What is SEO?

In today's world of digital technology, if someone seeks an answer to a question or a solution to a problem, they turn to the internet. Every day, more than 3 billion searches occur on Google. As a business, how do you stand apart from the competition and ensure that your site is among the list of answers seen by those Google searchers? With more than 1 billion global websites competing for viewers' attention, it's clear that a company's ranking among online searches can make or break a business's success. That's where SEO (search engine optimization) comes into play.

As a business, you must understand what people are searching for online and then use that data to cater your website to the needs of those people. In this way, you can increase the likelihood that viewers will see your company's website among the top rankings in search results. This improves the chances of driving traffic to your site, increasing conversion rates, and generating sales revenue. Understanding SEO and how to optimize your website for maximum performance is essential to the success of any business, regardless of industry.

Whether you're a solopreneur or a Fortune 500 company, every business should master SEO. After all, the goal of every company is the same: drive quality traffic to your site, build brand loyalty, and convert prospects to customers. SEO is the key to achieving this goal.

SEO is about knowing what content and products people seek online and what words and phrases they use to locate that information. Then, it's utilizing that data to create content for your website that search engines will identify as valuable and relevant. When successful, your website will be rewarded with a high search engine ranking, appearing at the top of results and ultimately translating to revenue generation.

Search engine ranking placement is critical because 75% of online users won't see the first page of Google search results. You must rank highly by meeting Google's search criteria to capture viewers' attention. There was a time when a website needed a ton of keyword matches to earn high search engine rankings. If your content used enough of the right words and phrases, it was deemed a good match for Google searchers.

Today, SEO is much more than keyword count. Consumer demand has changed the face of digital marketing, and now greater importance is given to whether a website provides a positive experience to its users. Is the content useful, relevant, and accurate? Does it provide value? Is it easy to navigate? Companies must now make user experience a priority when optimizing websites for maximum performance.

Search engines like Google aim to please their users. Therefore, they want to know what websites are most valuable to their users and then refer those sites to the people conducting searches. After all, the more relevant results Google can provide, the more traffic it'll build and the more business it'll secure. Search engines gather and collect this information through a three-step process.

Search engines use spiders and bots to scan web pages to gain an understanding of their content. These crawlers begin with a few web pages, then follow links on those pages to other content. This could be web pages, blog articles, and even .pdfs or other downloadable files. 

All of the information gathered from crawlers is then indexed. This means it's organized and stored in a giant database to be referenced for future searches. An index allows search engines to locate relevant answers to queries exceptionally quickly and provide users with instantaneous, valuable results.

When a search is conducted online, search engines scroll through their index to find the content most relevant to the query. Then, the content is sorted by relevance and likelihood of answering the searcher's question. This ranking typically reflects how useful the search engine deems the indexed content. The higher the ranking, the more valuable the information.

There are several ways to optimize your website to ensure your business appears among the top Google search results. Focus on these three categories, and you'll be rewarded with desirable SERPs (search engine ranking placements).

Although keywords aren't the sole focus of effective SEO, they're still an essential aspect of website optimization. By understanding what your audience is searching for, you can create custom content that provides helpful information and aligns with their needs. Effective keyword research can reveal marketing trends, help you grow your traffic exponentially, and empower you to create custom content that users want to read.

It's important to realize that keyword stuffing (cramming a bunch of keywords into your content to make matches) can actually work against you. Instead, you want to incorporate keywords relevant to your users' search. These can help Google identify your website as a valuable resource for its users. As a result, they'll be more likely to recommend you as a possible solution.

Since user experience is so important, creating valuable content that users find beneficial is a great way to optimize your website. Content can include any of the following:

• Blog posts
• Web pages
• Podcasts
• Infographics
• Social media posts
• Videos

Regardless of what type of content you post, the more helpful information you can provide, the more content search engines have to crawl. For this reason, creating pillar content for your site can be highly beneficial.

Pillar content is substantial, educational pieces of content that focus on a central theme and can be divided into several smaller materials like guides and reports. They can all be linked together, providing an easy path for crawlers to scan, index, and rank relevant content.

