How to Future Proof Your SEO Strategy

Google has been storming heavily recently. After we saw quite a few great recoveries from 2023 helpful content updates, we are seeing lots of reversals.

Great independent publishers who had been following all Google guidelines are losing rankings again.

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While search traffic had never been forever, it was never that crazy, for sure.

Here’s what you need to do to future-proof your SEO strategy:

1. Build Your Brand by Building Great Links

Becoming a brand is not easy. But it also comes with lots of benefits, like more traffic sources, better conversions (or subscribers), and more consistent rankings.

It is not just me who noticed that helpful content system m hits the smallest publishers, i.e. those who never had time or budget to become brands and build links.

Focusing on your brand (or personal brand) is the way to go and it is more doable than you may think. Yes, it is extremely time-consuming but it is doable if you produce less new content and use that time to:

• Participate in social media, building connections, and frequenting niche forums and communities
• Keep your eyes open on branding and PR opportunities (getting interviewed, showing up at podcasts, participating in expert roundups, getting nominated for industry events, etc. etc.)
• Create content that targets editorial links (stats, reports, trends, etc.) We specialize in creating and promoting this sort of content

2. Diversify Your Rankings

Do you know who suffered the most from HCU and core updates? Those who relied on 1-5 pages ranking for high-search-volume queries.

These are the easiest to lose.

Yes, it is tempting to focus on keywords and search volumes when creating content. But searchable keyword rankings are also the easiest to lose because everyone else, including huge brands, can find them and start competing with you.

Instead, add these content ideas to your editorial calendar:

• Questions that are being discussed on social media (Buzzsumo is great for finding those, but being part of the community and participating in the relevant discussion is actually better). Answer these questions on your site even if you cannot match them to any searchable keywords.
• Questions your readers or customers have! This is the best resource. If you are on client calls, keep all the questions they ask in mind. Ask your email subscribers about things they are struggling with. Create a master list of these questions and see which ones inspire you to create content around them.

You may only get these articles ranked for low-search-volume or even 0-search-volume queries BUT:

• You will get access to more data (Search Console will show you relevant queries that can be used to optimize your content more)
• No one else has this data (So it is going to be harder to steal your rankings)
• You will create a diverse ranking portfolio. If you lose some, it won’t be as noticeable or dramatic.

If you need help to future-proof your SEO strategy, I am here to help!