An Introduction to SEO




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SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is a phrase you have probably heard bouncing around all corners of the internet. You may have been confused by what those three letters meant or why everyone keeps telling you it will help your business. Don’t worry; we’re here to help.

The Basics of Search Engine Optimization

First and foremost, Search Engine Optimization is a way of improving your rankings in search engines, which leads to increased traffic to your website. Search engines like Google or Bing provide search results based on specific phrases and questions that a user types in. SEO is just a fancy way of saying that you are designing your website in a specific way and producing content that Google likes. If the search engine likes your website, and it can easily match your business to a user’s search, then it will recommend you first in the results. If a potential customer sees your name pop up first on Google, they will most likely click your website first. This naturally leads to more traffic for your website. In SEO terms, this is called “organic traffic.”

The Benefits of SEO for Your Business

As previously mentioned, the higher you rank on a search results page, the more likely it is that potential customers are going to click on your website. However, more traffic to your website means nothing if it’s not full of people who are genuinely interested in what you have to offer. SEO also helps with the quality of your traffic. Because the search rankings are based on the phrases that a user typed in, they are tailored to fit the needs of the searcher. If someone searches Google or Bing for a new cell phone, the search engine is going to provide them with links to cell phone providers. This is good news for your business. It means that, not only will SEO bring more people to your website, but it will bring in more interested people, which means more people already looking to purchase.

SEO Techniques for Improving Traffic

Search engines use crawlers which are programs that comb through websites and build an index of all of the content and information contained in those websites. Then, when someone enters a search term, Google or Bing will scan through their index to find information that closely matches what the user was searching for. These are pages that they consider authorities on the searched subject. Convincing a search engine that you’re an authority is what SEO is all about—and it can take some time. It requires publishing content that is specifically tailored to your target audience. This means utilizing tools like “keywords” in the copy of your website. Keywords are the words and phrases that someone enters into Google. If you think about who your customers are, what their needs are, and what kinds of phrases or questions they may be searching for, you can provide them with answers. There are also other SEO techniques that help build your credibility and help search engines like Google better understand who you are and what you do. These can be related to the way your site is built. Factors like mobile-friendliness and page speed can affect your ranking in Google. The main goal of using SEO techniques is to make your website as easy to navigate and understand as possible—for search engines and for your customers. It may seem overwhelming, but we offer services to help you develop an SEO strategy and bring in more traffic. To learn more about how SEO can help your business, contact us today.