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What is SEO and Why SEO is So Important?

by | Last updated Oct 27, 2022 | SEO

What is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which is the process of getting traffic from free or organic search results in search engines. Its purpose is to improve your website’s position in search results pages (Google, Yahoo, Bing etc)

“At its core, the meaning of search engine optimization (SEO) is increasing your website’s visibility in the organix search results of major search engines.”
–Search Engine Journal

Types of SEO

There are three types of SEO that a business can focus on:

 

  1. On-page:

    This SEO focuses on the content that’s actually on site pages, and how to optimize it to boost the website’s ranking for specific keywords that are short tail and long tail keywords.

     

  2. Off-page:

    This type of SEO focuses on links directed to the website from elsewhere on the internet. The higher number of backlinks a site has from reputable sources the more it helps build trust with search algorithms. Link building plays a vital role in off-page SEO.

     

  3. Technical:

    This SEO focuses on a website’s backend like crawling, indexing, rendering and website architect. An SEO Analyst should have a knowledge of site code like CSS, Java Script, and HTML. Google cares just as much about technical set-up as it does content, so this is important for rankings.

Why is SEO important?

Prioritzing SEO can be time consuming, but it is often less expensive than using paid advertising to drive traffic to your website.  Experts agree that SEO is not a one-day job. If a business concentrates on all three types of SEO, they should see a gradual increase  in website traffic through Google Analytics, Google Search Console and with other paid SEO tools like SEMRush, Ahref, Moz.

To understand the value of SEO, let’s deep dive into:

  • Organic search results:
    The unpaid listings on a search engine results page (SERP) that the search engine has determined are most relevant to the user’s search term (called keyword). Ads (in this context, pay-per-click ads) make up a significant portion of many SERPs. Organic search results are distinct from these ads (paid search results) in that they are positioned based on the search engine’s organic ranking algorithms rather than advertiser bids.
  • Quality and quantity of organic traffic:
    How relevant the user and their search term are to the content that exists on the website. High-quality traffic includes only visitors who are genuinely interested in the products, information, or other resources your site offers. The number of users who reach your site via organic search results is the quantity of organic traffic. If you are receiving a high  number of organic visitors but their dwell time is low or the bounce rate is high, then they are potentially not finding what they are looking for when they land on the page, and there is no use to driving traffic there until it is adjusted. This is why both quality and quantity of organic traffic is so important.
Paid and Organic results for a search for "microwave"

Key Aspects of SEO

  • Technical SEO set up 
  • URL structure styles
  • SSL 
  • Keyword research and finding a target audience
  • Create SEO optimized content
  • Build your site to fit Google’s Webmaster Guidelines
  • Meta-data, heading tags, snippets, key phrases  optimization
  • UX based SEO and page speed
  • Mobile friendliness
  • Installing analytics and tracking tools to measure launch success
  • Generate an accurate sitemap, robot txt

What’s Next?

Are you interested in improving your business’ SEO, but want professional help? Connect with us!