What is SEO?
SEO is a key component of any good digital marketing strategy.
In the digital age, every website owner wants their site to appear within the top organic search results on Google.
So, what exactly is this SEO and what does it stand for? SEO stands for ‘Search Engine Optimization’, which is optimizing a website to improve its organic (unpaid) position and visibility in search engine results.
Simply put, the higher your website is listed on search engines, the more people will see it.
The below infographic – The Fishkin’s ‘Mozlow’s Hierarchy of SEO Needs’ created by Rand Fiskin, co-founder of Moz, takes from Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs’ pyramid; and looks at how website owners should execute SEO.
Source: MOZ
How does SEO work?
SEO goes beyond search engines, it’s about knowing your target audience and understanding what they are searching for online, the answers they are looking for, the words they use in their searches and the type of content they wish to consume.
If you can successfully understand your audience’s intent, this will enable you to connect with the people who are searching online for the products and/or services that you offer.
Seach Engine Optimizations aligns your website and content with the Google algorithm, i.e. what Google looks for in good search results.
Google wants to rank web pages that leave its users happy. Therefore you must create user-friendly content in order to succeed:
- Satisfy search intent, i.e. deliver the content that the searcher is seeking.
- Demonstrate experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T).
- Your website must load quickly and perform optimally
- Your website must be easy to navigate by users and search engines
SEO Tactics
Some of the most common SEO tactics include:
Keyword research: Identifying and analyzing the search terms that your target audience uses.
Content creation: Creating quality content that meets your target audiences’ needs
Link building: Getting other relevant websites to link to your site. This builds your website’s online credibility and trustworthiness.
Technical SEO: Improving the technical performance of your site for users and search engines
Why do I need SEO for my website?
Every second, millions of searches are being processed by search engines across the web.
Users are constantly searching the web, looking for answers to a multitude of questions, ranging from what the top holiday destinations are, to how to find the best medical care, schools, or a particular product; the list is endless.
Google is the most popular search engine around the world. For every search, Google organizes the results by ranking the best answers first.
- On average, over 43% of searchers click an organic result.
- The first three organic links receive approximately 30% of all click-throughs.
- Only 0.78% of users access a link on the second page of the results.
Search Engines generate a lot of traffic. Ranking high in search engine results pages (SERPs) can result in a lot of clicks to your website, which means lots of traffic to your website.
If you don’t capture the clicks available in your industry, product or service offering, then your competitors will.
SEO is the tried and trusted, proven way to rank on more search results pages and rank in higher positions.
SEO Can Be Highly Cost Effective. One of the main benefits of SEO is its cost-effectiveness. There are no advertising costs for SEO and you don’t pay to appear on the results page nor do you incur costs when people view or click your result. Achieving and maintaining good SEO incurs relatively low costs (compared to paid traffic channels).
SEO can deliver long-term results. Once you’ve achieved high rankings, it’s possible to maintain them with minimum effort, as opposed to channels like digital PR and social media.
Building a strong SEO foundation also makes it easier to gain or improve other rankings in the future.
In conclusion, SEO has 20 times more traffic opportunity than PPC on both mobile and desktop.
SEO is also one of the only online marketing channels that, when set up correctly, can continue delivering results over time.
If you provide solid, relevant and trustworthy content that deserves to rank for the right keywords, your traffic can snowball over time, without the need for large advertising budgets to send traffic to your website.
Start building your SEO strategy and expand your digital footprint.