With enough website builders and content management systems (CMS) available to fill a book, and almost as many web hosting companies, developing an online platform has never been easier. But therein lies the problem many new bloggers and businesses now face.

There are more than 7.5 billion people alive at any given moment, and more than half of them are online. This means that, excluding those who don’t have access to the internet (and those too young or too old to use it), almost everyone has some online presence. For many, this may be limited to social media accounts and a smattering of subscriptions, but there are still billions of business websites and personal blogs.

So no matter the nature of your online platform, you need to be smart and resourceful if you want your site to be visible. The days of simply posting online and adding a few keywords are very much long gone. The world of search engine optimization has evolved to a point where even most novices know that there are hundreds of factors that contribute to your ranking.

Some of these factors—especially keywords—are very well known. The problem is, with the rise of voice search, keywords are no longer the dominant SEO tool. Many SEO experts have stepped forward and stated that keywords are somewhat outdated. And while they’re not likely to ever fall away altogether, relying purely on keywords is suicidal. That’s where backlinks come in.

In light of the global movement from a physical copy to online content, having a good online presence with excellent visibility is one of the most important keys to success. Almost everyone has heard of search engine optimization (SEO) and knows some of the basic tricks to help boost your site’s search engine page results (SERP) ranking. You may even have heard of structured data before, but aren’t sure what it is or what it has to do with SEO. Flexibility. That’s why we’re here to help.

In the digital age, almost everyone has an online presence. Most people will look online before stepping foot in a store because everything is available online—even if it’s just information on where to get the best products. We even look up cinema times online!

As such, staying ahead of the competition regarding visibility is no longer merely a matter of having a good marketing strategy. Newspaper and magazine articles, television and radio advertising, and even billboards (for those who can afford them) are no longer enough, even though they’re still arguably necessary.

Now, you also have to ensure that your site is better than your competitors’, from layout to content, and beyond. If you don’t, you’ll slip away into obscurity, like a well-kept secret among the locals—which doesn’t bode well for any business.

This notion is where search engine optimization (SEO) comes in. There is a host of SEO tools and tricks available to help put you ahead and increase your search engine page ranking—your online visibility. These range from your use of keywords, backlinks, and imagery, to your layout and categorization (usability and customer experience). One of these tools is the website crawler.

It sounds like something out of a science fiction movie, but unlike some of the technology used in sci-fi blockbusters—like the flying cars from Back To The Future 2—voice search is not something we can only expect to have in the next few centuries.

In 2014, Google commissioned a study by Northstar Research to look into the rising popularity of voice search technology. 1400 American citizens across a range of age groups were asked to participate in a survey, which showed that teens—as always—were ahead of the curve in taking advantage of the then-new innovation.

Not only is the function more popular with the younger generation (55% of teens as opposed to 41% of adults), they’ve also explored new ways to integrate voice search in their everyday lives.

Is your website organized in a manner that makes sense not only to you but also site visitors within your target market? Nothing can be more frustrating than not being able to find information that you know is available on a site. When content is not where you expected it to be, your website will lose visitors and reputation of being a credible source of information.

Card sorting (and by extension, card sorting tools) is a convenient means of testing your site’s layout and finding out whether or not you need to make any changes that can improve your information architecture.