What Is SEO And Why Should I Care?
Whether you are a seasoned business owner, or where you are just getting your feet wet in the entrepreneurial pool, you need to be up to speed with regard to SEO and online business trends. With an estimated one billion websites out there in cyberspace, creating a strong presence that drives traffic to your site and commands the attention of potential customers is essential. How much do you know about the process of becoming not only visible, but sought after, on the vast web?
What is SEO? SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the process of getting traffic from all of the natural search results on search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing. All major search engines have prioritized search results relevant to topic, where websites are ranked according to content and relevance to users. SEO uses both technical and creative elements required to drive traffic, improve rankings, and increase awareness in search engines. There are many elements to SEO, including keywords and the way that other pages link to yours on the web. Search Engine Optimization is sometimes just a matter of figuring out how to best configure your site to make sure that search engines can “understand” your web language.
Search Engines and SEO--The Relationship That Defines Your Business Major web contributors like Google, Yahoo and Bing have two distinct functions: crawling, and building an index of the sites that are the most popular and ranking them according to relevant content. Crawling via the various links associated with certain topics is one way to navigate or build connections between websites. These links allow “crawlers” to set up a vast web of interconnected sites shown to have relevant content. When a person performs a search for a particular item, product, or service, these connections go to work, finding the most relevant content and ranking the pages according to what the search engines determine to be the most helpful to the requester. Generally speaking, requesters of web content tend to look at the first few ranked offerings on the search engine list to find the information that they need.
How does this affect your business? Simply put, you need to be in the top few rankings on each search engine page in order to be considered relevant. If people are looking for products and services that you offer through your business, being near the top of the list on major search engine rankings will ensure that you get noticed. The higher your visibility, the more potential business you will attain.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO), is the process of moving up in the rankings by enhancing your web content. This is done using keywords and targeted phrases to improve the visibility of your site. Web traffic studies show that over 80 percent of internet searches end after the second page of rankings; in order for your business to be found, it must be at or near the top of the list.
How Search Engines Affect Business
Google’s gigantic web presence sets the standard for all other search engines---these sites are continually refining the way that web content is prioritized and categorized. SEO techniques for attaining the best parking spot on the internet include choosing hot ticket keywords, creating the right web architecture, and presenting relevant and interesting content.
Relevance means more than just finding a page with the right buzzwords. During the early years of internet searching, most search engines never got beyond this simplistic step; searches were of limited value based on page content. Searches of today have become much more sophisticated, with many factors influencing a page’s relevance to a topic. Relevance and popularity are no longer determined manually; the internet is simply too big to hand that kind of work over to people. Instead, mathematical equations called algorithms separate the wheat (quality web content) from the chaff (unnecessary fluff), and rank pages according to quality.
When you employ these Search Engine Optimization techniques to boost your internet presence, you ensure that your ranking will surpass that of your “not so savvy” internet competitors. The more you are viewed, the more likely you are to attract new customers and generate additional business.
When Customers Search For You 81 percent of customers do online research before purchasing products and services online. More than 60 percent of those customers will conduct searches using a search engine to begin the process, and most will read product and company reviews before making a purchase. More than ever before, the internet has allowed consumers to be educated about their purchases before buying, and this can be helpful or harmful to your business. Obviously, customers who leave good ratings and reviews will help generate additional business, while less than flattering information about you and your company will turn off potential clients. While you cannot control everything that people choose to comment on with respect to your products and services, conducting each business transaction in an ethical manner will ensure that the majority of your reviews will be positive.
Where Does SEO Come Into Play?
SEO services help you, the small business owner, create efficient, user friendly websites that rank higher on major search engines, which brings more potential traffic to you. In addition, SEO builds better brand awareness for your products and services. Search engine users are more likely to trust pages that are on the first few pages of search results, and are more likely to choose one of these “trusted” sites to do business with. Using SEO helps you to build a commanding web presence, taking your business to the next level.
