What Is SEO and Why Should I Care?
If you want to be on the first page of Google Search results, use SEO. If you’re going to engage your audience, use SEO.
If you want to get your brand noticed, use SEO. What is SEO, and why is it the all-in-one solution to digital marketing needs?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a collection of tactics that help websites rank higher in search results. Consider SEO as the heart of digital marketing.
Without it, your customers, clients, or audience will find it hard to look for you online.
How SEO Works
Google, Bing, Yahoo, and other search engines rank websites according to various metrics.
These search engines use crawler software, such as Googlebot for Google, to check multiple website pages.
These crawlers collect information and index it for future use.
From the index, algorithms check different pages and consider various factors to rank websites for a specific search result.
SEO strategies can help rank websites or web pages depending on what the user is looking for.
SEO can be a challenge for marketers. As said by Digital Authority Partners, learning the basic SEO terms can help you formulate a well-rounded and effective ecommerce strategy for your business.
What Are SEO Ranking Factors?
There are many SEO ranking factors; understanding each will help you create the best marketing strategies to get you higher in search engine rankings.
Accessible And Safe Website
Your visitors must easily access your website, including all its pages, sections, and subsections.
There must be a smooth transition from the main page to other pages, and there must be no inaccessible page. A “table of contents” and a search bar significantly improve accessibility.
Your customers must feel safe while navigating your website.
If you’re an ecommerce site, you must use tools to secure your customer information, especially their personal and payment information, as they make a purchase.
Having an accessible and safe site significantly improves your ranking online.
Desktop And Mobile Page Speed
Page speed refers to the amount of time a website loads. The longer a site loads, the more users abandon it to look elsewhere. Creating a site that loads quickly, whether on desktop or mobile, is necessary.
Many factors affect page loading times. You must resolve these quickly to optimize your site for search.
Factors such as media use (images, videos, and all other moving website components), the hosting server, bandwidth, and overall website design play a huge role in page loading times.
Mobile-Friendly Site
You should optimize your desktop website for mobile viewing. There must be no loss of function and content; all the pages on your desktop site must complement your mobile site.
Marketers must consider creating a mobile-friendly site because more people rely on their mobile devices to find information.
A mobile-friendly site allows you to connect with your customers better. It can boost customer satisfaction and improve customer experience.
Your customers are more likely to stay with your business and share their good experiences if you have a mobile-friendly website.
Optimized Site Content
Optimizing your content is vital to improving your rankings. There are many ways to do this, and most of these strategies focus on using the right keywords in creating your content.
There are specific keywords that can help you get indexed more efficiently online. These keywords should be similar to what your customers use when they search for your business online.
For a convenience store in a local community in San Diego, keywords such as “San Diego convenience store” or “local convenience store in San Diego” can help optimize.
Use your keywords to create optimized site content such as text, image descriptions, PPC titles and descriptions, video descriptions, etc.
Avoid keyword stuffing when using keywords in text such as a blog post, product description, page content, or product review.
Use keywords efficiently in your content: introduction, conclusion, media descriptions, page URL, page title, and somewhere in the body.
If you have secondary keywords, use these sparingly in your content body.
Google does not use keywords to rank websites. But these can help index your website and its pages better.
Domain Age, URL, And Authority
Your domain name, age, website URL, and page authority affect your rankings. A domain name that’s been around for many years will likely have many backlinks, which translates to higher rankings for all pages.
It can take time to establish authority in your niche and create a formidable domain age and URL, but it is best to start with website optimization right away.
Customer Experience
As mentioned before, Google relies less on keywords but considers the customer’s experience when ranking websites.
It’s best to find out what your customers need and what they are looking for.
Understanding these factors can help you create better marketing strategies and offer a better customer experience.
There are many ways to enhance customer service. Make sure that your contact details are up to date so that your customers can reach out effectively each time.
Use chatbots to cater to basic customer queries. If you provide professional services, offer a free estimate or a free quote.
Take time to thank customers for a good review and a generous rating. For negative reviews, ask how you can help improve your services or products.
Doing all these can boost customer service and overall customer satisfaction.
Social Signs
Don’t ignore social media. Having a social media account can help you reach out to more customers. But you must also optimize your platform for search.
To do this, post relevant, high-quality content. Use your keywords to create these posts.
Improve your business descriptions and ensure that all contact information on your social media site complements your actual website.
Also, your customers leave comments and reviews on your social media page. Take time to answer questions or respond to comments.
Final Words
People will not easily find your business or website online unless they know your company or are familiar with your business. SEO takes your business closer to your customers.
If you have a small business, SEO can help you rank higher and match big-name competitors. You should start considering SEO to boost your brand this year.
