What is SEO and Why Does Your Website Need It?

Even if you are new to marketing, chances are you’ve heard of SEO. Despite its popularity, many businesses don’t actually have a full understanding of how it works and why it matters. 

What is SEO?

SEO stands for “search engine optimization” and using it has a multitude of benefits that we’ll review below. It’s not just about search engines, it’s about understanding what people are searching for and why. These answers will help you position your company or product(s)as the answer to their questions.

SEO focuses on non-paid or “organic” search engine results. Paid advertising, social media, and other online platforms (SEM - Search Engine Marketing) can generate traffic, but the majority of online traffic is actually driven by search engines. From all the searches in the United States, less than 3% of people click on paid ads. 

This means that SEO offers more opportunities for traffic than PPC (pay per click) on both mobile and desktop. 

What You Need to Know

Keywords

Keywords are words and phrases used to find online content, which brands can then use to connect with prospective customers. Keywords aren’t the only SEO technique, but they are crucial. They also aren’t as simple as you might think. Keywords should be well-researched, carefully chosen, and thoughtfully used in your content to be effective. 

It’s important to look for keywords that have high search rates and low competition. It’s also smart to use a combination of short-tail keywords (like plants), long-tail keywords (like drought-resistant plants), and local keywords (like drought-resistant plants in Peterborough). You can use keywords to optimize your web titles, URLs, and content on all pages. 

Content

Content is a crucial aspect of SEO, because it’s how you reach and engage your audience, and how you prove your company is an expert in the space. If you are a nursery, you might consider posting blogs about caring for specific plants, indoor friendly species, and more. When someone is searching for that type of content, your website will come up as a resource and you begin a relationship with the prospective customers by providing useful information. Content includes web page content, videos, blogs, podcasts, whitepapers, social media, local listings, and more.

Off-Page SEO

Much like it sounds, this strategy involves organic optimization practices that happen away from your site. The primary technique here is backlink building, which tells search engines that your site is valuable and high-quality. Backlinks are simply URLs or links to your site from other reputable websites. 

Local SEO

Because of how many people are using their mobile devices for searches, local SEO is becoming increasingly important. 68% of all searches in 2020 were performed from tablets and smartphones, and half of those searches have local intent.

Going back to the nursery example, local SEO would ensure that when people in your area are looking for the best nurseries, your site will come up. Local SEO also includes claiming directory listings, creating location-specific pages for your site, and creating pages for your business on Google My Business, Google+, and Google Maps.

Okay, but Why Does Your Business Need to Use SEO?

1. Visibility and Rankings - Simply put, if you want to be seen you need SEO.

2. Web Traffic - If you’re not on page 1 of a search, you’re not getting clicks. A recent study shows that the first three organic search ranking positions result in nearly 40 percent of all click-throughs, while up to 30 percent of all results on Page 1 and 2 don’t get clicked at all.

3. Authority - This means your website is trustworthy, high quality, relevant, and has something to offer. The more authority your site has, the higher your ranking will be, and the more people will trust your brand.

4. Better Visitor Experience - Believe it or not, Google has actually figured out how to interpret good and bad user experiences on websites, and positive user experiences will lead to better SEO rankings. 

5. Low Cost and Quantifiable - The cost of SEO is cheap and in the big picture, the payoff is worth it. Good SEO is one of your best long-term investments. Plus, you can measure its effectiveness with proper tracking and analytics. You just have to be willing to be patient. 

Do You Need To Hire An SEO Company?

Searching for SEO companies to help you with your strategy isn’t necessary, but can be helpful. It’s true that depending on your staff’s capacity, knowledge, and website complexity, you could perform some basic SEO yourself. But, hiring an experienced SEO agency, like AirTank, can help you optimize your site to deliver better information to search engines so that your content can be properly indexed and displayed within search results.

Have more questions or looking to get started? Let us know! Our team is full of experts that are ready to optimize your website for better results.