SEO for Singapore Businesses

As a keen digital marketer in Singapore, you need to stay updated about various techniques and strategies that you can apply to give your business an upper hand in the market. Two of the guaranteed strategies that you need to embrace are SEO Singapore and search engine marketing (SEM). The most successful companies in the world have mastered these two strategies and have a team of professionals working round the clock to ensure that they continue to dominate their particular niches.

What Is SEO And Why Does It Matter To Singapore Firms?

As mentioned earlier, SEO stands for search engine optimisation. Concisely, it is the various techniques that are applied on the website to ensure that it ranks high on search engines. Already, search engines have put in place algorithms that are engineered to monitor the websites to determine if they are relevant and should be ranked at the top. Some of the central aspects of SEO include the use of the right keywords in the content, development of quality backlinks, content markup, and code validation. In Singapore, most consumers and professionals under the age of 40 have stopped reading physical print in favour of online news, entertainment and other information. The situation is so profound that any Singapore businesses not actively engaging customers online surely faces a limited future.

What Is SEM How Does It Matter To Singaporean Businesses?

SEM stands for search engine marketing. It involves paying for your ads to appear at the top of search engine results page whenever someone uses your specified keyword to search for content. The search engine will bill you based on the number of clicks your ads accrue. Even if you record low clicks, you will still benefit from free exposure to the ever growing online community. It is also important to note that SEM encompasses affiliate programs, social media campaigns, PPC and the list continues.

Singaporean businesses have been paying exorbitant advertising prices in newspapers, television, radio, outdoor and mailing now have the happy prospect of being able to reach customers quickly and cheaper via Google PPC and other online advertising.

What Is The Difference Between SEO and Google Ads

Search Engine Optimisation is a method of making your website as appealing to the search engines as possible. In the Singapore context, the search engine to please would be Google since it occupies a whopping 75% market share.

There is obviously the paid method which results in the [AD]s you see on top (and bottom) of Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). This is the quick and easy way which involves logging into Google Adwords to create your ad campaign (get your credit card ready as that is the default mode of payment).

Some SMEs and MNCs in Singapore prefer SEO services because the natural placement in SERPsprovides so-called “free traffic” and natural branding and positioning. Internet users are of the view that if you rank high – that means your company has been around for a long time and has built such a formidable reputation that its earned its place on the first pages. They may also have calculated that natural ranked listings are more cost-effective and provides invaluable PR.

Does Good Content Guarantee High Rankings in Google?

Over the years, Google has improved its algorithms to determine the quality of content posted on a particular website. Good content that provides valuable information to the readers will result in a high ranking. But success is not guaranteed as we have seen some sites with minimal content still rank high. The trick is making sure that you have credible and high-quality backlinks. In fact, backlinks are considered the primary signal used to rank website. All Singapore SEO experts some form of backlink strategy. The best ones like MediaOne use only high quality high domain authority ones to improve the backlink profile for our clients.

How Do is I Determine if a Backlink is good or bad for My Site SEO?

The first thing to note about getting a good SEO service  is that only dofollow backlinks will give you an added advantage. Secondly, nofollow backlinks will help enhance the exposure of your site and increase traffic, but that will not have any impact on SEO. The quality of a backlink is based on the reputation and credibility of the website that is linked to your site. The content of the website also has to be relevant to yours. This means that a site that is considered an authority in your industry will give your SEO efforts a boost if it links to you.  Some of the SEO metrics that you need to put into consideration to determine if a particular site is ideal for backlinking include domain authority, trust flow, citation flow, page authority, total number of external links, user’s engagement and how frequent the content is updated.

Will I be Penalised for Linking to Bad Websites?

By bad websites we mean sites whose content is not related to yours as well as those that have a bad reputation. For example, sites that in the past been banned by Google for violating the set algorithm. Yes, linking to such sites will result in your site being penalised. Google perceives every link as an endorsement you are making for that site. Hence, endorsing a site that has in the past being flagged for SEO problems or have a bad reputation, the chances are that you will get a penalty as well. Use a rel nofollow attribute if you are not sure if a particular site is good for backlinking.

Is it Safe to Buy Backlinks from SEO Agencies?

Buying nofollow links is fine. However, if you are purchasing backlinks for solely for the purpose of improving your SEO, you might get penalised for doing so manipulates search engine results and that is against Google’s guidelines.

What is the Value of Internal Links?

Yes, it is highly recommended to create a robust internal linking structure to enhance user experience. Google puts into consideration these links when determining the value of a site even though they are not as valuable as links from third party sites that are related to your niche.

How Long Does it Take to Get Results from SEO?

The best answer to this question is that it the amount of time depends on the niche your website in, the resources you are allocated to search engine optimisation and the quality of the backlinks. A credible SEO service company in Singapore can help you get results in a couple of weeks.

What is the Best Article Length for SEO?

