Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is critical for your website to rank well in the search engine results pages. SEO is a process of improving your website’s visibility on search engines by optimizing its content, code and other factors to make it more “visible” to the search engine algorithms. It takes time to see results, but long-term success is virtually guaranteed with proper SEO. This article will explore how you can use SEO to help grow your business!
What is SEO?
SEO is a way of thinking and an iterative process that requires tinkering and testing over time to increase the rankings of your website on search engines. It doesn’t just involve simply placing keywords in strategic places: it involves creating useful, high-quality content and building backlinks from other websites which will make Google see you as a trusted source of information. If you are in Australia and are not familiar with SEO, you should look for a local SEO in Sydney that specializes in SEO. If done correctly, SEO can lead to your website ranking well in search engines for clients looking for the services or products that you offer. Having a strong online presence is vital in today’s connected world – more and more people are using the internet to carry out their research before making a purchase.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is critical for your website to rank well in the search engine results pages. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a process of improving your website’s visibility on search engines by optimizing its content, code and other factors to make it more “visible” to the search engine algorithms. It takes time to see results, but long-term success is virtually guaranteed with proper SEO. This article will explore how you can use SEO to help grow your business!
SEO in Digital Marketing
SEO is a part of a bigger picture called “Digital Marketing” – a manner of using digital channels to promote your products and services. Some examples of these channels are:
- Search Engine Optimization
- Pay-Per-Click Advertisements (via Google, Facebook, etc)
- Social Media Marketing
- Content Marketing (producing high-quality, useful content to engage your audience)
Out of all of these digital marketing channels, SEO offers the most opportunities for achieving long-term success. Merely spending money on PPC or social media advertising without incorporating SEO into your strategies is akin to shooting yourself in the foot.
Does Search Engine Optimization Work?
SEO can be a slow process, but it’s been proven time and again that investing in SEO pays off tremendously over the long run. If you take a look at the screenshot of the Google keyword planner below, it’s easy to see how competitive “SEO” is as a search term. And yet, despite there being so many people looking online for SEO services, organic search still comprises roughly 35% of all traffic on most websites! This means that if you invest in SEO correctly, you have a very good chance of being one of the “big winners” who gets a high volume of visitors from Google.
What is Your Goal?
Before moving forward, it’s important to establish your goals first! You need to set specific goals for yourself and create SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound) objectives. If you don’t know where you want to go, it’s going to be extremely difficult to get there! Your goal should also be according to your overall business strategy and be closely related to the main activities of your company. For example, if you provide services for local clients such as plumbers or electricians, instead of branding yourself as “XYZ Plumbing Services” – try branding yourself as “Your Local Plumber” and create websites targeting specific geographic areas that will serve your products and services to people who are looking for them.
It’s important that your website looks good on the outside as well as the inside – search engines will judge your website by its code and content alone. In order for your website to look good, you need to use tags (like <h1></h1> or <p></p>) to clearly define the structure of your website. Also, images need alt-text and links need anchor text so search engines will know what they are linking to. SEO needs to be thought of as an iterative process that requires tinkering and testing over time to increase the rankings of your website on search engines and reach more people. Because it’s an iterative process, there is no “best practices” list that you can just follow – what works for others may not work for you!
What Can I Expect from SEO?
The amount of traffic you receive from Search Engines depends on your industry and the keywords you choose. If you want to be a monopoly in your industry, you need to rank well for very specific keywords related to your business! It’s important that before investing too much time into SEO that you understand what kind of traffic you expect from it. For example, if you’re looking to drive people from Google directly into your e-commerce business within 24 hours, you’re going to have a tough time ranking for competitive keywords! It’s important that you set realistic expectations and understand that the process of SEO takes time.
Backlinks: The Foundation of Google Rankings
Websites often refer to each other using hyperlinks. Websites link to other websites because they have similar content, because they have a connection via a blogroll or simply because it’s a popular website that everyone else links to. A “backlink” is a link from another website pointing towards your site; i.e., if this article had a backlink pointing at your business website, it would be an example of how my business is able to effectively use SEO. Google gets its ranking ability from the number and quality of backlinks that your website has acquired. Quality is important, because Google doesn’t like wasting their time indexing websites that aren’t going to bring them business! Sites with high-quality backlinks tend to rank higher than sites without many links pointing at it.
Search Engine Optimization is more important than ever before for businesses of all sizes. Although it can be a slow process, SEO will ultimately result in more traffic from Google and increased sales. It’s important that before you start investing into SEO that you have clear goals set out for yourself with specific “SMART” objectives!