine Optimization?

Mobile search engine optimization, or mobile SEO, means optimizing your website to support tablet and mobile formats.

It involves everything from improving the user experience and the site’s load time to optimizing the website with mobile-friendly content.

Your rewards: A greater likelihood of getting the coveted spot on search engine result pages, and consequently building your client base.

Learn More: SEO Content Guide to Search Engine Ranking Factors

Why Do Contractors Need Mobile SEO?

The contracting industry is highly competitive, with many businesses vying for the same clients. And seasonal fluctuations are an added challenge for contractors.

So how do you maintain a steady stream of leads even during slow periods while working on a limited marketing budget?

By leveraging professional SEO services. SEO is a cost-effective solution that can provide long-term results without breaking the bank.

If that didn’t convince you, here are additional reasons why you need to invest in mobile SEO right away:

1. Google’s Mobile-First Indexing System

With the rapid growth of mobile internet usage, Google’s mobile-first indexing algorithm prioritizes the mobile version of a site when displaying results.

This basically means that websites with a well-optimized mobile version are more likely to rank higher on the search engine results pages (SERPs), as Google considers the mobile experience to be of primary importance.

According to Developer Advocate Martin Splitt, here’s how Google’s new mobile-first indexing and ranking system works and how it can affect your ranking.

Bottomline: ensuring your site’s compatibility with mobile devices and a seamless user experience can lead to better ranking, increased visibility and more organic traffic—the ultimate trifecta for contractors!

A Mobile SEO Success Story: White Marble Construction Inc

We looked up “contractor in bay ridge brooklyn,” and E&M Shore Construction Inc was one of the top results.

Its high ranking isn’t a coincidence.

Here’s the mobile-optimized version of the site.

The above changes are suitable for smartphones with smaller screens.

See how the desktop version could never have retained its readability and resolution on a smartphone.

Aside from making the website legible, mobile SEO also ensures the following:

• Faster load speed
• Visibility and proper placement of all the web page elements (buttons, images, calls-to-action, videos, etc.)
• Intuitive touch navigation; responsive and compatible with all devices
• Optimized for voice search
• Reduced website bounce rates
• Easy to understand and read

2. An Overview of Mobile SEO Statistics

The following statistics illustrate what your business is missing out on if your website doesn’t cater to the mobile audience:

Quick Mobile SEO Strategies for Contractors

Hire expert SEO services to optimize your website for smart devices and enjoy increased mobile traffic and engagement.

Here’s what you can do to increase local visibility and attract more clients in today’s competitive marketplace.

 1. Responsive Design

A responsive mobile-first design makes it easier for Google to index and rank your website. If you’re redesigning or setting up a new website, opt for WordPress. It allows you to create a mobile-friendly website that adapts to different screen sizes and resolutions.

Test your website with Google’s Chrome DevTools. If your website isn’t responsive in some aspects, contact your web developer and fix the issues to ensure a seamless user experience.

 2. Loading Speed

Google has many tools to improve a website’s loading speed. It ranks websites based on whether or not they load in less than two seconds. Did you know that even a delay as small as one second can reduce visits by 11%?

 3. Optimize the Images

Optimizing the images on a web page can make them load much faster.

Resize the images using your host’s plugins and tools to make them appropriate for mobile and tablet screens. Google prioritizes user experience (UX), which partially relies on how fast your images load.

Don’t forget accessibility; add alt tags to these images. An alt tag contains complete and relevant information about the image for the visually impaired. The alt description also appears on the screen when an image cannot load due to connectivity issues.

4. Fewer Redirects

Redirects are an alternative solution to a web page that isn’t working or doesn’t exist. While providing an instant alternative to a non-functional page is a good UX practice, it comes at the cost of a slower loading speed.

Excessive redirects can also be counterproductive. They might put users off your website instead of reeling them in.

 5. Optimize for Voice Search

With the number of voice assistants projected to breach the eight billion mark this year, your website must be optimized for voice search queries.

Here are some voice search optimization strategies:

• A mobile-first layout
• Dialogue-friendly content structure
• Mobile-specific keywords that satisfy conversational search queries
• Optimize content for local searches with phrases like “near me” or “in [your location]”

 6. Optimize for User Experience

User experience is the key to brand awareness. You can harness it effectively by utilizing these strategies:

• Simplify navigation
• Focus on engaging content
• Encourage feedback
• Minimize intrusive popups
• Provide site searching
• Use chatbots

Soar to New Heights with SEO Services for Contractors

Climbing the rankings ladder is like creating the rungs as you go. Google wants to provide a smooth user experience and indexes websites that are optimized for smart devices.

