,SEO, aka search engine optimization, is a huge and complex subject. SEO is a set of rules set forth by the search engines that must be applied to your website and web copy. In addition, there are practices not associated with your website that are also required, such as directories, link-building and more. If any or all of the practices are circumvented, your site may have difficulty every achieving top viewing success through search engines.
A higher search rank for your website means that your site will appear closer to the top of the list for search results. This will place you in front of more customers searching for your products or services. That’s the overall concept around SEO. Now, let’s move onto the complexities of SEO and top considerations.
Before you invest into SEO: The technical aspects of SEO and why it’s important
- The performance of your website will affect your overall standing in relation to competitors – Try running a G-Metrix test to analyze your site performance. If your site falls below an ‘A’, for instance, this will impact your SEO, or, search and find.
- Site load – The faster a site loads, the better your site will perform. If however, you have bloated images or other technical problems, and it takes too much time for your site to render at first paint (a technical term) your site will get a lower score.
- The security of your site – if you don’t have SSL, or, secure socket layers – denoted by the padlock on the top of the URL with https, your site will not only be blocked by security software, but the search engines will deem your site unsafe and encourage you to “return to safety”. This is an action that will get your website demoted with the search engines, meaning – your site will lose search rank.
- How content is used – The frequency and combination of keywords chosen for your web pages will impact the site overall authority and relevance. It takes an expert or expert team to do this correctly.
- Search intent – If people click on an ad based on the title, but the content isn’t aligned with the web copy, that is bad for SEO, and you can receive ad penalties.
- If search intent is not fulfilled, meaning the person searching your site didn’t find what they want, and hit the back arrow on the browser bar, this can cause a demotion of the website in SEO.
While anyone can learn and follow the rules of SEO, the tools to manage all the requirements are immense. To be truly competitive with SEO and rise to the top of search, professional and SEO management will help you accomplish your goals. Plus, it will keep your search rank growing month after month – to the audiences who need to find you. How much business can you handle? – Julie Gorham
Why we recommend a dedicated SEO Team with a local project manager
Search is a moving target because it based on the billions of searches happening in real time, 24-7. No SEO practitioner can promise a maintained top (#1) position for certain, every week for a specific key word or phrase.
Search queries dictate what is being searched. If there’s a new trend for a search word of phrase, your page may not be seen because you don’t have that keyword on your site.
To accomplish effective SEO, it requires a very specific set of software tools, a strategist, and experts and a production staff for content, keywords, competitive data, markets, directories, and more. This team will develop the right new landing pages with the right actions. It’s very time-intensive, but necessary if you want to become and remain competitive in search.
You don’t know what you don’t know
Busy CEO’s rarely devote the time to understand SEO and the requirements for their website data. Hiring either a good marketing person or marketing firm knowledgeable in modern SEO to liaise with your SEO team is wise. But reporting and showing all actions associated with your account must happen regularly.
Effective SEO also requires a consistent budget and the investment is spread throughout off-website and on-website actions. Each tactic has very specialized skillset and knowledge, like back linking, technical on-site SEO, directories, content strategy, keyword strategy and more.
The technical work onsite is specialized and required for effective search advertising. Without the right strategy and action, you may not be getting the results you expect. The proof is in the conversion – meaning an action your customer will take to engage you – a trackable outcome a web form, a downloaded document in exchange for an email, a contact form, direct phone call, or walk-in.
Good SEO will be demonstrated by an increase in site traffic as reported in your website Analytics. The server level (hosting) will have the most accurate number, but factor in that about 10% of your traffic may be bots.
How can small businesses use SEO methods to succeed?
- Work with a marketing professional or company who can quantify results and show you examples of growth success.
- Establish an SEO budget and stick with it! Local, regional or national reach will, in part, determine the size of budget you need.
- Utilize your marketing manager to manage the SEO relationship with an SEO Team.
- If the SEO company you hired can’t prove month-over-month improvement, and your paying under $1,000 per month, you may need a more robust team of experts.
Other SEO and Search considerations, if you really want to geek out
Clean website code matters. Clean code and correct “mark-up” is required by the search engines. It’s true. Google in particular is trying to promote a robust, disability-friendly and future-device-friendly web. That translates to pristine code, and the need to “tag” every element on the page in a way that makes its significance obvious to blind robots. No matter how beautiful your site’s design or how clever your copy, if your site is running on subpar code you are likely being held back because of it. A remodel with correct semantic markup can cause a site to jump several rungs in the rankings.
Need more help with your SEO? Feel free to reach out.