SEO round table at the OSCE

SEO round table at the OSCE

Now there’s a couple of more acronyms for you. The Organisation for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) held their annual round table in Vienna on May 12th where I presented (via Webex) an insight in to Search Engine Optimisation (SEO).

This was part of a contract won last month to conduct an SEO audit for the OSCE website, which I have to say I am looking forward to with utter enthusiasm. ‘I bet you say that about all your gigs’ I hear you say? Often I do, but that’s because I enjoy my work, but this digital SEO strategy piece genuinely excites me.

The OSCE is an organisation which is clearly forward thinking where many similar organisations are completely unaware of the ‘Power of SEO’. In particular, the power to influence and potentially change behaviours through informative online articles and content. Eastern Ukraine is currently experiencing unrest on a deadly scale and the digital space is laden with propaganda built to confuse an audience. The OCSE is in a prime position to set the record straight as a recognised official organisation and a ‘go to’ place for reliable and unbiased information.

SEO strategy is built around three main areas:

1. Website Architecture: This is how the website has been built and whether the Content Management System (CMS) itself is able to react to the SEO requirements every website need to be able to promote. The CMS needs to be able to be easily ‘read’ by search engines. It also needs to be user friendly for today: Site upload speeds and Mobile Responsive Designs are just two examples of priorities for Search Engines

2. Content is King: This has been consistent since SEO began. If the content is interesting then Search Engines want to serve this up to the public. Content includes images and video as well as the written word

3. Links: Particularly from Social and the ‘noise’ created by people talking about a subject through Social Media channels. Pretty much all links are valuable but links from Social noise have particular value as Search Engines see this as ‘trending and current’

The OSCE do a great job and helping them to project this online genuinely excites me. The SEO round table at the OSCE is just the first of many digital strategy pieces ahead.

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