SEO, or search engine optimization, is a phrase thrown around casually in the world of digital marketing but it is often misunderstood by business owners. Companies have heard SEO is an important aspect of promoting their business online, but aren’t entirely sure why. This week’s blog post will help you better understand the ins and outs of search engine optimization so you know exactly why it’s important for your business.
According to Moz, SEO is defined as “the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results.” So what the heck does that actually mean for you and your business?!
SEO: Breaking Down What Goes Into It
Quality of Traffic
At its core, correctly done search engine optimization should help you easily attract high quality customers who are genuinely interested in your products or services. If Google is sending people to your website who are not interested in your business, then you may need to evaluate your SEO.
Quantity of Traffic
Now that you know you need to have the best quality traffic possible, you also need to actually get large numbers to see your website. Having the right optimization on your site can greatly affect the numbers of eyeballs reaching your website.
Organic Search Traffic
Organic traffic is simply any traffic you do not have to pay for through advertising in platforms such as Facebook Ads or Google Ads. Once you have a well-optimized website, you should be receiving more and more organic search traffic.
How Does SEO Work?
When a potential customer searches using Google or another search engine like Bing, they are presented with a list of websites related to their search term(s). These sites show up in the results based on the relevance of keywords on each site and the trustworthiness / authority of the site’s domain. Search engines use advanced crawlers to gather a site’s content and then index it into complex algorithms. These algorithms are used to determine whether your website should show up in certain search results.
Factors That Affect SEO
The below infographic shows a few top factors that can affect whether your site shows up prominently in search results.
Now that you know the five important factors that may affect SEO, let’s elaborate on these points further.
Onsite Optimization
A well-optimized website can help your site rank locally or nationally at the top of search engines like Google. To make sure you are hitting your mark and setting your website up for success, be sure to include the appropriate tags and meta descriptions. Also minimize the use of Flash, set up a sitemap, and use images and videos throughout your pages to capture the attention of search engines.
Mobile Friendliness
As of October 2016, mobile website visits surpassed desktop visits by 50%. What this means for your business is that if you do not have a website that is responsive on mobile, you are missing out on an important way to get in front of your target customers. You will also be penalized in the Google search algorithm. In fact, mobile usability is ranked as the third most important factor in SEO.
Google made an even bigger shift to mobile in November 2016 when it announced it would crawl the mobile version of websites before the desktop version.
User Experience
How do you want your ideal customers to feel when they’re visiting your site? Many business owners go for flashy design over functionality without thinking about what would actually help their customers best understand their products or services. If you aren’t sure what sort of experience your customers might want to have with your website, consider polling them on common questions they might have and doing some in-depth keyword research. Having a site that is a joy to browse will help you convert more visitors into customers.
Content
One of the aspects Google uses to consider the quality of a website is its purpose. Determining your site’s purpose can help crawlers understand who your audience is and when you should appear in search results.
Another way to emphasize the quality of your site is through its content. The words you use and how your site is constructed will help visitors and search engines better understand if your website is worth their time. If Google finds you aren’t providing value or are filling your pages with keyword-rich information that doesn’t make sense, you will be penalized.
Speed
With your business’s website, you only get one shot at a first impression. That impression starts above all with the speed of your website. If your site takes too long to load, it will impede how quickly search engines can crawl your site and can greatly affect your ranking in search results. Plus, a slow site only encourages visitors to leave. Experts have also found speedy sites have a higher conversion rate.
Why is SEO Important to Your Business?
SEO has the potential to drive tons of leads and traffic straight to your business. This can save you on marketing costs and help you exponentially grow your revenue.
Still unsure how to use SEO and get in front of customers the right way? Or just want some extra help?
Get in touch with the team at Hyport Digital and learn how we can improve your online presence.
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