One of the hottest topics in the digital world is Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Organic search is usually the primary source of website traffic, and SEO is a long-term strategy that can help you get the most out of your site and increase your traffic for years to come. However, SEO is also constantly evolving, which can make it hard for business owners stay on top of it—especially when new algorithms debut (such as Google’s Bert algorithm).
WHAT IS SEO?
Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is the process of optimizing a website and its content to maximize search engine findability. Optimizing your business’s website for SEO can be a complex process (Google determines search engine ranking based on 200+ factors!), but doing it well has been proven to generate real results in business. In fact, the top-ranking page on a Google search receives almost a third of all clicks, which means that improving your website’s SEO can create a huge impact on your business’s organic leads.
THE BENEFITS OF SEO
Improving your website’s SEO can have several great benefits for your business, including:
- More Clicks: More than 2/3rds of search engine users click on a page in the top five results of a search query. Optimizing your website’s SEO can help you get into those top five slots, driving more organic traffic to your site.
- Increased Site Credibility: Appearing higher in the search results gives your website credibility. Search engine users trust the websites that search engines provide.
- Higher Conversion Rate: SEO helps draw customers to your site who are actively searching for your product or service. Since the customer is more likely to find what they need, there is an increased likelihood of a conversion.
THE THREE STAGES OF SEO
SEO is not a one-click installation on your site. In fact, SEO has numerous factors that can be sorted into three different stages. If done well, they all work together to boost your site, increasing traffic and site trust.
The three stages are:
- Technical SEO
The technical SEO stage includes configuring the necessary settings to make your business’s website easy to find by web crawlers. Typically, you only need to do this type of SEO once.
Technical SEO practices include specifying a preferred domain, optimizing your URL structure, having a clear navigation system, and making sure your site is mobile-friendly.
- On-page (on-site) SEO
On-page, or on-site, SEO primarily deals with content, images, and other elements found on the web page itself. Here, it is critical to utilize keywords relevant to your business across your website’s text, image titles, and more. However, you do not want to overload your content with keywords- choose three to five to focus on.
Another important component of on-site SEO is including high-quality content.
What does “high-quality” content mean? First and foremost, original content. You don’t want to plagiarize or post content from other sites—even if you attribute it—because the search engines may flag it as spam. Original content can come in many formats, including articles, images, videos, infographics, or lists. Whatever format best serves the information is fine…as long as it’s unique to your site. It is also important to note that with visual content should also include a text description to make it easier for search engines to identify.
- Off-site (off-page) SEO
Off-site SEO (also known as off-page SEO) primarily involves web page promotion through backlinks. If your website is being referenced on other well-known sites, the search engines will understand that your site can also be trusted. This credibility can greatly affect your website’s ranking position in the search engines results.
Start Optimizing Your Site
Including an search engine optimization strategy is critical for every web property in today’s digital age. After all, SEO has been proven to increase traffic and build credibility for websites, which has a positive effect on your business overall. However, we understand that researching and implementing the best SEO practices through a dedicated strategy can be overwhelming. That’s why Media Venue is here to help! Contact our SEO and Content Manager—Sarah Kelley—today at sarah@mediavenue.com for more information on how Media Venue can make an impact on your business’s SEO. Enhance your marketing investment with Media Venue!
