Whether you’re looking to expand your reach or improve your rankings for SEO in Singapore, you need an expert to help you.

While the principles of SEO don’t change based on location, it helps to have a local expert when you’re tackling a new market.

Some experts are better than others.

When you’re evaluating an expert for SEO in Singapore, make sure they know the basic best practices for SEO.

Keep reading to find out the top six things an SEO expert should know before you hire him.

(Quality) Content is King

Content is king. This is the mantra marketers have heard over the past few years. It’s the reason why 88% of businesses use content marketing in their marketing strategy.

After a few years of businesses producing tons of low-quality content, Google reconfigured their algorithm to favor high-quality content.

Producing quality content improves your SEO rankings and establishes your company as a thought leader. Make sure your SEO specialist suggests producing quality over quantity content.

Earn, Don’t Buy, Backlinks

Having many backlinks to your website signals to Google that you have quality and reliable content. However, some businesses have taken to buying link placement on other websites to earn backlinks.

Google has caught onto this trend. For this reason, it’s best to earn backlinks.

You can earn backlinks by having amazing web content, linking to other high-quality sites, and writing guest posts.

If your expert in SEO in Singapore suggests buying backlinks, start looking for a new one.

Website Speed Matters

Having a speedy website, among other web design features, contributes in a couple of ways to SEO rank.

First, a fast website signals to Google that it’s designed well.

Second, website visitors are less likely to “bounce” off the site. Just a 1-second delay in load time increases bounce rate by 8.3%. High bounce rates signal to Google your website doesn’t have good content or doesn’t work well.

Use Custom URLs

When you create a new page or post on your CMS, it often defaults to a line of jumbled letters and numbers. You should change those strings of letters and numbers to descriptive URLs.

For example, say you publish a blog post called “How to Tell the Difference Between White Hat and Black Hat SEO.” The corresponding URL should read www.websitename.com/tell-difference-between-white-hat-and-black-hat-SEO/.

Tag Images with Keywords

Our brains process images 60,000 times faster than text. That’s why so many websites include images with their product and service descriptions.

When you add images to your website and content, be sure your SEO specialist adds descriptive alt descriptions. Using keywords in these alt images not only helps search engines “see” your images but also helps with your SEO rankings.

Encourage Social Shares

While Google hasn’t confirmed that social shares contribute to a website or article’s SEO ranking, many content managers have noticed the correlation.

Make sure your SEO expert plans on incorporating social sharing into his strategy for your content. This is easily done by adding social share buttons next to the article and writing attention-grabbing article titles.

Finding Expert SEO in Singapore

To expand your SEO strategy into a new market, you need local help.

When you vet experts in SEO in Singapore, make sure they know the SEO basics. They should also know how to blend technical and on-site SEO to garner you the highest ranking possible.

For help with expanding your SEO efforts to Singapore, request a free quote from us today.