SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and it basically consists of a set of rules which site owners can follow to drive more traffic and generally make the website easier to navigate. As you probably already know, there are millions of websites on the internet and thousands are created each day. To stand out from the crowd with a business website isn’t the simplest thing in the world, but it is totally possible if you focus your attention on SEO.
Keep in mind that SEO is not actually a programming language, so you don’t have to learn a lot before you can see the results of your work. If you have a blog or you try to sell products on your website, keep reading to find out more about SEO and how to make good use of it to increase the profitability and visibility of your website.
Why is SEO so important for a website?
Studies show that most people are very picky these days and they only focus on the first 5-10 results returned by a search engine. In other words, if you go on Google and search for “lolcats”, you will probably click on the first 5 websites that appear and then you’ll eventually get bored with so much cuteness and innocent humor. To make your particular business profitable, you need to focus your efforts and make your website appear in the first results returned by a search engine. Here are more benefits of good SEO practices
- Make your website easier to navigate and faster. Keep in mind that most internet users don’t want to wait more than 3-4 seconds for a website to load, so you need to focus on lightness and quick loading speeds
- If your website appears in the first results returned by a search engine such as Google, this automatically makes it more trustworthy. People will understand that you are an authority within that particular domain or niche and are more likely to visit your website or buy from you
- Another excellent benefit of good SEO practices is that internet users are more likely to spread the word and promote your articles, products or services on various social media platforms. You don’t only get the trust of your clients, but they will also do promotion on your behalf
- SEO can make you stand apart from your competition and get organic traffic on a regular basis, as opposed to using paid advertisements which require constant investment to gather potential buyers. SEO ensures the continuity of your business for years to come if it is done correctly
- SEO can be more cost-effective than other advertising strategies such as pay-per-click. If you implement good SEO strategies, your website will gain organic traffic regularly and absolutely for free, in comparison with paying to advertise your particular online store or blog
SEO – Learn The Basics
Now that you know the importance of SEO, let’s take a closer look at it and put it into context. When you perform a search on a popular search engine such as Google, Bing or Yahoo!, the results displayed are influenced by complex algorithms which can change from time to time. These algorithms take into account the actual value of a particular website, its popularity, and other factors. Better websites are displayed first while new websites or not very optimized ones are displayed on the second, third, forth pages, etc.
By using SEO techniques, you can basically improve how your website ranks in the eyes of a search engine and you have higher chances of having your business displayed first. This means that millions of people can see your website right away and pay a visit or buy a product.
Since SEO acts as a framework and it is governed by rules, we can talk about two main types of SEO – onsite and offsite.
Onsite SEO
Onsite SEO is also called on-page SEO and it basically refers to the changes and improvements you can do within your website to make it rank higher in search results. This can be done in various ways and it is an ongoing process, so you should expect to make improvements once in a while, depending on how Google or other search engines change their algorithms.
Some of the improvements you can make with regard to onsite SEO include:
- Make sure your content is completely unique and not copied from elsewhere
- Make sure that your content is easily readable and it has good skim value. Use headers and proper titles which accurately reflect the content on your web pages
- Use certain keywords which are relevant to people’s interests
- Make sure that your content goes well in depth and answers the questions or queries posed by visitors who come to your website
Website owners might also need to take into account the website structure to ensure that their web pages rank higher in search engines. For example, it is important to have certain pages within your website, to carefully craft the URL to attract visitors, etc. By taking into consideration these two factors (using onsite SEO tips and working on the website infrastructure), you’ll be well ahead most of your competitors out there.
Offsite SEO
Apart from the improvements, you can make on your particular website to make it rank higher, you can also take advantage of offsite SEO which incorporates link building, among other techniques. Think about offsite SEO as a method of promoting your website. One of the best ways to do that is to engage in link building which basically represents the number of incoming links to your website. Having many incoming links is generally good for your website, but it really depends on where they come from. For example, if links come from generally trustworthy websites then that will definitely rank you higher in Google searches. If links come from article directories or they are paid links, you will not have much success with your website.
If you are wondering what to do to get more links to your website, you’ll soon find out that there are numerous methods available on the internet. However, most of them will render good results for a limited amount of time only. There are really no shortcuts to making your website more successful in the long run. It is best to concentrate on providing good content for your readership and let the traffic get higher in an organic way. This will also improve your credibility and make you an authority within your particular niche.
Is SEO synonymous with Internet marketing?
This is a good question which pops up regularly. SEO is a tool which should be part of your internet marketing strategy, but it shouldn’t be used singularly. There are other ways to market a website including social media promotion, paid ads, etc. SEO shouldn’t be ignored, but it is not a good idea to rely only on these techniques to make the profits of your website skyrocket because this can be a limited exercise. At the end of the day, each webmaster should find out new ways to improve his website and gain more traffic if he wants to be successful in the long run.
Whether you use SEO or not, your website must have high-quality content
Keep in mind that SEO acts as a tool to boost the exposure of your website. It can make it easier to navigate and it will help it stand out from the crowd. However, you still need to have quality content on your website or blog, otherwise, these good SEO practices will not work. It’s like building a wonderful pathway to a store which has no products on shelves. Clients will definitely be disappointed.
Therefore, while focusing on healthy SEO techniques to make your website more visible on the World Wide Web, don’t forget to add high-quality content on a regular basis. This should be your first priority and it will make your website a success whether you subsequently use SEO techniques or not.
Don’t hesitate to start implementing SEO techniques today
As you just learned from this article, SEO shouldn’t be overlooked if you want to be successful in the long run. Whether you have a blog, online store or a business website selling services to clients, make sure that you learn basic SEO lessons or hire an expert to help you implementing good SEO practices. This won’t only make your site rank higher in Google searches, but also provide a steady amount of traffic on a regular basis.
Not sure where to begin?
Wanna get a customized strategy or marketing plan for your business? Request a proposal or if you’d like for me to hear your beautiful voice, schedule a discovery call today!