There are four tips for creating content for SEO:

• Write for your audience: Writing content for your site isn't enough. It must appeal to your audience's needs, interests, and demands. Remember to write with your audience in mind.
• Pay attention to formatting: Remember, user experience is critical. Your content should be easy to navigate. Use clear headlines, divide text into digestible paragraphs, and tag relevant keywords to help readers and search engines understand the purpose of the post.
• Include links: Internal and external links increase shareability and the highest viewership. Linking to your own content increases the likelihood that people will see more of your content. Linking to other sources provides more resources for your readers and boosts SEO.
• Check content for accuracy: Because user experience is essential in SEO, you must ensure your content is up-to-date and accurate. Always be on the lookout for broken links or 404 errors. Review older articles to be sure data is still applicable. Replace outdated facts and figures with current findings. This ensures your content is useful, valuable, and helpful for your readers.

Remember, when it comes to optimizing your website, content that delivers valuable, relevant information to your readers is key.

With over 90% of global internet users accessing the internet from a mobile device, local SEO is a powerful tool. As people are out shopping around town, they'll use their mobile devices to conduct online searches. This means they're already in a buying mindset and are more likely to set foot inside a brick-and-mortar store. For this reason, you should include local SEO in your optimization strategy to increase customer engagement and drive traffic to your business.

Local SEO creates more content for Google to crawl and index and provides a narrow scope for them to recommend your business to online users. By targeting individuals who are within a specific geographical location, you set yourself apart from competitors whose information segments prospects outside your vicinity. Some ways to focus on local SEO include:

• Create a Google My Business profile: Develop a free online listing with an address, phone number, and business hours. This profile links to Google Maps, which reveals current company details and directions to your location. All of this increases visibility and can earn you higher SERPs.
• Seek positive user reviews: When it comes to brand loyalty, people tend to trust the opinions of others. In 2020, 87% of consumers relied on online reviews for purchase decisions. Google uses these reviews to gauge a website's overall user experience. Positive reviews mean people find your helpful website, making you more likely to receive a higher search engine ranking.
• Post area-specific content: Develop content targeting people within your geographic region. Create content that promotes local events or area organizations. Consider adding separate pages on your website for each region of your business services. This provides more ranking content and helps target a more specific audience.

There are numerous ways to appeal to a highly targeted audience with content that resonates. Local SEO is a highly effective way to build brand awareness, secure brand loyalty, and boost search engine rankings.

Although SEO revolves primarily around your company website, it impacts your business in so many ways. From exposure and brand loyalty to customer satisfaction, here are five reasons your business should incorporate SEO into your digital marketing strategy.

The most obvious reason to implement SEO into your digital marketing strategy is that it helps improve visibility. 62% of consumers use search engines to learn about a business, service, or product. Through SEO, you can position your business in front of your ideal target audience with high-ranking placement on search engine results pages. This ensures more people who are actively searching for information like yours will see your website and company name.

If your content solves the online searcher's problem, they're likely to share your information with others. This expands your reach and helps spread the word about your business. This is essential to standing apart from the competition and converting prospects into customers.

You establish your company as an authority in your field with every helpful content you publish. From links to educational resources and data to reports and findings from current research, content that continually answers questions and delivers value to your readers helps build credibility for your brand. Your readers will come to trust you and the information you provide and may even begin to seek out your information when looking for answers.

Eventually, this credibility will help to build a loyal following who not only return to your site for more content. They'll also share your information with their own contacts, helping to broaden your reach and expand your visibility. All of this can help drive even more traffic to your site and help generate more revenue for your company.

SEO causes you to look closely at your website's content, formatting, and user-friendliness. By paying attention to load time, mobile compatibility, and response time, you can provide a website that enables people to navigate to accurate, helpful information quickly. This improves the user experience you're providing your online viewers.

Research shows that 80% of people with a bad user experience are less likely to return to a company's website. By improving your user experience, you increase the likelihood of building customer loyalty and, ultimately, generating more revenue for your business.

A satisfied customer is also more likely to leave positive reviews, which creates more content for crawlers and convinces more people to buy from your company. All of this can help set you apart from your competition and have them look to you as an example of improving the user experience through SEO.

