What is SEO and How Does it Matter to Your Business?
If you're not sure what SEO is, you're not alone. SEO (search engine optimization) is used on a website to improve site visibility in search engines. Many factors are fine-tuned to increase the quantity and quality of traffic to your site from search engines, which can result in increased revenue.
There are many techniques involved in SEO, and if you are a site owner or operator, it is vital to understand how SEO can help your website.
Google, who dominates the search engine market (and whose algorithms we will focus on in this blog series), says that SEO has two main parts: "on-page" techniques are things you do ON your web page (and in the code underneath it) to help you rank higher and "off-page" techniques are the things you do OFF your website to boost SEO.
It's essential for SEO efforts to be long-term, not merely a one-time deal. SEO can take time, and SEO doesn't end. Google’s algorithms are always changing. And your competition is always changing. SEO is a long-term strategy that requires periodic maintenance, fresh content, and tweaking. It takes dedication, but the results can be VERY rewarding.
SEO also means more than just improving your website for the sole purpose of improving SEO. SEO is about understanding what searchers are looking for and providing the content that answers their search query. Part of Google’s evaluation looks at how well your website matches people’s needs and intentions. SEO helps you understand how Google sees your website by analyzing the following:
- What is your site about? Are you selling a product or service? Are you providing information?
- What are the main keywords and phrases people would use to find your site?
- Are you using those keywords on your website — In your titles, tags, and throughout your content?
If you can provide valuable, relevant, and exciting information, you will be rewarded with better rank. SEO is about understanding how search engines work and using that knowledge to your advantage. It's also about providing the BEST POSSIBLE USER EXPERIENCE for people who visit your website.
We hope this gives you a basic understanding of SEO. Stay tuned for future blog posts in this series, where we will go into more detail about each of the factors that influence SEO.
In the meantime, if you have any questions or want to learn more about SEO, please don't hesitate to reach out!
Contact us today if you would like a free website analysis, as a "free sample" way to get to know us and see if we might be able to help you strengthen your online marketing and sales.
