SEO is the abbreviation for Search Engine Optimization. SEO is a process that involves a highly detailed internet marketing action plan to help increase your company’s website rankings within a search engine. These rankings are referred to as “natural” or “organic” because the results are not paid for by your company. For instance, when you search for a certain phrase such as “Best pretzels in Boston,” the highest ranked links listed on the search results page are backed by a good SEO plan and will attract more visitors.
SEO Optimization Techniques
There are many different methods you can use and implement on your website. When considering SEO implementation, many companies start optimizing on-page factors. Some on-page items you can optimize include:
- Adding specific keywords or search terms you think your customers would search for pertaining to your industry;
- Coding of HTML links, image tags, h1, h2, h3 tags, etc.;
- Editing content to make it readable by humans, as well as search engines;
- Adding specific company information such as your name, address, and telephone (NAP).
Another SEO tactic is to promote a website in order to increase the number of backlinks, which are links that lead to your site.
Search Engine Algorithms
While there are different techniques out there, you also have to take into account that every search engine is different and will process your website’s information differently. This is a result of each search engine’s algorithm.
Those who work in the industry employ a wide variety of different strategies that may actually change from time to time according to each search engine’s algorithm updates. Algorithms may favor one strategy over another. The rules of each algorithm update can change quickly, so it’s best to leave SEO to the professional SEOs (“search engine optimizers”).
There’s More to Search Engines Than Google
Google isn’t the only search engine. There’s also Bing, Yahoo and other directories that factor into how well your company has planned its SEO. Social media has also quickly grown and is factored into SEO these days. As technology becomes smarter, modern-day SEO has put more emphasis on trust and credibility within a website. Your website, for instance, will be more trustworthy if you have:
- Unique, readable, original content;
- Many backlinks from trusted sources;
- Social media mentions from credible accounts.
The methods and techniques of SEO can be very daunting and complicated. This is merely a modest outline of what SEO is and what it can achieve. But we believe this basic information can help you take a more proactive approach in implementing your next internet marketing strategy and get your company’s website to rank higher in search engines.