Week 5: A Conversation with Guest Speaker Kate Gallagher by Anvi Shah
By UCLA X469.21 Student Anvi Shah
Today’s topic covers Search Engine Optimization, and what non-SEO pros should know about SEO in 2019.
Of course, the REAL question is — how do you get more traffic?
There are countless marketing strategies and tactics out there, so where do you start? Where should you focus your time?
An SEO expert for Openfit.com, Kate discussed how to get more traffic by making it easy for search engines to recognize your website.
Topics she discussed include:
Among these topics, I found the discussion on how social media platforms impact search results especially interesting.
It turns out that Pinterest and other social media platforms can aid our Google-focused efforts. With an engaged base of 150 million monthly users, Pinterest is an important tool for online marketers. However, it’s still something of an untapped opportunity for many in the SEO industry.
Yelp is another social media platform that’s well optimized for search. People tend to use its reviews more than Google business reviews because they’ve been around longer, and Yelp doesn’t hide negative comments. Since such reviews are part of overall search results, it’s important to treat your customers and employees well so the information they post reflects positively on your brand.
Google Trends is another largely untapped tool for the SEO effort. Available at Trends.google.com, it enables marketers determine what topics people are discussing and searching for online.
Google Trends can be used for comparative keyword research and to discover news and event-triggered spikes in keyword search volume. It also provides keyword-related data including search volume index and geographical information about search engine users.
