SEO and it’s benefits.
What is SEO?
Moz.com defines search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results.
The results you get when you search for something on any search engine (Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc) are of two types – (1) The ads that are a paid promotion method (which has a little green box with the word “Ad”), (2) and the one that are organically (or naturally) generated based on the importance, relevance, and traffic of the links.
Ranking high in the latter, i.e. organic search is what SEO is all about. With SEO, you can obtain natural or unpaid traffic to your website through various search engine recommended methods.
How is SEO done?
- Keyword research:
The first step in SEO is to identify search terms (or keywords) in order to rank your website on the search engine. Make sure you aren’t shoving tonnes of keywords onto your page. The key here is to keep it simple – keep up to 5-7 keywords for each page on your website.
- Quality content:
We’re sure that you’ve heard it before – “Content is king”. Do not doubt it. Content plays a huge part in SEO. Any search engine always drives its search to the best content it can find. The more content you have the more search engines will put your website on the search index. However, more content does not guarantee better SEO results. The content generated has to also be relevant, and must agree with the search engine’s recommended practices.
- Link building:
The goal to building links is to get other external websites to link to your landing page or website. This is known as backlinking. There are three kinds of link building techniques:
- Organic links: When some other website links to yours without being asked. This increases viewership and traffic.
- White hatting: Providing your target audience with Relevant content, links and references, thereby increasing traffic.
- Black hatting: Includes spamming, providing low quality content and link building. However, this focuses on optimizing your content only for search engine and not your target audience.
Is content important in the SEO process:
The answer is yes. Content and SEO go hand in hand. High quality content should be the basis of SEO because that is what search engines decide is worth sharing. People want information, and providing the right person with the right information at the right time is key to building a good content strategy.
When people look for you on a search engine, they generally have two purposes. One is to find general information about something in particular. The second is to find advanced information on a topic. Only a website with high quality content can satisfy both types of searchers.
Benefits of SEO:
- SEO helps build your brand:
SEO not only helps generate qualified traffic to your website but also boosts brand awareness. When people search for your brand, and your website is one of the first few results, it builds brand recall and trust in your company.
- SEO increases your sales:
Getting on the first page of the search is a big first step towards increasing website traffic. But SEO goes beyond just getting people to your page. When you put out valuable information that people are looking for, there are likely to be more potential leads amongst all your visitors. This can ultimately result in increased sales.
- SEO increases your ROI:
While a good SEO strategy takes time, the ROI is fairly evident. With a stark increase in brand awareness and sales, it is one of the most promising methods of digital marketing. SEO tools also provide trackable and quantifiable results, so you don’t have to worry when it comes to a return on your investment.
- While paid advertising can be temporary, SEO can be your long term solution :
SEO is more cost-effective than paid advertising and is one of the most affordable and effective marketing strategies. Once you rank higher than your competitors on search engines, you do not have to pay for clicks or allocate a substantial budget for advertising.
What not to do in SEO?
- An overdose of keywords:
Using the same keywords over and over again to optimize your search is not a healthy practice in SEO.
- Duplicating content:
Always make sure that your content is creative, unique and original. If not, the search engine will only pull other similar content from its index, and your website may not be listed because you have nothing new to offer.
- Keep away from irrelevant links:
It is always better to avoid irrelevant links on your website. If you do place such links, there is a likely chance that you could get your website penalized.
A good SEO strategy is a great way of driving consistent and relevant traffic to your website, and help you succeed in your business. That is why SEO should no longer be an option if your motive is to succeed in online marketing. Investing in a good SEO partner or in-house team will be your best buy.
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