When looking at digital marketing, search engine optimization often comes up, but why is it so important?
Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is the name given to the group of actions that attempt to improve organic search engine rankings. These are the order and relevance of unpaid search results within a search engine query. We know that the top paid search results are driven by digital paid marketing tactics, however, the organic results that appear after that are just as important. A website with strong SEO, as well as a paid campaign, can maximize all searches related to their website and business.
How does SEO work?
Google and other popular search engines have elaborate algorithms that change frequently. An algorithm is explained by Google as, “computer programs that look for clues to give you back exactly what you want.” There are over 200 unique signals or clues in a Google Search algorithm, and you may remember hearing about a few of them, including Mobilegeddon from back in 2015, that increased the importance of mobile-friendly websites when evaluating search ranking results. Signals include things like, user experience, the content used, the “freshness” of your content, your geographics region and page rank all factor into where your page appears in search results.
How can I improve my SEO?
In addition to a website’s mobile friendliness, there are a few key things that you can do to help your website appear in more searches and with a higher position. Here are six of them:
- User experience, or “UX”, is the experience a person has while on your website. Its importance for SEO has been slowly increasing over the years, and a site with good user experience will rank higher than a site that has too many road blocks and is difficult to navigate.
- Ensure basic website features are enabled and maximized. This includes URL optimization, implementing meta tags, establishing and inserting keywords for each page, H1, H2 and H3’s are in place and optimizing images for your website.
- Set up local listings. This includes creating a Google My Business, Yahoo Local and Bing Local page to provide more information about your business.
- Establish page authority. This essentially means to have other relevant websites link to your website to establish (in your search engine’s eyes) authority on a topic.
- Think like a consumer. Consumers don’t always know the name of your product, or the exact words to use when researching online. This is very important when writing copy on your website. Understanding the customer can help your page appear on more relevant searches, ultimately, increasing your website traffic.
- Update content. Stale content on your site can negatively affect your search engine results as people typically search for newer content, so search engines take this into consideration with their algorithms. We often suggest creating a blog that can speak directly to consumers to answer some of their questions.
When should I optimize my SEO?
There is never a bad time to optimize! As search engines are always updating their algorithms, the need to constantly be thinking about SEO and the content on your website is key. If you are an expert in your area, let the search engines find you easily online. You wouldn’t want to lose out on potential customers who are looking online for information but can’t find anything because of poor website organic rankings.
SEO can often feel like another language, but thankfully, we speak SEO fluently at adHOME. Our Google Certified team works with a variety of SEO clients to boost their organic search engine results on an ongoing basis.