Hire SEO services to cut through the noise and be seen by potential customers. Establish yourself as an industry expert and showcase your skills with a strong online presence.

When you hire professionals with expertise in mobile SEO for contractors, you can appeal to an increasingly growing population of smartphone users.

The clock’s a-ticking!

The post The Importance of Mobile SEO for Contractors appeared first on Global-marketing Inc..

Phew Google! You really ran it late this time around.

And we’re grateful you are informing us about particular migrations through the Search Console.

Which brings us to you (no, not you Google; you there, reading this post) and your website.

Is your website ready for mobile-first indexing?

What is mobile first indexing, and why bother?

Traditionally, Google used the desktop version of your website for indexing; your mobile website (www.m.domain.com) was more or less treated as an “alternative” version of it.

In some cases, Google would not even make the effort to crawl and index your mobile website as it considered the practice redundant. And who could fault it, for desktop searches ruled at that time and the volume of mobile search queries was low.

Then, it all changed!

Mobile devices became more popular and outgrew desktop search queries. Internet users were no longer being directed to desktop websites; instead, mobile websites became their new homes. At least, for a majority of them.

This forced Google into a rethink. Since the desktop version of a website can be very different to when it’s pulled on a mobile device, the search experience of internet users was getting compromised.

Google had to come up with a solution.

And it did by introducing mobile-first indexing.

This update treats the mobile version of a website as its primary version.

Crawling, indexing, extracting snippets are all primarily done using the mobile version of websites.

Even the rankings for web pages depend on what Google finds while indexing the mobile website.

That’s not to say the desktop version of a website has lost its importance.

Remember: it’s mobile-first indexing and not mobile-only indexing.

For websites that deliver mobile-optimized experience to users by employing responsive design strategy, this update will have minimal to no impact on their indexing results.

However, if your website uses dynamic serving or a separate mobile URLto deliver mobile-optimized experiences, the pending changes can adversely impact its ranking and consequently your business.

What should you do in that case?

We’ll recommend reviewing the mobile SEO details of your website, and get the issues fixed immediately before the update affects you.

What type of SEO details, you ask?

Mobile SEO checklist for mobile-first indexing update

Start with a review of on-page SEO details.

• Are the meta titles and descriptions optimized for mobile search?
• Do your webpages have strong headlines?
• Do mobile and desktop versions of your website have the same content?

Next, ensure the data on your mobile website is properly structured and follows the same markup that’s present on the desktop version of your website. Any deviations or absence of structure altogether can cause your website to lose visibility on SERPs and suffer in terms of click-through rate.

Does your website have alternate versions of content for different languages and countries?

If yes, and you use hreflang tags for content differentiation, then you’ll definitely want to check if your mobile website has hreflang references updated.

Google strongly advises doing so. Also, make sure the content on your mobile website is paginated.

What is pagination?

Pagination is basically the practice of dividing long-form content into discrete pages.

The desktop version of your website is likely to have the content already paginated. However, pagination may not exist for your mobile website. This can lead to un-indexing of the non-paginated content.

While we’re at the subject of indexing, it’s also worth reviewing the internal link structure of your mobile website.

Quite often, mobile websites show fewer links on a webpage to optimize their users’ online experience. Since internal links help Google crawl your website more deeply, fewer links could affect the indexing and crawling process for your website.

How to ensure a uniform internal link structure between the desktop and mobile versions of your website?

We recommend using a crawling tool(such as Sitebulb or DeepCrawl) to perform the check.

Also, evaluate where those links are placed on your website and reposition them (where needed) to make them more visible and clickable.

Lastly, you would want to review some details of your site’s technical configuration that can impact its ranking. These include:

• Optimizing the redirects
• Checking and increasing the speed of your mobile website

Mobile-first indexing changes are a matter of when, not if. Sooner or later, Google will target your website for migration. It’s better to act now and save yourself from unnecessary inconvenience.

Need help with optimizing your website for mobile-first indexing?

Global-marketing Inc. is at your service!

We’re one of the leading SEO service providers in the United States. Our expert and experienced SEOs can optimize your website for all Google updates, making it more effective at helping you achieve your business goals.

Get in touch with us today!

The post Mobile SEO Checklist for Website Owners That Understand SEO appeared first on Global-marketing Inc..