Basic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is fundamental and essential for any business looking to increase their sales through their website online.
There is nothing mystical about it.
In a nutshell, SEO is the process of altering a website’s code, content, and backlinks in an attempt to target the keywords that users typically enter into a search field on a major search engine such as Google or Bing.
In several aspects, it is a simple quality control for websites.
SEO includes both, creative and technical elements that are geared towards improving rankings, driving traffic, enhancing the business’s visibility on search engines, and showing up locally on Google Maps.
Since SEO is inclusive of a host of factors, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that it structures a business website in a way that search engines understand and comprehend but also answers your users search questions.
However, it is important to understand that SEO is not plainly about building and optimizing websites to make them search-engine friendly, rather it’s about making a website better for existing and prospective buyers too.
If recent reports are anything to go by, as much as 70% of the links search users clicks on are related to SEO optimized website and content.
The same report indicates that SEO leads have 14.6% close rate while outbound leads (comprising of direct mail and print advertising) have a meager 1.7% close rate.
Why Does Your Website Need SEO?
We all know that majority of the traffic generated on websites is driven by giant search engines such as Google, Yahoo! and Bing.
Even though there are other marketing tools and social media initiatives that generate other types of traffic to your website, search engines remain the primary method used by online searchers for navigating their desired products and services.
This remains true in all cases, despite whether your website provides content, products, services, information or simply anything.
Unlike other means of generating traffic, search engines work in a distinctive way. They drive only that traffic to your website that is genuinely on the lookout for products/services that are similar to your offerings.
Needless to say, search engines are the roadways that make this happen.
If your website is not searched engine optimized, it means that search engines cannot find your website or add your content to their database. As a result, you are missing out on a host of opportunities to drive traffic onto your website.
Search queries and SEO have a deeply ingrained link. The words that online searchers type into the search box are of extraordinary value. Empirical evidence and statistics show that search engine traffic can make or break a business’s success.
Targeted traffic generated by SEO provides businesses with opportunities of publicity, exposure and revenue which no other marketing channel can provide. Investing in SEO provides an incomparable ROI (Return on Investment) relative to other types of marketing and promotion efforts.
Why Don’t Search Engines Pick Non-SEO Websites?
The world of SEO is like a complex web; most people fail to understand it while fewer comprehend how it works. Likewise, search engines are smart, but they still need some level of assistance and help.
Major search engines like Google and Yahoo! are on the constant lookout of improving its technology to crawl the web more deeply and profoundly to offer better results to users.
However, there is a limit to what search engines can do.
Businesses must understand that where the right SEO move can yield thousands of visitors and enhanced attention to the website, a wrong, confused SEO move can hide instead of highlighting your website in the search results, providing minimal visibility.
Apart from making a website’s content visible on search engines, SEO also aids in boosting the website’s ranking so that searchers can find it more readily. The internet is becoming immensely competitive and businesses that do SEO have a clear advantage in winning visitors and customers.
What Search Engines Looks For?
Search engines aim to dedicatedly perform their job of referring users to websites and content that is highly relevant to what the online searcher is looking for. However, the big question is: How is this relevance determined?
- Content: The content relevancy is determined by the theme that is being given, the text written on the page, and the titles and descriptions that are given.
- Performance: How swift your website is and whether or not it functions properly.
- Authority: Does the website contain sufficient content to link it to other authoritative websites? Does the authoritative websites use your website as a reference or allude to the information that’s available?
- User Experience: How does the website look? Does it have a user-friendly interface and is easy to navigate around? Is it safe? What’s the bounce rate?
What Are Search Engines Not Interested In?
Search engine spiders have a limited amount of data storage. So, if you are planning to perform shady tactics or trying to deceive them, chances are that they will end up damaging themselves in the long run.
Stated below are the items that search engines are not looking for:
- Keyword Stuffing: Keyword stuffing refers to overusing or overloading keywords in your website content.
- Purchased Links: One of the biggest mistakes that businesses make to garner customers to their website is buying links. Bear in mind that this tactic will get you nowhere when it comes to search engine optimization.
- Poor User Experience: A website must be immensely easy to get around. A busy, confusing and difficult website is one thing that search engines are least bothered about. A website stuffed with too many ads makes it complicated for people to find content; ultimately increasing the bounce rate of the website. Bounce rate is an important metric that offers useful information about your site. For instance, if your website’s bounce rate is more than 85%, then there is definitely something wrong with your website.
In a nutshell, make it a point to keep search engine optimization at the forefront and follow the best, ethical practices to make the most of this indispensable and incomparable marketing tool.
Skipping onto this aspect of website growth and success will leave your website in a mess and keep you away from maximizing revenue opportunities. If you are interesting in learning how SEO can help fuel growth for your website in 2023, please fill out the form on our contact us page.
