Search Engine Optimization
Hope you had your coffee today!
What the heck is SEO?
SEO stands for “search engine optimization.” In simple terms, SEO means the process of improving your website to increase its visibility in Google, Microsoft Bing, and other search engines whenever people search for:
- Products you sell
- Services you provide
- Information on topics where you have expertise
The better visibility your pages have in search results, the more likely you are to be found and clicked on. This is considered "organic" search results. Ultimately, the goal of search engine optimization is to help attract website visitors who will become customers, clients or an audience that keeps coming back.
Why is SEO important?
SEO is a critical marketing channel. First, and foremost: organic search delivers 53% of all website traffic, according to a BrightEdge study. Don't be fooled by the online advertising companies pushing you to spend thousands of dollars a month on paid advertising. Per the same study, only 15% of website traffic is generated through pay-per-click.
SEO drives real business results for brands, businesses and organizations of all sizes. Whenever people want to go somewhere, do something, find information, research or buy a product or service – their journey typically begins with a search.
Still haven't told you what it is, have I?
Because SEO is so obscure and confusing, it is an area where "big" companies tend to take advantage of small business owners. They essentially charge a monthly fee for as high as they think they can scare you into paying, then sit back and do very little, because it is hard to quantify the work being done on SEO. At DAR Web Consulting, we have a fixed price for SEO and our clients know exactly what we are doing for them at all times.
There are a lot of things that factor into SEO, but I will break down into three main categories:
Technical Optimization
It all starts with architecture – creating a website that can be crawled and indexed by search engines.
We make it easy for search engines to discover and access all of the content on your pages (i.e., text, images, videos). What technical elements matter here: URL structure, navigation, internal linking, and more.
Experience is also a critical element of technical optimization. Search engines stress the importance of pages that load quickly and provide a good user experience.
Plus, web hosting services, CMS (content management system) and site security all play a role in SEO.
Content Optimization
In SEO, your content needs to be optimized for two primary audiences: people and search engines. What this means is that we optimize the content your audience will see (what’s actually on the page) as well as what search engines will see (the code).
The goal, always, is to publish helpful, high-quality content. We do this through a combination of understanding your audience’s wants and needs, data and guidance provided by Google.
Off-site Optimization
There are several activities that may not be “SEO” in the strictest sense, but nonetheless can align with and help contribute indirectly to SEO success.
Link building (the process of acquiring links to a website) is the activity most associated with off-site SEO. There can be great benefits (e.g., rankings, traffic) from getting a diverse number of links pointing at your website from relevant, authoritative, trusted websites. Link quality beats link quantity – and a large quantity of quality links is the goal.
Additional aspects of Off-site SEO are brand building through social media, online listings management and reviews which are all areas we help our clients with.
Wake Up!!
If you read through all of that, God Bless You! Here is all you really need to know.
