What is SEO?

Every business works hard to research the best practices for marketing but often skip over many non-paid forms that can produce positive results. An example of is the simple practice of Search Engine Optimization.

SEO stands for search engine optimization. It’s how a business can increase both the quality and quantity of website traffic and exposure to your brand through organic search engine results. The process of involves understanding what people are searching for online, the answers they are seeking, the words they’re using to find this.

The Benefits Of SEO for a Business
   Search engine optimization is a key part of marketing because online search is one of the main and simple ways that users look for products/services. Organic search results appear more credible to active users and receive more clicks than paid advertisements. In fact, 70% to 80% of users scroll past paid searches, choosing to only click on organic results.



There are 3 core things that search engines like Google evaluate to determine how it should rank, those are links, content and page structure. As a business can optimize there page by improving in these areas.
        Content - Search engines also analyze the content of a web page to determine if it would be relevant for what a consumer searched for. You should have a clear idea of the keywords people use to describe your product or service and the terms that describe how you want the pages on your site to be found. A business should use these keywords on to create content on their websites and optimize their homepage or landing pages. Below is a screenshot of the Nike, website while the homepage may appeal to a consumers eye if Nike wasn't a major brand they would receive less traffic because the page features very little keywords.

       Links - A link from other websites is seen as a vote of quality of a website and is used determining the ranking of a site in Google and other search engines. Whether negative or positive, if the content of a business page makes another site talk, it indicates authority, credibility and/or trustworthiness of your site.
       Site Structure - A business should aim to have a site that is fast, user-friendly and easy to navigate. A well-created site structure is important for SEO because it helps search engines understand your content better and decrease how often a user leaves your site without clicking on anything. This bottled water company is a poor example of site structure.

The ultimate objective with any search engine optimization efforts is to get more exposure and traffic for your business or your site’s content. Using tools like Google Analytics can be very helpful to help you understand what your business may need. Search engine optimization is not hard and usually very cost-effective and it is one of the most effective ways to drive sustainable traffic to your website.

For a more complete guide to SEO, check out this blog by Tom Demers - SEO Basics: A Beginners Guide


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