WHAT IS SEO?

Did you know that there are well over 30 million small businesses in the United States?

With so much potential competition, you need to do everything you can to stand out from the crowd. When it comes to attracting customers online, search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the most important strategies.

But what is SEO, exactly?

The Idea Behind SEO

Search engines, like Google or Bing, are tools that web users employ find information. We’ve also seen them, so the process should be familiar: You type in a search term, the search engine provides a series of results on a search engine results page (SERP), and you click on the link that seems most relevant to your search.

SEO is the process of optimizing your website content to make it more visible to these search engines. It’s both an art and a science, a mix of good content and some technical items that make it easier for the search engines to identify the content on your website and serve it up to their users.

It all starts with good content. There is no good SEO without good content. All the SEO wizardry in the world won’t help your website consistently rank for Internet searches if you’re not providing the answers to searchers’ questions. So, a good place to start is always with a comprehensive content plan. 

Think: What does your audience want to know? What are their most frequently asked questions? What are the terms that they are using to search for your products and services? Consider the answers to these questions and then create content that addresses the core topics being searched by your audience.

The other part of the process is the more technical search optimization work  to make the pages more visible to the search engines. This work includes on-page SEO, which primarily deals with the meta data for each page (i.e. the descriptions of each page picked up by the search engines to help them understand what the page is about). 

It also includes technical SEO elements like mobile accessibility, page load speeds, site architecture, internal linking and other structural elements that make it easier for search engines to navigate your site and identify relevant content for their searchers.

The Value of a Blog

To create an optimized site, you should have strong informational content that answers your audience’s questions. This content should be updated regularly to show the search engines that your site is relevant. One of the easiest ways to post updated content is a blog. With regular blog posts, you can update website content while communicating important messages to your audience. Do you have to have a blog? 

No, it’s just a way to simplify the process, an easy communication vehicle with SEO benefits. If you don’t want a blog, you’ll just need to make sure that you’re routinely updating the content on your static pages or adding new pages elsewhere on your site.

SEO Strategy

Search engine algorithms take a lot into consideration, and they are constantly changing. In many ways SEO can be a guessing game as you try to figure out how to make a computer run by a series of complex mathematical equations land on your content and recommend it to large numbers of users. That’s why it’s such a big challenge land the number one spot in a Google search, or even rank on the first page of a SERP.

Good SEO strategy takes into account a wide range of factors, including keyword rankings, links to and from other trusted websites, and the overall organization of the content within your website. It’s not just a matter of choosing the most popular keywords. In fact, that’s only a small part of the process, and one that often receives far too much attention from less-experienced SEOs.

What Is SEO? It’s Complicated.

So, what is SEO? Well, it’s complicated. It’s part content strategy, part website development, part technical search engine optimization, part hard work and diligence. Sound overwhelming? It can be, even for people who do this all the time. Not to worry, Campfire Digital is here to help you navigate the murky woods of SEO, and all the related elements that will help you generate more relevant traffic to your website.

Curious how you can boost your SEO and attract more people to your website? Schedule a free consultation with the experts of Local SEO Company in Clearwater, FL today. They’re always there to help.