You’ve got your website up and running, and now, people keep throwing the letters S, E, and O at you without explaining what it is, how it works and why it’s essential.
What is SEO?
SEO or “search engine optimization” is the practice of structuring your website in a way that improves your organic (unpaid) search ranking in Google or other search engines. 90% of all internet experiences begin with a search engine. It’s very rare that someone will find your product or services by typing your website URL directly into their browser (unless you’re facebook.com). Your followers will generally get to your website via a social media post that peaks their interest, but to generate new traffic, you’re going to need to show up in a Google search!
The Coveted First Page
Less than 10% of people look beyond the first page of search results, meaning that your top priority should be to get your website to show up on the first search engine results page (SERP) without paying for it. Ads are definitely a valuable way to help boost your website’s ranking, but at the end of the day, most people skip the ads and head straight for the organic or unpaid spots.
Less than 10% of people look beyond the first page of search results. #SEO #DigitalMarketing
It’s All About Your Website’s Skeleton
The way your website’s content is divided, the keywords or language used on your website, and the clarity of your content are important for your SEO success. Google, and every other search engine that exists, have website “crawlers” that will comb through the code of your website to determine exactly what the site is about. These crawlers then bring this information back to the search engine, and through complex algorithms, rank your website in order of how relevant your information is to the search query. The bottom line is that the blueprints of your website, with all the core information, must be properly labelled, tagged, colour-coded, etc., for the crawlers to read efficiently and accurately for the terms or keywords you want to rank for.
Create Valuable Content Worth Sharing
Another way to achieve a high SEO ranking organically is to increase the amount of visitors your website by earning link shares. The most invaluable type of marketing has always been, and will always be through word-of-mouth. The best way to gain these references is by regularly creating great content that makes a blogger, news article, or any other legitimate website want to share a link to your page. Whether it’s upcoming events, news updates, photos, videos, or keeping a blog, people love to hear from brands that they follow. Your brand needs to lead an exciting life to give people a reason to keep returning to your site. Google takes notice when users click into your website from other sources that they deem credible, and will factor that into your search ranking.
Don’t Cheat!
There are many outdated and dangerous ways to try and cheat Google such as keyword stuffing, link buying or traffic bots. However, just like Big Brother, Google sees all, and any foul play can cause a website to be de-ranked or even banned from the search engine, so it’s never worth it to cheat! SEO is an ongoing and strategic process that takes time! If you’re looking to boost your ranking we’d be happy to help you out with a free consultation.
