The SEO landscape has undergone a seismic shift in recent years. Search engines have been prioritizing high-value content that matches user intent over low-quality, keyword-heavy content for some time now. However, in recent years, the very definition of “search engine” has changed and the SEO landscape has stretched far beyond Google and Bing.

Social platforms like TikTok, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, etc., now offer robust search functionalities. They can all be classified as “search engines” in their own right. Many users even flock to platforms like YouTube and Amazon to search for curated, brand-related content. The passive days of optimizing your website for default search engines are over.

It\’s no longer about ranking high on one platform; it\’s about mastering SEO across platforms. SEO leaders must embrace this new reality to thrive in this dynamic search landscape. Here’s a crisp, technical & Smart Guide to Mastering SEO. Learn how SEO works across platforms and seamlessly weave your online presence into different types of search landscapes:

Branding Matters

Google, in its relentless quest for quality and trust, has prioritized high-value quantity from well-known websites in their search results for a long time. For them, branding isn’t a vanity metric: it\’s a strategic lever to ensure that websites deliver the quality and trust that users expect. In other words, Google doesn\’t just want websites with good content and the right keywords.

It wants websites to embody a strong brand identity and convey a sense of authority, expertise, and trustworthiness to users. Here are a few ways SEO leaders can help your website attain such a strong brand identity:

• Take on a holistic marketing approach. Make your brand leaders, social media experts, PR teams, etc., team up and decide what type of brand identity they want to project. Plan out the SEO strategy accordingly.
• Use analytics tools to track all marketing campaigns and efforts actively. Evaluate your brand’s growth or fall-off with each effort.
• Work closely with UX designers to ensure the website is navigable and optimized to generate leads across all platforms. Include social media links on the site to foster lead generation.

Building a strong, authentic brand takes time. But, it’s the most sure-fire way to dominate the search landscape.

Create Amazing Content

To satisfy the all-seeing algorithms of Google, Bing, TikTok, Facebook, and all other major platforms, you’ll have to create amazing content. We’re not talking about text-only content. The top search engines can easily analyze/rank text, video, & audio content. Brands must create and share high-value content in all of these formats, on all major platforms. They must also:

• Demand deeper involvement from SEO leaders in the content creation process. SEO experts can help the content team create content that’s optimized for easy discovery on all major platforms.
• Content must be informative, answer user queries, and offer genuine value. An easy way of creating such content is by identifying content gaps on certain topics and then creating authentic content that stands out from the crowd.
• Search trends and organic data should become essential tools for shaping the content marketing roadmap.

Also, every piece of content should be crafted with Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, & Trustworthiness (EEAT) in mind.

Backlink and Code Optimization

Backlinks serve as the currency of authority and trustworthiness in the search landscape. Websites with relevant content and high-value backlinks (from reputable authoritative website sources) always rank higher than their peers. The same goes for websites with clean, well-structured code. They tend to have swift loading times and are prioritized by search engine crawlers. Ensuring your website is technically perfect in these areas is like laying the groundwork for long-term SEO success.

Be Patient and Consistent

Panicking because your new content isn\’t ranking on the first page within days is like freaking out because you haven’t built a thriving singing career after singing for a week. SEO success, especially across multiple platforms, takes time, effort, and unwavering patience. Yes, you might see a quick jump from your website being “not indexed” to page two on the SERPs in a few weeks. But, that doesn’t mean you should get over or under-excited. Be patient and:

• Keep creating high-quality, relevant content regularly. Build a robust backlink profile every month.
• Don\’t get discouraged by short-term setbacks or over-excited by quick jumps.
• Create a strong, multi-platform SEO strategy and then stick to it. Refine your approach gradually based on data but don’t give up on the strategy altogether if it doesn’t lead to instant success.

While patience is a non-negotiable ingredient in the SEO recipe, not all aspects of ‘SEO mastery’ require patience. Here are some quick tactics to dominate search on leading platforms:

• TikTok: Encourage viewers to actively participate in livestreams, to ignite the algorithm’s interest. Use descriptions, hashtags, captions, effects, etc. to optimize your account for discoverability.
• YouTube: Initiate a ‘24-hour launch blitz.’ Use all communication channels to drive early viewership within the first 24 hours of sharing the video. This initial surge will boost the video\’s ranking potential.
• Facebook: Videos exceeding 5+ minutes are ranked higher by Facebook.
• LinkedIn: Long, high-quality comments from profiles relevant/related to your target audience signal credibility and foster trust. Use them to propel your LinkedIn content upwards.

These are just starting points. Each ‘search engine’ has its unique dynamics. To learn more about that, get in touch with Wave Riser!