SEO.
Sweet, Easy Optimism?
Such Eerie Otters?
So, Electricity’s Orange?
Alrighty, all silliness aside, the term “SEO” stands for “Search Engine Optimization.”
Basically, it’s the tactics and practices site owners implement into their webpages to rank higher in search results. Ya know, to be seen by more people in hopes of increasing the amount and quality of traffic on the site through organic (AKA, not paid) results!
Truly and honestly, SEO is a big ole box with all kinds of things crammed into it. And while there’s so much to talk about, today, we just wanted to give you the gist of it—a little 101 crash course, if you will.
Back to Basics
Sure those three little letters have “search engine” in them, but it’s about people, too: it’s the never-ending process of understanding what exactly people are searching, why they’re searching for it, the content they’re wanting as a result, and the words they’re using in their queries to get there.
And when you understand the answers to all of those factors, you’re armed with the tools you need to pack your website full of the information they’re looking for, like eye candy that draws them to your site!
Search engines are able to look through billionsss of pages with tons of factors in mind to give you the most relevant content for your search through a process called “crawling and indexing.” It’s pretty much like taking inventory of literally every bit of information on the web, even as new content is created. Kinda cool, huh?
Think of it this way: if the internet was a library, the search engine would be the librarian who helps you find the books—or webpages—you’re looking for.
What’s the Big Deal?
A good chunk of the traffic that happens across the web is due to search engines themselves, so it’s important you do all you can to help search engines help YOU in terms of search rankings!
Properly optimizing your site provides search engines with the best information to index your content, and in turn, deliver the best results for consumers as you’re ranked higher in searches.
The more search engines like your SEO practices, the more they will generate organic traffic to your site. And you know what that means: more eyeballs on your brand, more potential customers, and more of a possibility for sales!
Understanding User Intent
A person searches for something on a search engine because they’re expecting to find a certain desired outcome. Sporting event tickets, how far the sun is from the Earth, pictures of puppies, what the heck “SEO” is—you name it, that’s called “user intent.”
When a search is made for “pizza,” is their intent to discover local pizza places near them, how to make New York style pizza, or to find the well-known episode of Spongebob singing the Krusty Krab Pizza song?
That’s where you can step in and use SEO to your advantage for your business: by providing the right tactics, you’ll be able to provide consumers with the answers they need, when they need it—making you a trusted and reliable source for whatever your service or product may be.
Wow, SEO Can Do It All! Right?
…Wrong. While there’s tons of benefits to this resourceful tool at your fingertips, there’s also a few things SEO can’t be expected to do. Let’s unpack this a bit:
Search Engine Optimization:
- CAN’T create a market for your site
- If there’s no demand, there’s no search volume
- CAN’T convert customers directly
- Just because SEO drives people to your site, doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll become customers
- CAN’T grow a brand on its own
- There’s tons of things that go into a successful marketing strategy, not just SEO alone
- CAN’T show accurate results overnight
- This is a long-term investment—you’ll see growth through historical engagement and performance
What to Do, What to Do…
Here are a few ways to start your SEO journey:
- Create keyword-rich page titles that makes people want to click it (but don’t go overboard)
- Make sure your meta descriptions are compelling enough to make people choose your site over someone else’s
- Get a simpler, easy to read URL—like, now
- Equip the first chunks of text on a webpage with the answers someone may be needing right off the bat
- Do everything you can to make sure the consumer doesn’t click that “back” button
- Answer their question
- Add tools and resources that will answer their next questions
- Create interactive elements (maps, sorting tools, etc.)
- Provide a sleek, user-friendly experience overall
Know Before You Go
It’s important you don’t jump into it all willy-nilly; you’ll want to make sure you have a full understanding of your business plans and goals first! Without a clear vision moving forward, you won’t be able to utilize SEO to its fullest potential for your benefit.
Obviously, there’s a ton of ins and outs about our good pal SEO that we didn’t mention here. Interested in learning more about how search engine optimization can help your business? Give us a buzz to get started!
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