The search engine arena is probably the most important asset the internet has ever seen, both for businesses and users alike. Since the rise of social media and digital content, YouTube has become the biggest search engine with respect to social media platforms. The biggest, most important search engine in general? You guessed it! Google.
While other search engines like Yahoo! and Bing are still in operation, Google is responsible for over 70% of total searches online. It’s almost as if they hold a monopoly among the rest.
SEO is an incredible tool to have in your toolbox as an online business. Some, in fact, would argue that it’s a necessity in today’s day and age.
With that being said, in this article, we’ll be discussing what SEO and technical SEO is, why it’s important, and the benefits of implementing it into your online business.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It’s the process of growing your website or social media traffic through unpaid, organic strategies. A simple example of SEO is link-building. Another is keyword optimization…
Simply put, link-building is the process of increasing the number of links inbound to your website with the aim of increasing your overall SEO ranking.
While the algorithm is constantly changing depending on the engine you’re trying to optimize for (most likely Google), there are a few surefire strategies that you can optimize in order to increase your chances of being ranked.
Below are some of the key SEO strategies:
- Publishing relevant content
- Using the right keywords in the correct amounts
- Inserting metadata through the backend
- Enhancing your URL to be a link-worthy site
By implementing the above SEO strategies, you give your business the best chance at becoming visible to a wider audience, thus increasing traffic and ultimately converting profits and growing your bottom line.
In short, SEO is a marketing strategy used to get your online business in front of more eyes via search engines, gain more traffic, and earn credibility in your industry.
What is Technical SEO?
While SEO is a process aimed at improving the quality and quantity of search results and qualified leads, respectively, technical SEO refers to the technical requirements of a given website, with the goal of improving a site’s SEO score.
By improving a site’s functionality, content quality, and other important web development factors, you thus improve the site’s chance at indexing and improving its overall organic search score.
While SEO, generally speaking, is quite easy to understand comparatively, technical SEO requires a comprehensive understanding of web development, code, and technology, among other technical aspects of a website.
A simple example of technical SEO would be improving a website’s speed, or load time. Technical SEO is, however, much more complex and detailed than this rudimentary example.
Advantages of Search Engine Optimization
At its most basic, SEO is important because it makes your business visible to more eyes. This, for obvious reasons, is beneficial because it increases traffic and ultimately results in higher conversion rates and greater opportunities.
Aside from the ROI, SEO also helps build brand awareness, gain new business prospects, improve authority in your respective industry, and ultimately position you as a leader in your space.
As you can see, the benefits of SEO are vast and should be taken advantage of as such.
Below Are Several of the Most Common Benefits of Using SEO:
- Increase Total Web Traffic
- Improve Quality of Web Traffic
- Save Money
- Increase Visibility and Ultimately Build Brand Awareness
- Generate Profits and Improve ROI
- Stay Relevant in a Saturated Digital Ecosystem
- Become the Industry Leader in Information & Authority
While the above is a list of several of the benefits that SEO provides, the ultimate reason many use SEO as a marketing tactic is for growth.
By increasing total web traffic, gaining authority in your industry, increasing conversions, and getting an edge on your main competitors, you ultimately increase sales, increase your customer list, and experience more growth because of it.
Effective SEO Tools
Improving your website’s SEO score is imperative to the success and visibility of your business’s online presence.
Unfortunately, while SEO best practices may be easier to implement, technical SEO isn’t as simple. Luckily, there are helpful resources and tools online that specialize in SEO and similar operations.
Below are some of more respected SEO tools available at your service:
- SEMRush
- Yoast
- Screaming Frog
These platforms, among others, are designed to offer marketing, SEO, and visibility management services to help you optimize your marketing efforts, boost audience monetization, increase organic traffic, and run SEO audits, among other beneficial features.
In Summary
By covering your bases and doing all that you can to optimize your business’s SEO, you give yourself the best chance and ranking in search engines, beating out the pitfalls and imperfections of search engine algorithms.
As you can see, SEO is a complex endeavour that requires a keen understanding and diligent execution. By staying up to date with SEO best practices and implementing them as they arise, and by taking advantage of the various SEO tools available at your discretion online, your business and its accompanying website will thrive in no time.
