SEO is a tool that every website owner needs to have in their marketing arsenal. By following the guidelines set out in this article, you’ll ensure that your site ranks for top keywords. And once you start getting traffic from those keywords, you can bet that major search engines will favor your site compared to your competitors.
Organic search engine optimization is the purest form of optimizing your website for the benefit of search engines while still retaining the interest of your site visitors. When it’s done well, it really does have an amazing effect on search engine rankings and improved positions on the SERPs. Throughout the course of this article, it will be referred to simply as SEO.
Understand How Search Engines Work
Search engines send users to websites that they think will provide them with valuable information that best satisfies their search intent. When someone is physically searching for a keyword, they’re extremely interested in what that topic has to offer. And when they land on your website, they’ll be much more likely to click on an ad or buy from an affiliate link.
It’s important to understand how search engines work. If you do, you can use this understanding to sell more. By selling more, you will make more profits. This is a no-brainer. If you don’t understand how search engines work, it’s going to be quite a shock when you do learn how they really work.
Another important consideration is that search engines don't use people to determine how relevant a website is. Instead, they use automated software which judges relevance much more quicker. The calculations that the search engine uses to determine the ranking of a website are called algorithms and in the case of the major search engines, these algorithms are changed on a regular basis. The details of the algorithm aren’t made public, to prevent unethical users from manipulating the results of their site. This makes it difficult for website owners to understand what is, and isn’t, working for their site and increases their marketing confusion.
You should also remember that even if your website is technically optimized for a search engine it may still not show up in the first three pages of the results. That’s because other websites have the same technique as you do and thus, are spidered or crawled and given higher rankings by the search engine. It’s important to realize that ranking number one is not necessarily the most desirable ranking for your website. Sometimes ranking two or three is better. In fact, in some instances, ranking four or five may be the best ranking you can get. You won’t know until you try.
Optimization Is Not Manipulation
Search engine optimization is different from search engine manipulation. By optimizing your website for search engines, you are giving the search engines what they want while also giving users what they want, which is valuable content. When you are manipulating the search engines you are only trying to give the search engines what you think they want, which is manipulative content. As search engines get smarter, they are learning that websites with valuable content are more valuable than those with manipulative content.
Types Of SEO
Essentially SEO is broken into two types, on-page, and off-page optimization. On-page optimization involves factors such as keyword inclusion, content optimization, schema markup, etc. whereas off-page optimization involves link building, brand awareness, etc. There are many different factors to both on-page and off-page SEO that with varying information on which factors are relevant to search engine ranking. The varying differences in opinions of the ranking factors are due to the secrecy of the search engine algorithm criteria.
One Of The Most Cost Effective Ways To Increase Traffic
Organic SEO is one of the most effective ways to increase traffic to your website. Not only is it very cost effective, but it also yields long term results, and the leads it generates are opt-in and targeted. Many people use this strategy as a stand alone method of promoting their website. However, they often use it in conjunction with other methods of advertising such as paid search ads, banners, and press releases. By building a strong foundation with organic SEO, you can use PPC, press releases, banners, etc. to complement each other and make for a powerful and diverse marketing strategy.
SEO focuses on improving your search engine rankings in order to build targeted organic traffic that converts. PPC focuses on bidding on keywords in order for your ad to be shown to targeted users. SEO oftentimes yields long lasting results, whereas once you stop paying for PPC, your ads are no longer displayed.
SEO is far more cost effective than pay per click advertising. Some fairly basic SEO work on a website can oftentimes generate an equalized amount or more traffic than a basic PPC campaign. Often times the SEO campaign will cost less than the PPC campaign, yielding more and longer lasting results.