As an agency with a dedicated team of digital marketing specialists, we talk to our clients about SEO often. It is very common that we are asked by them what SEO is, why it is important, and what tactics for good SEO are. While SEO can seem complicated to most, it can actually be fairly straightforward once you get the hang of it. In order to make you feel more comfortable with this strategy, we are going to take a moment to explain what it is, why it is important, and the ways we work to improve our client’s SEO.
What is SEO?
SEO, Search Engine Optimization, by definition is the process of maximizing the number of visitors to a particular website by ensuring that the site appears high on the list of results returned by a search engine like Google or Bing.
What is the goal of SEO?
The goal of SEO, in a nutshell, is being able to identify the types of words or phrases people are searching for within specific topics, incorporating those keywords, and ultimately having those people come to your site.
Why is SEO Important?
Organic search results cover more digital real estate than paid search engine results. Additionally, some users think unpaid results are more trustworthy. Optimizing your site will help deliver better information to search engines so that your content can be displayed within search results. This means, for example, if you are a marketing agency, and you want to reach and attract potential new clientele, your website should be optimized well enough to be one of the first results when searching for the keyword “marketing agency.” Great optimization will bring your business to the forefront of a customer’s consideration.
SEO Tactics
There are a lot of ways to implement search engine optimization tactics. The three main SEO tactics that we use to help our clients gain more digital visibility are keyword research, on-site optimization, and off-site optimization.
Keyword Research
Before you can optimize your website, you need to understand how people are searching for things online. We take the time in our discovery process to research different keywords that are important to your business. We then figure out if people are spending any advertising dollars on those keywords and finally, how those others are ranking. From there, we compile a list of keywords to use for your on-site optimization.
On-site Optimization
Once your keywords are decided, the on-site optimization can begin. This means that the keywords that have been deemed as important to search are added to your website’s pages. We create site maps and find natural ways to incorporate those important keywords into your site’s content.
Off-site Optimization
Search engines like Google also take into consideration the strategies or tactics that are executed outside of your website. Links to your website from other reputable and relevant sources are important for ranking purposes. They are like votes for your website. Additionally, social media is an important off-site SEO tactic. Social media profiles allow you to link back to your website to show authority and they are a channel for sharing the content on your site. If your followers share your site content, this will help improve how search engines rank your site content.
Search Engine Optimization is more than just a buzzword. It’s an imperative piece of digital marketing. It is important to note that search engines like Google are constantly updating, and your SEO strategy should also continuously change with it!
We stay up to date on the latest Google algorithm changes to make sure our client’s website is fully optimized. If you’re unsure where to start, but you know that you’re ready to improve your site rankings, contact OTM!