With traditional advertising, companies pay a fee to appear on certain digital media. The ad could run for a certain amount of time or through a certain amount of clicks. Then, when the budget is maxed out or the time is up, the ad stops running, and people stop seeing your brand name. This means you stop seeing results from your efforts.

Unlike paid advertising, SEO rarely costs anything more than the investment of time to create helpful content that resonates with your audience. While it's true some companies will pay for placement on SERPs, organic (unpaid) results appear directly beneath these ads, and they don't cost a cent. You'll receive the same visibility and drive the same traffic by optimizing your site and creating the most positive user experience possible.

As a result, SEO is a powerful tool that can be mastered by any size business, regardless of revenue or advertising budget.

To know whether your digital marketing efforts are practical and successful, you must be able to measure their results. SEO provides quantifiable data that allows you to track the efficacy of your efforts. Online tools like Google Search Console or Google Analytics can help you assess your site's performance and find areas to improve. You can track information like:

• Audience interests
• Traffic sources
• User behavior
• Click-through rates
• Viewed content

All of this information can help ensure you're focusing on the right aspects of your website and are providing the most positive user experience possible.

To develop an effective SEO strategy, you must first understand where you rank among your competitors. By gauging the current state of your search engine ranking placement, you can determine whether your current efforts are succeeding and, if not, what steps you might take to improve your situation. One easy way to do this is through Google Search Console, a free online tool that helps you learn how Google perceives your website.

Google Search Console can help you identify which online searches lead people to your site and how often people click through those searches. From blog posts and new web pages to giving older pages a facelift, Google Search Console can identify outdated content and broken links and help you create content with certain keywords to boost SEO rankings.

Before you set out to create an SEO strategy that yields results, you must assess your current ranking and identify areas for improvement. Only then can you develop a plan for ultimate success?

Once you know where you stand for SEO purposes, it's time to develop a strategy to optimize your website. Whether you're starting with a new site or want to update your current one, the steps are essentially the same. Optimize your website in seven easy steps.

Choose a name that's short, simple to spell, and easy to remember. Consider branding potential and avoid using keywords that make your site appear spammy. (For instance, use www.yourcompanyname.com rather than www.keyword-keyword.com) Your domain name should be trustworthy and instill confidence in your visitors.

Consider the goals and purpose of your site. Discover what keywords your target audience uses to find sites like yours, and incorporate intentional keywords into your content that give value to your readers. If you need ideas, search online and see what words auto-populate in the search field. The most frequently used words and phrases will appear, and you can use these in your own site's content.

The next step is to create content with your audience in mind. However, to do this effectively, you must first know who your audience is. Conduct research, create audience personas (hypothetical ideal customers), and find out your target audience's interests, needs, purchase behaviors, and expectations. Monitor social media and online forums for candid feedback from customers and prospects. Learn their pain points, discover ways to alleviate their problems, and address their concerns. 

Now that you know who you're trying to reach, it's time to develop valuable content. Write with your audience's needs in mind. Provide helpful resources, link to credible sources, and ensure current and reliable data. Remember to keep paragraphs brief, information enticing, and use formatting that makes details easy to read and share. Above all, content should be high-quality, provide value, and answer a question or solve your users' problems.

Once you've written for people, it's time to optimize for search engines. Avoid lengthy URL names that don't give any indication about content topics. Keep unique title tags under 60 characters so they aren't cut off in search listings. Use a meta description that entices people to read your material. Heading tags help search engines recognize the content and categorize it appropriately. All of this helps with SEO.

After publishing your content, test its usability to ensure you provide a positive user experience. Make sure load time is quick and efficient. See that the mobile version of your website is just as user-friendly as your desktop version. Ensuring website effectiveness can help strengthen your brand loyalty, credibility, and conversion rates.

Measure the success of your SEO efforts to determine areas for improvement. Set up tools like Google Analytics or Google Search Console to gain more insight into what search terms bring people to your site, who links to your pages, any areas that aren't performing well, and why. Need help? Consider contacting a third-party company to help you assess and improve your SEO strategy.

Many SEO tools overcharge for useless data that 90% of companies will never use. WinningRank streamlines the process and helps even the most inexperienced marketer know what is happening with their Google rankings. Whether you're a small business or a large corporation, WinningRank allows you to build custom reports that highlight the information you care about.