Beginner’s Guide to SEO

What Is SEO?

SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization” and can help make or break your website’s survival throughout the world wide web. By focusing on both front- and back-end optimization, SEO helps create an easily accessible website for both the search engines and the users to discover. Higher visibility leads to higher traffic rates which leads to a higher organic ranking on most of the major search engines.

Why Should I Care?

A study by Fleishman-Hillard International Communications, in conjunction with Harris Interactive, showed that 89% of users were using search engines to help make a purchase in 2012. (1) Over time there has been a shift in search engine users clicking on lower links than the very top; however, the study found that the majority of users will go toward the top of search results. “On average, 71.33% of searches result in a page one organic click. Page two and three get only 5.59% of the clicks. On the first page alone, the first 5 results account for 67.60% of all the clicks and the results from 6 to 10 account for only 3.73%.” (2)

Overall, SEO is what makes your website the first website users will see when searching for answers.

Should I Look Into Adding SEO Services to My Marketing Mix?

YES!

Here are a few reasons why you should consider looking into SEO if you are not already:

1. It is an investment.
   SEO takes time, money, and dedication; however, it also guarantees that if you dedicate time to improve SEO, your website will see more traffic. More traffic means more customers which means more sales!
2. Your competitors are doing it.
   SEO is a very important and widely practiced method currently. SEO will help ensure you are maintaining high rankings on Google and staying ahead of your competitors.
   Increases credibility.
3. Credibility.
   Credibility is important to help ensure that the world knows your business is the only business to go to.The higher your website is ranked on search engines, the more credible people will find your site. As more people find your website credible, more will decide to go to your website over others. This increase in traffic will increase your ranking, which increases your credibility, which increases your traffic, and so the cycle begins!

SEO will help your website traffic increase. It is as simple as that. Even if you already are using some SEO tactics, it is important to stay up to date with the current trends and continue to improve your SEO over time.

SEE ALSO: Learn more about how we can help you improve your business’s SEO