Search Engine Optimization

What is Search Engine Optimization?

Search Engine Optimization or SEO is a fantastic marketing method, according to Moz , search engine optimization is “ the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results.”. What does that mean for you though? What that means is search engine optimization is all of the things that go into putting your website on the first google search result page. Think about how rare it is to go to the second page of the search results. If you can rank on the first page you are sure to drive more traffic to your site and generate sales or leads. There is a lot that goes into seo. Google’s algorithm has over 200 factors that it uses to rank websites on their search pages, and no one knows them all. These factors are things like page load speed, user experience, how much traffic your site generates, how many other sites link to yours and so much more. Depending on the website seo can take a significant amount of work and time. That is why many companies decide to simply outsource their seo. SEO can significantly boost your business since most traffic to a website comes from organic (non-ad) search traffic. Generally, this takes more time to change than typical ads. Google says changes take anywhere from 4 days to 4 weeks to take effect. Lets take a look at more reasons why you should use search engine optimization.

Why Should I Use SEO?

The biggest reason to use seo is the increase in web traffic. The goal of having an online presence is to connect with potential clients and customers. Organic search results tend to produce better and more sustainable traffic than any other form of digital marketing. More traffic means more sales, simple as that. Every reason to have good seo will be in support of increasing sales/leads. It can do this a few ways. Firstly, good practices lead to good user experience. A good, and engaging, website is far more likely to get people interested in their product or service than a poor website. Even though it is obvious that a good website is better than a poor one, the lines can get a little gray. SEO best practices show where the line is between a good website and bad website. That may be a secondary benefit of seo but the end result is the same, more sales or leads to boost your business.

Another reason is the long term benefits. Look at the image above. We can see that while seo usually takes longer than ppc or social media marketing it also usually yields a higher amount of traffic. Along this same thought, this higher amount of traffic is usually cheaper than the other forms of digital marketing since you are not paying for every click or for ads. Usually, you pay for management or changes that a firm, like us, can make to give long term inexpensive results for your business. Also in the long term it becomes free advertising. After you are ranking on the first page, the website is being displayed and clicked on far more often. Really all you pay for is the changes to get you there, whereas ppc is constantly costing you money, as are social media ads. All of that sounds great but now you are probably thinking that you have a limited marketing budget and you need it to work now. Well you are in luck! Another best practice is to optimize your google listing, those are the search results that show business in your area. This is called “local seo”. Optimizing the listing can quickly increase phone calls, store visits, and web traffic. Google listings are also completely free! As we said earlier; free advertising. SEO is a lower cost higher return form of digital marketing that every business with a website should utilize and by hiring a firm to do it for you, you do not even have to put in the time to make the changes, after-all time is money. Still need more reasons? Or maybe you want more details about the reasons we gave, check out The Ultimate list of Reasons why you Need Search Engine Optimization.

Why Should I Outsource?

You should outsource the seo because it can be very time wasting if you do not know what you are doing. It is easy to read what to do online but there are always finer points that firms will have experience with. Another reason, even if you think you can do it correctly, is the time. No matter if you are experienced or not it still takes time. And as we all know time is money. While you are busy doing seo you could be doing other things to boost your business, why not hire a firm and do both at the same time?

What is the Process for Search Engine Optimization?

Well the first thing you want to do is to contact a firm. Here at Marketing Medic, we will talk with you and see where your business is currently at in terms of ranking. We do this with a number of tools that will show weaknesses and strengths of your website. After we perform this audit of the site we give recommendations. Then with your blessing, and some backend website logins, we get to work. We check everything from your page content to if the css on the website is optimized. Changes take more depending on what is required. One of the most important parts of seo, backlinks (other websites linking to you), can take time to accumulate. We usually reach out to other websites to let us write a post and link back to you. While we wait on that we make all changes that can be done to better rank your site on google. After the changes are made and backlinks are set we wait, analyze and adjust to further optimize the page. Then you are on track to grow your business!