{"id":5085,"date":"2014-05-09T10:50:14","date_gmt":"2014-05-09T07:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cognitiveseo.com\/blog\/?p=5085"},"modified":"2016-11-18T18:16:15","modified_gmt":"2016-11-18T16:16:15","slug":"3-white-hat-seo-strategies-dominate-serps-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cognitiveseo.com\/blog\/5085\/3-white-hat-seo-strategies-dominate-serps-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"3 White Hat SEO Strategies to Dominate the SERPs in 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the evolutive world of Search Engine Optimization, people got used to changing their behavior and habits around it. We transform, having different characteristics from one year to another, eventually ending up to form a new species of SEO professionals … with different concepts about the notion of what this means. We\u2019ve talked before about 3 Black Hat SEO Strategies <\/a>that still work in 2014, even though we don\u2019t endorse such techniques, we just wanted to provide you with the full\u00a0palette of strategies that exist, regardless of the discord between black hat and white hat.<\/p>\n

\"Stand<\/p>\n

Now these strategies that we are about to present are absolutely within Google\u2019s guidelines and viable for the current year. They were created from the Google driven mentality that the links should appear organically. To quote Matt Cutts who stated:<\/p>\n

“The objective is not to make your links appear natural; the objective is that your links are natural”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

At competitive level, you just can\u2019t survive with shady SEO strategies. This ain\u2019t another league, it\u2019s another game! So without further ado, let\u2019s start talking about the strategies that will help you dominate the\u00a0SERPs in 2014:<\/p>\n

1. Link Earning<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It\u2019s essential for everything you do in 2014 regarding SEO to realize that you should earn links<\/strong>. We\u2019ve talked before about creating organic links<\/a>\u00a0and how the content that you create on your site or on other sites should bring real value to the user that sees it. That way you\u2019re not only gaining links but also you\u2019re getting \u00a0traffic from people interested in what you have to offer. Getting high quality traffic for your website is what you should aim for.<\/p>\n

In order to earn those high quality links from websites with authority you need to start producing content that is interesting enough for both your target audience and influencers. It has to make them tick!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You’ll have to find the right balance to incite them to share your content or browse through your website. You\u2019ll need to scour the internet for hot and engaging topics on your area of interest. Also, you shouldn\u2019t just assume content, even if it\u2019s relevant to the users. You need to process and analyze it, then give it a new spin before revealing it to your audience.<\/p>\n

Make your audience read and digest the content from a better perspective! Be unique!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Link<\/p>\n

Earned links are usually generated in a natural matter. They are 100% organic and may be considered of high quality. Link earning is not some technique in which you seek to obtain links from websites with great authority. You need to go through all the steps of the process, from the development of content ideas, to the sharing and to the engagement. Once you\u2019ve set the process in motion, the results should start rolling. From backlinks and social signals to new website visitors and higher rankings in search engines.<\/p>\n

2. Generate Interest<\/strong><\/h3>\n

It\u2019s in your best interest that every action that you do should have a final purpose. And that purpose should either be to create brand awareness, custom educations or satisfaction or to generate sales. However, you\u2019re not going to do that simply by pushing the same monochrome sales proposition over and over again onto the internet and hope people will be hypnotized by it.<\/p>\n

The equation is simple – the more you talk, the more people are going to read “you and refer “you”, resulting in more and more visitors.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Everything seems all rainbows and sunshine but it\u2019s quite intricate to get from one position to another. I will try to cement the theoretical information with facts. For example, let\u2019s take the case of a e-commerce site that sells watches. To avoid spamming other websites with links that are placed out of context, you should interact organically by creating discussions or intervening in them. You can see in the picture below an example on what kind of sites link back to the “watch” site. Forums >> Genuine People are talking about watches on internet forums, meaning that this site generates a lot of interest among its potential buyers. You should focus on forums and other platforms where there are debates related to your area. Try and interact with communities that have shared interests with you and that have questions regarding products that you sell.<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

This is a legitimate strategy which helps and also helps potential customers find the answers that they seek. You draw interest to your website and in the process you\u2019re creating a stronger brand image and a profile of organic links. You don\u2019t have to focus necessary on placing links wherever you post. Even though you\u2019ll obtain quality links that are placed in content, your main plan shouldn\u2019t be building links.<\/p>\n

3. Generate Relevant Topical Category Links<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Well, if you\u2019re set on earning those links pointing to your site and you\u2019re going to engage in conversations and generate interest in your site over on forums there\u2019s one thing you need to keep in mind. You need to keep it professional. For the sake of continuity we\u2019ll use the same example with the watch e-commerce site.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll want to learn more about your potential customer and dig for some insights.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Who uses watches and what content are they interested in ? Your best bet would be to get links from business and tech categories as depicted in the image below. These sites are relevant to you and your customers.<\/p>\n

\"Link<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You need to aim for the right category of websites if you want to get traffic from potential customers. In the end, it\u2019s not about seeing big numbers on your screen and getting great rankings in the search engines. It\u2019s about addressing to the right audience through the proper channels. That\u2019s why you need to research and find out more about your target audience and what relevant website categories they are active on so you won\u2019t waste time and resources attracting the wrong crowd. In 2014, when talking about white hat SEO strategies, you\u2019ll see that everything is about being strongly related on relevancy and creating connections that are helpful for the customer.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Big changes have been brought to SEO in the last years. They not only added something new to the game, they changed everything. The strategies seem harder to implement but it\u2019s worth paying the price. With these type of strategies you\u2019ll be able to not only dominate the SERPs in 2014, you\u2019re also going to have a stronger brand image and your products will become authentic and trustworthy in the eyes of your target audience.<\/p>\n

What are the white hat SEO strategies you think are going to be successful in 2014 ?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the evolutive world of Search Engine Optimization, people got used to changing their behavior and habits around it. We transform, having different characteristics from one year to another, eventually ending up to form a new species of SEO professionals … with different concepts about the notion of what this means. We\u2019ve talked before about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[145,144,36,167,233,232],"class_list":["post-5085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-seo","tag-creative-link-building","tag-creative-seo","tag-link-building-2","tag-link-earning","tag-relevant-content","tag-white-hat-seo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cognitiveseo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cognitiveseo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cognitiveseo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cognitiveseo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cognitiveseo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cognitiveseo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5085\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cognitiveseo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cognitiveseo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cognitiveseo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}