SEO 101
SEO can be intimidating especially when you don’t know the basics. First off, SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization.” SEO is used for literally what it stands for: optimizing your search results on the web. People are constantly searching things on the web and as a business you don’t want to be at the bottom. Many search engines show only 10 results per page and searchers more than likely won’t go past that first page. They won’t even go past the first 3 to 4 search results. If you’re not up there, you’re missing out on website clicks that in turn result in sales.
SEO is nothing but an extension of traditional marketing. Many people think it’s complicated so we’re laying out 5 steps to start using SEO:
1. Market Research: Go out there and see what types of websites are using SEO and what words deem important to your website. Search things that you would expect someone to search if they were looking for a company like yours. Who pops up first? Take a look at their site and take note of what they are making the keywords.
2. Keyword Research: You can use an SEO Keyword Tool that allows you to search popular and long tail (phrase that contains at least three words) that are related to your site. You can also use Google Keyword Tool and other popular research tools to see what trends sites similar to yours are using to maintain at the top of the search.
3. On-Page Optimization: Each page on your website should have the keywords that you think people will be searching. If each page doesn’t have a keyword, then that content will not be specific to your target market. If only your landing page has the keywords that you’ve researched to use, then people will only be directed there. If all pages have those keywords, then you have a higher chance of website traffic.
4. Brand Building: Brand-related content is key to using SEO. They are some of the most targeted and most valuable keywords. As people start to hear about your brand and it becomes more popular, more people will search keywords that relate to your brand when looking for you. Brand-related search traffic can be seen as a high quality for major search engines. So, keep promoting your brand in hopes of leading to more traffic. If your brand has a certain saying or hashtag people will use that to search your company.
5. Staying Up to Date: Keep tracking your SEO to see what is or isn’t working. Google Analytics makes this easy, so you can see where people are coming from and if they are coming from organic searches. You can track your ranking via keyword rankers that help you make sure you are on track. And as your brand evolves, your keywords may change. Don’t just stick to the ones you first use. The keywords can and most likely will become outdated.