“To be totally honest, I hate SEO,” reveals Mark Skovron, PhD., and CEO for one of the Top 10 SEO Companies and a recognized expert in the space. “I also have a love-hate relationship with Google,” Skovron continues, “and so do all SEO companies were they forced to say.”
“I really feel for the clients because they don’t understand it --- I mean it’s like astrophysics. But if you get it wrong, your site is doomed. That’s why we pioneered our own proprietary system for SEO and it works so well, that we offer a money back guarantee. No one else does that!”
Key Components OF SEO
User Friendly Websites--SEO services will assist you in building a streamlined, user friendly website. Not only will it allow you to move up in rankings, but it will improve the experience of your website user as well. Well designed, clean websites compel a user to browse longer, and highly relevant content convinces users that they have chosen wisely, specifically when they find products that they can use, or when they can answer their questions with your web content. SEO provides high quality content to users, and allows them to find what they need quickly, making them happy consumers. Happy consumers are repeat customers; you have increased your business with your well structured website.
More Traffic---Business owners everywhere have a common goal of increasing traffic and sales. Businesses that have the SEO advantage bring in more business. SEO is an efficient and affordable marketing strategy that increases your profits exponentially, and it drives target traffic to your website. People that find you are already looking for what you have; it’s a win win situation.
Better Conversion Rates---Optimized web content is tailored for any type of device, and pages load quickly, efficiently, and correctly! Easy navigation grabs the attention of your users, and business transactions are conducted smoothly. Customers are more likely to return to do repeat business, which in turn affects your ranking. The upward cycle continues to affect your business positively.
Brand Awareness---Building brand awareness by being visible on major search engines builds trust, not only with search engines themselves, but also with your customers. Trusted brand awareness plays a large role in making or breaking your business.
Standing Out Over The Competition---When comparing companies that offer similar products and services, it is certain that those that use SEO marketing strategies will conduct more business than a competing site that does not use SEO marketing. Search Engine Optimization is not the wave of the future, it is an essential step on the road to business success that must be employed now.
Can’t I Learn and Implement Search Engine Optimization Myself? Sure, there is a wealth of information on the internet about SEO and how it works; there is even information on how to employ techniques to drive your site higher in the rankings. Let’s ask a simple question though--when do you plan to find the time to do all the research? Taking a look at market trends, internet trends, researching competing websites, doing keyword searches, monitoring search engine statistics----are you feeling overwhelmed yet? We haven’t even mentioned the delicate matter of designing a website with killer content that will stand out head and shoulders above your competition, then promoting yourself in such a way that you still have time to give your customers quality of service. SEO is such an affordable marketing strategy that you can’t afford not to employ a reputable company that specializes in these techniques. You simply do not have the time to put a quality campaign together---let professionals handle it. Still think you may take on this arduous task of your own SEO management? Make sure you stay up on the changes Google makes every year because to miss even one, could mean a Google penalty that lands you on page 100 of search. You can keep up with the changes, right? The 800 pound gorilla Google, launched more than 1,600 new changes in search last year alone. Yeah, they like to keep things hopping.
Jeff Peltin, a nationally sought out trainer who led a seminar at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas for 5,000 attendees, explains, “There are two things you need to know about SEO; #1 is you need it to survive, and #2 is you need a company to do it for you that has techies that live, eat and breathe this stuff.”
The Professional SEO Difference With hundreds of changes to search engine algorithms every year, MaxGroup Business Solutions can actively work on your behalf to make sure that you stay at the top of your internet game. Their team of talented professionals works with you to design a customized SEO marketing strategy that will complement both your business and your budget. MaxGroup specializes in creating a strong web presence that goes beyond a temporary ranking; they produce dependable results that will grow your business into what you’ve always dreamed it could be. Let MaxGroup services take you straight to the top of the world wide web; in today’s fast paced world of E-commerce, you simply can’t afford not to jump on board with us.