SEO 101
What is SEO and Why is it Important?
As a marketer or just anyone interested in the business side of things may have heard of the acronym SEO. These three letters are everywhere but what exactly is it? SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and is incredibly important for any brand or organization. To put it into more simple words, it means how easy it is for Google to find your website. This is the practice of increasing not only the quantity but also the quality of traffic to a website through organic search engine results.
Though SEO is about search engines themselves, it also has to do with understanding the people and what they are searching for online. This includes the answers they are seeking, the words they may be using and the type of content they wish to find. Knowing the answers to these questions will allow us to better connect with our audience and help them find a solution.
What is Organic?
Organic searches are words or phrases an individual would lookup on a search engine and not paid for such as advertising. When you ask Google a question there are typically 10 links they will give you and those are simply there because they did a good job of telling Google that this page is about whatever you may be searching for.
Why is SEO Important?
The top 3 organic links google displays for you typically have the most traffic. The first link takes about 35-40%, second at 15-20%, and third at around 10% traffic. This is why it is important to have your website first on google. But how does Google determine what gets to be on the first page?
Relevancy - You have to make sure your website has exactly what the searcher is looking for. If the searcher is looking for tips on how to build an Instagram feed but your website shows the completely opposite, chances are your website won’t be clicked.
Accessibility - When a user clicks on your site they typically browse around for a few seconds and if they can’t find what they are looking for right off the bat they will most likely click out and find another site to look for information. Not only do you need useful information to match what the searchers are looking for but you also have to think about the layout and how easy it is to find the answers or topic.
How can I build my SEO?
Tools and Plugins
a. Google Search Console - This allows for sites to track their performance in google and track problems that may be holding you back. It also shows the exact keywords that you rank for and where exactly you rank in the scale.
b. Google Analytics - With this tool you can see how people find and use your website, what specific links drive more traffic, the number of time people spend on your website, and much more.
Keywords
a. People search for the same thing every day and companies put out similar content all the time. The essential thing to do is to stand out with keywords. After you figure out the keywords that do the best on Google, you need to then assign those keywords to the pages on your site.
Meta Titles and Descriptions
a. The meta title is the title of the website when you first see on google search and the description is usually 1-2 sentences of what the topic is about. It is important to put keywords in both the title and description and make them captivating to make the searcher want to click on the link.
It is important to realize that Search Engine Optimization does take time and can be frustrating when you are not seeing the results you want to see right away. But just keep in mind that the more effort you put into SEO the better results you will get and if done properly the outcome can last months or maybe even years.
If you’ve gotten this far down on this blog then we highly recommend you downloading our Free SEO 101 resource that will help you navigate SEO like a queen. Click here to download.
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