We talk a lot about SEO. Whether Google is making updates to its search results page and algorithms, we're keeping an eye on new search trends and sharing industrial SEO best practices — there's no shortage of discussion points.

Since we've covered optimization techniques, tips, and trends extensively in the past few months, we thought it would be helpful for you to take a step back and address what makes good SEO so particularly important for manufacturing companies. 

Let's start at the beginning. 

"What’s the quickest way for me to improve my website’s SEO ranking?” 

This is a common question many SEO managers, including myself, get asked, and the honest answer is: "There isn’t one."

There is no magic bullet or quick fix for good SEO. The algorithms that search engines use to rank sites and pages — Google’s are particularly challenging — constantly change. This negates any possible SEO “hacks” you could try.

The true key to good SEO is a long-term strategy that makes use of proven best practices but remains flexible as situations change. It doesn't matter if you're well-seasoned in the search engine marketing field or are just wrapping your head around what's in store, you can start optimizing in just 30 days — it starts like this:

Throughout the holiday season, you probably saw a handful of end-of-year wrap-up blogs as well as some start-of-the-year prediction posts.

Well, now that 2017 is finally upon us and it’s time to get back to work, we wanted to bring you some actionable tips you could use to get a jump on turning it into your company’s biggest year yet.

Let’s take a look at some steps you can take right now to start generating better leads for your business.

In the world of marketing, things are constantly changing.

From amorphous Google algorithms and updated UX designs to effective emailing and retargeting methods, there is no shortage of strategies to try — especially as the industrial space continues to catch up with the rest of the B2B marketing space.

As we begin preparing for what’s to come in 2017, we wanted to take a look back at some of the biggest trends we’ve seen over the past 12 months and their impact on your business.

Without further ado, here’s our 2016 year in review.

There's a lot to keep track of if you're marketing in the industrial space: You need to send out regular email marketing campaigns, follow best practices on social media, keep your website up-to-date, push out paid advertising campaigns and make sure you're getting plenty of organic traffic.

We talk pretty regularly about all of the topics mentioned above, and as RPM’s Director of Search, I make a point to bring you important insight to search engine optimization and pay-per-click strategies in particular.

In the past, we’ve covered a bunch of different SEO and PPC topics: industrial SEO basics, what gets your site in the SEO penalty box and how to get out, and the interconnected relationships between SEO, AdWords, and PPC.

But in light of Google’s search result page and AdWords changes earlier this year, not to mention their constantly evolving search algorithm, this seemed like the ideal time to loop specific best practices into one post.

Pay-per-click marketing and search engine optimization have an interesting relationship — the two tactics can be rivals, work together seamlessly or simply coexist. 

While many companies tend to treat them as completely separate entities, Google's most recent updates cemented tangible overlap between the two, which needs to be considered in every search engine marketing strategy.

Every business has different products and services, but they share the same marketing goal: to rank on Page 1 in Google.

So if you don’t see top spots for your business in organic searches, it can be frustrating — especially since Google will never reveal its search algorithm’s secret sauce. This algorithm contains more than 200 unique signals that factor into your website’s ranking.

Luckily, Google has shared clues to the algorithm signals in its own publications for SEO and marketing experts to leverage. Sharing these clues ensures a better Internet experience for all Google users and allows marketing agencies like RPM to develop content and website structuring strategies that deliver higher organic ranking performances.

If your content marketing strategy is progressing while your website traffic slumps, your reaction will surely be one of confusion. We've all been there.

With Google’s constant changes to its algorithm and the shifting nature of the internet, search engine optimization is, frankly, a phenomenon the masses don’t fully understand. This is especially true in the manufacturing and industrial space.

Don't get discouraged. There are a handful of individuals in our industry that have mastered SEO, and there are plenty of resources available for you to review to gain a better grasp.

You’re in the industrial marketing space, and you need the world (which, in 2016, means the internet) to know how great your company is.

You’ve got amazing content that should provide your visitors with enough incentive to offer up some basic information in order to access, but you can’t take any chances. You want to make sure your conversion rate is as high as possible.

When you have quality website design and content, paired with insight through a marketing automation tool such as HubSpot, you're already on the right track.