Numerous experiments and studies have shown that sites that have long, valuable, and engaging content rank higher in Google. Articles with more than 1000 words stand a better chance to rank high than articles with fewer words. The content has to be well documented and provide real value to the readers by addressing their questions or concerns.

Is PageRank a Valuable SEO Metric?

No. The current Google PageRank Toolbar has not been updated for close to two years now, and the company officials have several said that they have no plans to update it. Singapore SEO expertsagree that PageRank is no longer an SEO metric that should give you sleepless nights.

I’m Unable to Recover my Rankings after Being Penalised, What Could be the Reasons?

One of the most plausible reasons why you were penalised is due to backlinks after using a cheap SEO service. If you are yet to recover your site ranking after a penalty successfully, here are some of the plausible reasons:

• You are yet to clean up all your bad backlinks
• Your sites disavow report is not complete
• If the site was hit by a new Google algorithm update, it is possible that content is holding you back you need to revise it
• Not enough quality backlinks
• Website has other unknown issues
• Your reconsideration request is yet to be reviewed

What is the Impact of Negative SEO?

Negative SEO practices are a real threat to the success and sustainability of your business online. Due to the cutthroat competition in most industries such as insurance and payday loans, your competitors may be using unethical SEO services to outrank you. Cushion yourself from such practices by regularly monitoring the sources of the backlinks. If you realize a competitor is building backlinks to lower your website value, you should create and submit a disavow report to Google. A professional Singapore SEO agency can carry out periodic scans to uncover such practices and help you file the report with Google.

Is it Necessary to Disavow or Remove Nofollow Backlinks

The answer to this question is NO. There is no need to remove or disavow nofollow backlinks unless they are compromising the reputation of your site. If a backlink is bad, you should try to remove it and then disavow it even if it is a nofollow or dofollow link. On the other hand, if it is a good nofollow link, leave it as it is as it might channel some relevant traffic your way.

How Long Does a Disavow Tool Take to Work – Can An SEO Consultant Help?

More often than not, a disavow link works within days after submitting the report. In some isolated cases, Google may take weeks to review the bad backlink report.

Yes you can get an experience SEO consultant to check your backlinks, contact the offending linkers and if all else fails, to disavow those links.

When Should I Expect to recover from my Penalty after cleaning up my backlinks profile?

Well, it depends on the penalty that you got. For manual penalties, it usually takes Google 1-2 weeks to review reconsideration requests. For algorithm update penalties such as Panda or Penguin, you will have to wait for another Panda algorithm or Google Penguin update to take place. This could take months or days depending on when the last update was implemented.

Can My Site be Penalised Without me Knowing?

Yes, we had seen countless cases when the website owners had no clue that their sites had being filtered or penalised by Google algorithms. Google Panda algorithm can result in your site being penalised for having thin content. It can also be penalised for having too many ads above the fold or not being mobile friendly.

Its best to check your Google Search Console aka Webmaster Tools to see the alerts about Errors, Issues and Warnings about your site. Get a professional to interpret those messages and take immediate action, especially on the more serious “Errors” that can cause significant drops in rankings.

How Can I Keep Track of my Backlinks Building Campaigns?

There are advanced tools designed to generate and send daily email reports whenever your site gains or loses links. Two of the best tools that you can count on to deliver accurate reports are Monitor Backlinks and SEO Auto Discover. Most top tier Singapore SEO agencies have their own tracking tools or can recommend the best in the market.

Is it Possible to Delete Backlinks?

Deleting backlinks is a challenging task as the only way to remove a link that you want to remove is by contacting the webmaster and requesting them to assist you. Make sure that you use a friendly approach to tell the webmaster where the link is located on their site. Cut the chase by using the disavow tool to remove all unwanted backlinks. This can be a taxing and tricky process so its best to engage the services of a good SEO consultant.

Why Do I Need to Hire SEO Singapore Agency?

Even with an in-house digital marketing team, it is highly recommended to hire a professional Singapore SEO agency. Here are five reasons why you should consider allocating resources to this initiative.

1. Proven Expertise and Experience:

Many SEO agency consultants have the required qualifications, expertise, and experience based on the numerous projects they have undertaken. By applying their knowledge, they will be able to get your digital campaign moving quickly in the right direction. The SEO expert will also help you make informed decision regarding your online marketing techniques and anything else that you need to move your company ahead.

2. Collaborative Efforts and Connections:

Instead of spending hours assembling your own team to have your SEO campaign overseen by multiple managers and executives – most of the time its prudent to outsource the grunt work to external SEO services teams so that you can focus on your key work. Most of the time this is the best thing you can do because unlike what most marketers think, SEO involves a long and painstaking process of optimising, content and link building that most organisations are not able to take on.

3. Easier Management:

Reputable SEO companies are always available to respond to all your questions and concerns. Concisely, leaving your project in accountable and trusted hands of SEO professionals will make it easy to manage it.

4. Performance Driven:

The SEO Company will do everything possible to ensure that your SEO project is a success. Every project is monitored continuously using advanced analytics tools to make sure that it moves in the right direction.