Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

Here’s why I mentioned it. The principle I pointed out––social proof––is important to Google.

Google wants only the most naturally popular sites to show up in the SERPs. And that’s why it is extremely necessary to have brand mentions.

If people are talking about your brand, Google will see those mentions as implied links and enhance your SEO.

But enough about why brand mentions matter. Let’s talk about how.

More recently, Webmaster Trends Analyst John Mueller stated in a Google Webmaster Central office hours hangout that keywords in URLs are a “really small ranking factor”. But small can still make a difference in the grand scheme of things, and there are also compelling reasons from a usability standpoint to include keywords where they are relevant.

A new study by HigherVisibility.com, whose findings were shared exclusively with Search Engine Watch, set out to investigate the relationship between the top ranked websites in various industries and the inclusion of keywords in their URLs.

It found that nearly two thirds of top-ranking websites use keywords in their URLs – but this can vary significantly from industry to industry. So what can we learn from the findings about the importance of having keywords in your domain URL?...

Here’s the good news: Even if you’re in a low-volume niche, you can still be an SEO master. You’ll have to approach SEO a little differently, but you can still get great results.

Driving more traffic, increasing visibility, getting more backlinks––it’s all possible no matter what niche you’re in. Now, does this mean your SEO will be simpler? Unfortunately, no.

In fact, your SEO process will consist of many of the usual suspects––technical SEO, page optimization, link profiles, and so forth. So I’d first recommend getting to know SEO well. If you don’t already, check out this SEO guide.

Once you’ve done that, read on and take a look at how you can use SEO in a small niche that doesn’t have a lot of search volume....