Ahh, search engine optimization. Simply put, the practice of search engine optimization could be what takes your struggling business to the heights of success that you’ve always dreamed about.
If you’ve heard the term SEO bandied about but don’t really have an idea of what all it entails, then you’re in the right place. This article is a beginner’s guide to SEO — you’ll learn everything you need to know about what SEO is and how to implement it in your business.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for search engine optimization. Simply put, it’s the art of optimizing your website to rank well in the search engine results for particular searches.
Whenever you Google something, there’s always a hierarchy of listings. Have your ver determined what goes into ranking those pages so that the most valuable content is displayed first?
An understanding of those ranking factors is exactly what you need if you want your business to rank highly for relevant search terms. Whether you sell plumbing services or widgets, ranking well for relevant search queries can always help your business.
Know Your Keyword
A keyword is just another word for a search query. If you sell plumbing services, then an example of a keyword that would be relevant to you could be “plumbers near me”. Your goal is to rank as high as possible for that keyword so that searchers click on your listing and use your service.
To optimize your website for these search queries, you should have a comprehensive idea of exactly what queries you want to rank for. There are several tools available online for you to figure out how many searches each keyword gets as well as what the competition is for that keyword.
As a general rule, you want to target keywords that maximize the search volume to competition ratio.
On-page and Off-page SEO
There are two types of search engine optimization practices: on-page and off-page.
On-page SEO is all about optimizing your actual website for high search rankings. This includes building out the technical architecture in specific ways, including your target keywords multiple times on each page, and using long-form content to make your pieces more valuable to searchers.
Off-page SEO includes things that you do outside of your website to make it rank higher. Google uses backlinks (a link from another website that directs users to yours) as a way of determining how credible a source is. Creating backlinks is one of the anchors of a good off-page SEO strategy.
SEO is a hard business to learn. Consider hiring a digital marketing agency that has a good understanding of the intricacies of high search rankings.
Rank Well Today with This Guide to SEO
There you have it. Equipped with this guide to SEO, you should be all set to start optimizing your website for high search rankings guide.
For more website and business advice, be sure to take some time to check out the rest of the articles available to read on the website!