Digging in to SEO/Search Engine Optimization
What is SEO and why is it good for your marketing efforts? Let’s dive into the subject for more clarity on Search Engine Optimization.
Definition: SEO
SEO or “search engine optimization”, in simple terms, is a process of enhancing your site’s ranking on search engines. Most predominantly Google. But there are Search Engines like Bing, Yahoo, etc. which the definition applies to as well.
What Is SEO / Search Engine Optimization?
They call this SEO method of ranking on search “organic ranking”. This is in contrast to PPC, or Pay-Per-Click, which are paid services for ranking at the top of Search Engine results. Because PPC is basically a paid advertisement, it’s not considered organic.
The higher up your pages get in search results, the more likely you are to get attention and attract prospective and existing customers to your business. That is if you don’t get beat by a competitor. This is where you need an SEO strategy in place to figure out how to beat out the competitors.
How does SEO work?
Search Engines like Google, use methods to crawl pages on the web, such as your site. It collects and gathers information from them. It all gets indexed and filed into Google’s Search Engine.
Next, algorithms analyze pages in the indexing process, using their own top-secret ranking method. They use hundreds of different ranking factors/signals to determine the order the pages should appear in the Search Engine. On top of that, those ranking factors change every year, sometimes multiple times a year. The top-secret aspect of their ranking system makes it impossible to know exactly how to rank at the top of Google’s Search Engine.
That’s why you need an SEO strategy in place to work against two things: Google’s secret ranking system, and the competitors.
SEO VS PPC
Unlike paid-per-click search ads, you can’t pay search engines to get higher organic search rankings, which means SEO experts have to put in all of that work with a strategy. Pay-per-click essentially cheats the systems of SEO by paying.
You might feel discouraged from doing SEO if you see PPC is working against it. But SEO is here to stay and is the cheaper route. So you should have your territory organically there instead of that paid traffic.
The Google search algorithms are designed to show results that are most relevant and have some authority. They provide users with an efficient search experience, with Google’s goal in mind being the best searches at the top so you won’t need to look very long for your answer. Optimizing your site and content with SEO in mind can help your pages rank higher in the search results.
Why is SEO important for marketing?
SEO is a fundamental part of your digital marketing efforts because people conduct trillions of searches every year. Search is often the primary source of digital traffic for companies and brands. It all complements your other marketing efforts. Getting better visibility and ranking higher in the search results of Google, over your competition can have an important factor in the success of your business.
And as Google keeps changing its ranking factors and updating its algorithm, this is why you need an SEO strategy.
SEO Builds Trust, which helps increase your ranking overall
One of the goals of SEO is to establish a strong foundation in Google’s search results. You want an awesome website with a clean, effective user experience. And you need to be relevant to the user’s searches. More relevant than other compeditors. And thanks to the trust and credibility of the brand and its digital properties.
A lot goes into establishing authority with search engines like Google. The problem is, that it’s impossible to build that trust overnight – just like in real life. Trust and authority is earned and built over time, not overnight.
This means SEO takes patience. It’s not a quick thing. This is another contrast with PPC which is quicker but does cost more. Sometimes a lot more.
There are ways to build trust with Google’s search engine, things like getting natural links and cross-linking. Positive user behavior on your site. Optimized images & constantly reviewed and updated content. Establishing that trust will land you higher up in search results on Google.
You need to concentrate on offering a valuable, quality product or service that is well described on your website that gets customers to trust a brand.
SEO is a Long Term Effort and is Very Cost-Effective
It does cost time and money to do SEO, but SEO is relatively inexpensive. If you’ve ever tried running Google Ads for your business you will know how quickly it is to spend money on PPC. The payoff of SEO will most likely be considered in terms of a company asset. This isn’t a marketing cost, it’s a business investment.
If you keep your SEO efforts up to date it helps you for years and years. The more you can pour into this investment, the better it gets.
Providing you keep your content up to date and ensure it is still relatable to the current trends of life, you can win with SEO. And if you don’t do SEO for your site, someone else is going to take your spot. Don’t let that happen to you. Be there first.
Conclusion
In sum, SEO is the backbone of your digital marketing success. When you understand what your website users want, you can then implement that knowledge across your campaigns (paid and organic). That’s where we come in to help, feel free to reach out to us for signing up for your SEO efforts.
I hope you enjoyed this blog, please let me know in the comments below if you have any questions and if this helped you at all in your marketing efforts, please feel free to check out my other blogs, thank you!
This is the right webpage for anyone who hopes to understand this topic. You realize so much it’s almost tough to argue with you. You certainly put a brand new spin on a subject that has been discussed for many years. Excellent stuff, just wonderful!