The Basics of SEO: Why is it Important?
In the age of digital marketing, we’ve been hearing plenty of new buzzwords being thrown around every so often. One that has stuck has been SEO, aka Search Engine Optimization. While this is a major buzzword in the marketing industry, we’ve found that not very many business owners truly understand what SEO is, let alone why it is so important.
SEO is one of the most vital digital marketing tools, and one that our team at ROC Media Inc specializes in. To keep it simple, Search Engine Optimization is a tool we use to make a website more visible on search result pages. It is how we so perfectly attract the right customers to your website, and generate qualified leads. Having a killer SEO strategy will help ensure that your website is attractive and available to potential customers, drawing them in and increasing the possibility of conversion.
Key Elements of SEO
Now that you understand the basics, let’s get a bit more technical.
There are a few key elements that comprise SEO, and we’ve briefly explained each of them below. Learn More
- Website Content
This encapsulates all of the content on your website, including but not limited to: Images, videos, blogs, infographics, social media posts, and more. When users search for anything closely related to the content on your website, your website becomes added to the results for that particular search.
- Keywords
Keywords are the words and phrases that searchers use to locate online content. Every website should utilize keywords with high search rates in their website content, titles, URLs, and other on-page elements.
- Meta Title & Meta Description
This is the title and description for your website, that appears in search results. A best practice is to include your most important keywords in this title and in the description. Although, it must accurately reflect your brand in order to generate the right, qualified leads.
- Local/Geographic SEO
This refers to local/location based search results. For example, if a user is searching for a nearby veterinary clinic, local SEO ensures that results are based on where the searcher is located. In order to optimize for local searches, a brand should have a strategy in place that involves action items such as: claiming all directory listings, adding location-specific pages to your website, and ensuring your Google My Business, Google+, and Google Maps profiles are activated and updated.
- Off-Site SEO
This form of SEO happens off and away from your website. It typically involves creating backlinks to your site. Put simply, this involves having other internet pages link back to your website. Some great ways to implement off-page SEO include social media links and mentions, influencer marketing, and online directories.
- Search Engine Advertising
This refers mainly to paid SEO efforts (also known as Search Engine Marketing (SEM), including Google Ads, Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads, social media advertising, display advertising, native advertising, and more. It is easily one of the best ways to get your website to the very top of related search results, although it does involve higher spend than the rest of the above strategies.
3 Reasons why you need SEO
So, we understand exactly what SEO is, but what is all of the buzz about? We have three key reasons that are enough to convince you to start optimizing your website for search engines (if you haven’t already):
- Beyond simply increasing the likelihood of converting potential customers, a strong SEO strategy helps build customer relationships and trust by establishing your legitimacy as a brand. Being at the top of search results proves to a customer that your business is valid and trusted.
- Almost 70% of website traffic comes solely from search engines (Source)! Without optimizing your website for search engines, you can easily miss out on 70% of your website traffic! Just think about how many more interested customers you can reach by utilizing SEO in all of your marketing efforts.
- 91.5% of web traffic goes to the websites at the top of the search results page (Source)! As your brand builds its search engine status, you’ll grow to reach the top of the results page. This will boost your visibility, traffic, and ideally your conversions too!
Altogether, it is clear that SEO is a major marketing buzzword for good reason. SEO establishes your brand in the digital world we live in. Without it, your business falls prey to the depths of the internet, getting lost in a sea of content that is unlikely to be presented to your potential customers.
If you’re not already implementing an SEO strategy in all of your marketing efforts, you need to get started. Luckily, our ROC Media Inc team can help! Join our mailing list or scroll down to book a free consultation with our award-winning team!