Strategic Surge Ltd Leeds | What Is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?
SEO is the process of affecting the visibility of a website or a web page in a search engine’s “natural” or un-paid (“organic”) search results. In general, the earlier (or higher ranked on the search results page), and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine’s users. SEO may target different kinds of searches, including image search, local search, video search, academic search, news search, and industry-specific vertical search engines. SEO differs from local marketing in that it optimizes sites for organic rather than local prominence; i.e., improved rankings are not purchased at any cost to businesses themselves. Successful SEO campaigns could result in a significant improvement in website traffic and visibility, but it does not guarantee that any such increase will result in increased revenue.
SEO may target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, video search, academic search, news search, and industry-specific vertical search engines.
WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SEO & SEM?
In SEO, you’re optimizing your site’s content to get a better ranking within organic results. In SEM (search engine marketing), you’re paying for your ad to be placed before or alongside other ads on a list of results that have been specifically organized by a Search Engine. If someone types “hotels” into Google, depending on where they are searching from and what keywords they typed in initially they may see a list of ads from several hotels competing to rank at the top. If you’ve ever wondered why large corporations will spend millions on Google Ads, SEM is the reason.
SEO and SEM work hand-in-hand, but more importantly, SEO serves a purpose that SEM cannot: it serves as a middleman between a business and consumers. Consumers depend on search engines for information, recommendations, and more – which naturally leads them back to the most effective source of traffic – Search Engines themselves. So who do you want to be showing up first in that search engine result? You got it! SELLY can help your business show up first on those results!
WHY SHOULD I CARE ABOUT SEO FOR MY WEBSITE AND BUSINESS GOALS IN GENERAL?
If you own a digital property such as a website, SEO is the most valuable and cost-effective marketing approach for your business. Aside from that, if you care about social media engagement and having an active and interested audience for your content, SEO is vital to achieving these goals.
It’s no secret: we live in a world with millions of different websites competing for attention online. The majority of the internet population only visits one or two pages on their chosen topic before they decide it’s not worth their time (or they’re satisfied with what they found). If you’re great at SEO however, this isn’t the case – your site will be found amongst page one or two results on Google (and maybe even top) meaning that your audience is much more likely to click through and engage with your site.
An estimated 30% of a company’s web traffic will come from organic search within a year if they’re successful in SEO, so it can have a big impact on the future success of your business. If you don’t want Google to dictate where you show up, you’ll need an SEO expert.
HOW CAN SEO BENEFIT MY WEBSITE?
If you want your website to succeed, SEO is vital. Here are some of the ways it will help your business:
- Top Page Rankings on Google – More than 65% of all searches now come from mobile devices, with over half of those being location-based according to Mashable. With that in mind, organic SEO enables your site to show up at the top of local search results which directly addresses this trend – meaning more traffic for you! It also means that if someone doesn’t have a specific keyword phrase in mind, they’re still able to find you easily because their search engine has returned results based on factors like location and previous browsing history (provided they signed up to the Google My Business app).
- Increase Social Engagement – SEO can help you increase your social media presence through increased activity on your website which attracts visitors, brand mentions, and shares on social media, or customers sharing your site directly with their social circles.
- More Email Subscribers – By ensuring that you’re sharing valuable content on your site (see below), people will be more likely to subscribe for updates via email which means they’ll be kept in the loop about what’s happening with your company and new developments before everyone else is aware of them! You can then use these subscribers to reach out personally with targeted offers or promotions. People are much more likely to act on offers sent straight to them personally, whereas they might ignore generic promotions which are shared with their social circles too.
- Quality Backlinks – SEO will help you gain more backlinks to your site from other credible sources, meaning that Google takes your site more seriously and actively pushes it up the ranks when it finds relevant websites linking to yours.
- Increase in Organic Traffic – A healthy amount of traffic coming in through organic means exposure on search engines like Google, giving new prospects a chance to find you and explore your content/site without any direct input on your part – making SEO ideal for exposure!
By following our three steps below you’ll be able to gain the most out of the advantages mentioned above:
- Share Quality Content – By creating and sharing valuable content with your audience, you’ll be able to attract organic traffic to your site who have an interest in what you’re offering. This will then push your site higher up the search rankings because Google is rewarding you for sharing interesting and relevant content that people want to engage with. You can also share this content on social media networks like Facebook and Twitter which will lead to increased brand awareness amongst both new and existing prospects.
- Building Links – It’s important to build links back to your website as a way of giving Google reassurance that yours is a reputable website (like other sites are linking back) which can then aid your chances of appearing on page one/two of their search results.
- Continual Marketing – By continuing to market your site and business you’ll be able to keep prospects returning, which will then increase your chances of converting them into customers.
The types of marketing we recommend include: searching for local online groups and getting involved in conversations; emailing past customers to ask if they would be willing to leave positive reviews on third-party directories; setting up social media accounts (and actively engaging with prospects and existing clients); and promoting events/specials/discounts via the medium of printed leaflets or flyers, local radio announcements, etc.
Please note: SEO is a long-term strategy designed for success over time – it’s not an overnight process! When we work with our clients, we implement a three-month SEO strategy that sees their site perform better and rise up the search rankings. We then continue to monitor and update their SEO activity every month to ensure they stay ahead of the competition. Please feel free to fill out our contact form for more information, or if you would like us to set up a call with one of our experienced team members.
HOW CAN YOU OPTIMIZE YOUR SITE FOR SEO PURPOSES, AND WHAT ARE THE TOP THREE THINGS TO DO TO RANK HIGHER ON GOOGLE SEARCHES?
Strategic Surge SEO agency Leeds experts know all about optimizing a website for search results. When it comes to making a website rank higher on Google searches, the following three things should be carried out:
- Onsite Optimization
- Site Audits and Performance Review
- Off-Page Link Building Outreach and Campaigns
Onsite optimization essentially involves focusing on the site’s content to help it find success in its marketing efforts through better rankings on relevant keywords and phrases within the results page of search engines like Google and Bing. This aspect of SEO is all about using relevant language that tells people what they need to know when searching for certain products or services, and why your site offers them better than any competitor.
- Site audits and performance review is a must as far as SEO is concerned because it helps you gain a better understanding of your onsite optimization efforts, and how they affect the overall success of the search strategies on the site. It also gives you information about what might need to be changed on-site to help rankings further move in the right direction, which can then be combined with off-page activities such as link building outreach and campaigns that offer links from reputable sites or influencers related to your niche or industry.
- Off-Page Link Building Outreach and Campaigns
The last important aspect of SEO has to do with off-page link-building outreach and campaigns which get more high-quality links to the website, meaning more traffic to your site. This will help make more conversions on the website and that is why it is considered a good SEO strategy.
Strategic Surge SEO agency Leeds knows that you need all of these things to optimize your site for search engine rankings, but they are particularly good at link-building campaigns which have proven time and again to offer great value for improving organic rankings on Google-powered searches. So if you are looking for the best SEO services in Leeds or anywhere else in Yorkshire, Strategic Surge will be happy to help you out with their top-notch digital marketing expertise on SEO strategies aimed at helping websites rank higher on relevant keywords and phrases within search engines.
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