How Continuous Search Training Supports Professional Development
Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2024 10:49 am
Being a good marketer is not just about creating eye-catching content. With so many competing businesses these days, you need to be more strategic with your marketing. SEO is the foundation of marketing strategies today.
With a solid SEO strategy, you can drive more traffic to your website. Most marketers understand the need to leverage SEO to boost their content. So, being a successful SEO marketer is not just about understanding SEO, but also about constantly educating yourself on search strategies and trends to ensure you stay ahead of the game.
In this article, we’ll cover the importance of search training as a marketer and how you can improve your search skills so you can better navigate the digital landscape with precision and innovation.
Understanding How to Search is Crucial for Marketers
Many marketers know they need a content strategy, but not all of them fully understand the logic behind the content or how to effectively seek the answers they need to create good content.
What’s more, even if you initially educate yourself on quality SEO content strategies georgia mobile phone numbers database things can change. For example, consumer trends can change, and so can Google’s search algorithm.
For example, in 2011, Google rolled out its first SEO-related update: Panda. The Panda update focused on on-page factors and whether a website was actually providing relevant information about the search term visitors were using. In 2019, the BERT update was considered one of the biggest in recent years and introduced a machine learning algorithm that used natural language processing (NLP) to better understand the context of words, which helps interpret search queries and the intent behind them.
These and other updates were critical to SEO because they changed the way Google reads content and therefore the way content is created to rank highly. Therefore, it is important to constantly educate yourself to ensure you have the latest information you need to do your best work.
Searching, and searching well, is what makes you a superior marketer. By learning how to search deeper, you can:
Improve your ability to self-edit: The more you search, the more you learn how to refine and concise your searches. When your searches are more specific, you’ll find it easier to find the answers you need to create quality content.
Develop a learning mindset: As you learn to search better, you may become more interested in finding and understanding new information. Instead of relying on what you’ve learned before or what you’ve been told, you’ll develop a stronger desire to continually learn and educate yourself, which will increase your knowledge. This can also help you become a more innovative marketer.
Develop your openness to critical feedback: A search won’t always yield the answers you’re looking for, which means you need to search again and try something different. This teaches you how to identify what’s not working and how to accept it as a form of feedback that you can use to improve going forward.
So learning to search will improve your search skills, but it can also teach you a number of other things that can make you more successful in your career as a marketer.
SEO.jpeg
Source: Unsplash
Ways to Improve Your Search Skills
Now that you understand why improving your search skills is important, it’s time to move on to the how-to. These are actionable tips you can use to improve your search skills as a marketer .
Add Boolean Operators to Your Searches
Google offers several advanced features to help you narrow down your search results. One of these features is the ability to add boolean operators like "AND" and "OR", which give you more control over your searches. You can also surround an entire phrase with quotes, which tells Google to search for a specific string of text.
Try Variations of Title Terms
If you’re familiar with SEO, you’re probably familiar with keywords. However, you should never use just one title term when using a keyword to search. The more variations you try and the more specific you can be with your keywords, the more you can improve your results. For example, if you’re looking for information on sustainable practices, the keyword “sustainable practices” might not yield the results you want. In that case, you could try variations of the same keyword, such as “sustainable energy practices” or “sustainable homeowner practices.”
Examine Your Resources
Never assume that the top result in a search is the best source of information. Some pages may be using unethical practices to rank higher in the SERPS, so just because their page is the top result doesn’t mean it’s the best source of information. They may be using cloaking, keyword stuffing, or private blog networks (PBNs) to get higher results. So always make sure to check the source to verify it’s trustworthy before using it.
An easy way to tell if information from a source is trustworthy is to check the domain authority (DA) of the page. Many websites, such as Ahrefs and SEMrush, provide DA checkers. You can also look at who wrote the page and see if they have the credentials and experience to speak authoritatively on the subject.
With a solid SEO strategy, you can drive more traffic to your website. Most marketers understand the need to leverage SEO to boost their content. So, being a successful SEO marketer is not just about understanding SEO, but also about constantly educating yourself on search strategies and trends to ensure you stay ahead of the game.
In this article, we’ll cover the importance of search training as a marketer and how you can improve your search skills so you can better navigate the digital landscape with precision and innovation.
Understanding How to Search is Crucial for Marketers
Many marketers know they need a content strategy, but not all of them fully understand the logic behind the content or how to effectively seek the answers they need to create good content.
What’s more, even if you initially educate yourself on quality SEO content strategies georgia mobile phone numbers database things can change. For example, consumer trends can change, and so can Google’s search algorithm.
For example, in 2011, Google rolled out its first SEO-related update: Panda. The Panda update focused on on-page factors and whether a website was actually providing relevant information about the search term visitors were using. In 2019, the BERT update was considered one of the biggest in recent years and introduced a machine learning algorithm that used natural language processing (NLP) to better understand the context of words, which helps interpret search queries and the intent behind them.
These and other updates were critical to SEO because they changed the way Google reads content and therefore the way content is created to rank highly. Therefore, it is important to constantly educate yourself to ensure you have the latest information you need to do your best work.
Searching, and searching well, is what makes you a superior marketer. By learning how to search deeper, you can:
Improve your ability to self-edit: The more you search, the more you learn how to refine and concise your searches. When your searches are more specific, you’ll find it easier to find the answers you need to create quality content.
Develop a learning mindset: As you learn to search better, you may become more interested in finding and understanding new information. Instead of relying on what you’ve learned before or what you’ve been told, you’ll develop a stronger desire to continually learn and educate yourself, which will increase your knowledge. This can also help you become a more innovative marketer.
Develop your openness to critical feedback: A search won’t always yield the answers you’re looking for, which means you need to search again and try something different. This teaches you how to identify what’s not working and how to accept it as a form of feedback that you can use to improve going forward.
So learning to search will improve your search skills, but it can also teach you a number of other things that can make you more successful in your career as a marketer.
SEO.jpeg
Source: Unsplash
Ways to Improve Your Search Skills
Now that you understand why improving your search skills is important, it’s time to move on to the how-to. These are actionable tips you can use to improve your search skills as a marketer .
Add Boolean Operators to Your Searches
Google offers several advanced features to help you narrow down your search results. One of these features is the ability to add boolean operators like "AND" and "OR", which give you more control over your searches. You can also surround an entire phrase with quotes, which tells Google to search for a specific string of text.
Try Variations of Title Terms
If you’re familiar with SEO, you’re probably familiar with keywords. However, you should never use just one title term when using a keyword to search. The more variations you try and the more specific you can be with your keywords, the more you can improve your results. For example, if you’re looking for information on sustainable practices, the keyword “sustainable practices” might not yield the results you want. In that case, you could try variations of the same keyword, such as “sustainable energy practices” or “sustainable homeowner practices.”
Examine Your Resources
Never assume that the top result in a search is the best source of information. Some pages may be using unethical practices to rank higher in the SERPS, so just because their page is the top result doesn’t mean it’s the best source of information. They may be using cloaking, keyword stuffing, or private blog networks (PBNs) to get higher results. So always make sure to check the source to verify it’s trustworthy before using it.
An easy way to tell if information from a source is trustworthy is to check the domain authority (DA) of the page. Many websites, such as Ahrefs and SEMrush, provide DA checkers. You can also look at who wrote the page and see if they have the credentials and experience to speak authoritatively on the subject.