In today's fast-paced and technology-driven world, businesses of all sizes and industries need to...
Do you have website but nobody is finding it? The World Wide Web is a big place and if you aren't actively marketing your website it will never be found.
We all know that today most buyers start their journeys with search engines and if you want to be found by potential customers in search engines like Google, Yahoo! and Bing then you need SEO.
Check out our Slideshare to learn everything you need to know about why businesses need SEO and how it can work for your business.
Hungry for more? Here is an in-depth dive on why SEO is so important for online businesses.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. This describes the overall process of improving your website's visibility so search engines can naturally find your website when people search for related queries.
Why is SEO important for businesses?
Search engines are big places and they are growing even bigger as more businesses are going online. With SEO, you maximise your chances of being found by customers when they are searching for a product or service.
So, how does SEO work?
SEO describes a large overall process. It’s not all about making sure the content on your website has matching keywords your customers are typing into search engines.
There is also a technical, behind-the-scenes, aspect to getting a website that is excellently optimised for search engines.
You need to ensure your website can be easily crawled (this helps the search engines understand what your site is about), you need to have a strong domain authority, you need to make sure there are no bad links to your website, the list goes on and on.
There are so many factors search engines consider when ranking websites, this is why it’s so important to ensure your website is optimised to avoid any penalties that could affect people finding your business.
Investing in SEO makes sure every aspect of your website is well tuned and helps your business succeed online.
The benefits of SEO for your business
Having a website is becoming more of a priority for businesses. More customers like to visit a business’ site before they make a decision to buy a product or service.
SEO offers heaps of benefits for online businesses:
- Increases organic traffic
- And, attracts relevant traffic
- Out-compete your competitors
- New customers can find you
- Improve sales
- Cost effective - you can spend as much as you like
- Benefits user experience on your website
- Having a high ranking looks good for your business and your brand because that will mean search engines think you are relevant
SEO helps businesses grow online.
Large businesses have teams working constantly to improve their SEO and stay ahead of the game. What makes SEO a great marketing tool is you can spend as much as you need to achieve your ambitions. Large and small businesses use SEO to be found online by customers.
Can I do my own SEO?
SEO is a long term investment so that’s why some businesses prefer a digital marketing agency to do the work for them because they simply don’t have the time or experience.
Just like any skill, if you have the time to research and learn the basics you can do some of your own website maintenance.
Here is how you can do the basic SEO work on your website:
1. Do Keyword Research
Do research to find the best keywords to describe your business. These keywords will be important for the content on your website.
2. Work on your Meta Tags
Meta tags refer to the title and description of each individual page of your website. You can see it in search engines. The information you put in explains to people AND search engines what your page is about. You can improve your SEO by including keywords in your meta titles and descriptions.
3. Keywords in your content
The content on the pages of your website should include keywords to help search engines understand what your site is about. Avoid spamming your pages with your keyword repeatedly because search engines don't like that!
4. Get other websites to link to yours
A link from one website to another is seen as a vote or recommendation in the eyes of a search engine, so websites with a lot of ‘recommendations’ appear higher in the results.
Once you have done the basics you can work on other features that will help improve your SEO.When should you get help with your SEO?
Doing the basics can help make minor improvements to your website’s rankings.
But, if you have a large website or you know your business is against big competition then you need to consider the option of getting extra help. Having a website that is badly optimised for search engines can make your website vulnerable to penalties and you won’t get the traffic you need to succeed.
For your business to be successful online and have high search rankings you need to understand how search engines work and be aware when they update their algorithms.
- Google’s announcement that all websites had to be mobile-friendly was a big announcement for businesses online to follow. Those who didn't optimise their websites suffered a knock to their rankings.
If you don’t have the time or experience to comfortably do your own SEO then you could hire a digital agency to do all the work for you.
Take some time to sit down and search online to find a company that suits your needs. As more companies are offering SEO services, you need to hire a digital company who can deliver what you want.
At Digital 22 we have been optimising websites for clients throughout the UK and abroad. Our SEO team can create a strategy that will help you fulfill what you want from your website and we will create realistic and achievable goals. We don't offer false promises.
If you don't know much about SEO you can become a victim of the myths and misconceptions that appear around it. Download our FREE guide to learn all the facts you need to know.
Did this blog answer all your questions about SEO? Post a comment below if you have any questions you want us to answer.
