There are a lot of technical terms flying about online nowadays. As the internet advances further every day, people are discovering things and sharing the information at an incalculably faster rate than ever before.
One term that has been increasingly popular is SEO, which stands for search engine optimization. Search engine optimization is the process of ensuring that it’s your brand that rises to the top of the Google search results. In this article, we’ll be outlining the basics of SEO (see here), and how it can be applied.
Why Does SEO Matter?
If you sell stocks, would you rather pay for a billboard so that anyone driving in your area might look up from the road to see your ad (despite possibly not having any interest in buying stocks), or be one of Google’s first search results whenever someone puts “buy stocks” into their search engine? Your answer should be the latter because whoever types that have commercial intent, which means that those people are coming right out and showing an interest in purchasing your product.
Tons of people search for things online every day. That web traffic can be very lucrative for a business not only because there is a lot of traffic, but because there is a lot of very specific, high-intent traffic like we just went over. People are constantly searching for all sorts of things that can be related to whatever your business is. Whether there is a direct tie or not, you can come up in search results that are only vaguely related to whatever you do.
This versatility promises even more chances to connect with anyone searching for terms that match your business. Their interacting with your content should provide them with quality results, so make sure your webpage is up to date and user-friendly. Consider investing in usability testing if you’re unsure of your website’s interface.
So What Do I Need?
First off, you need to understand keywords. Keywords are words that you intentionally sprinkle into your content, in order to increase your likelihood of ranking up on Google. These keywords are based on identifying what words people use most often when googling specific things. “Buy garden hose” is something you might want to put in your content if your business involves selling garden hoses.
Incorporating these keywords into your content is part of a process called “on-page optimization,” which also involves some HTML coding. It’s basic, but if you’re not tech-savvy, then consider hiring a firm. Studies show that SEO can be well worth the investment, and has been proven to work in certain ad firms, such as Avidon Marketing Group.
The only other thing you need to engage in SEO is the willingness to further research it. Doing so will not only provide you with enough information to invest in it, but it might also generate your business a nice influx of funds. SEO is the future, and it could be your present, if you decide to go ahead and take the plunge.