What is SEO Marketing? Part 1
Marketing a business is done with many tools in your arsenal. Among them are social media pages, your website, and most importantly, the content you write for your current and prospective customers. However, those aren’t the only important marketing tools you should be using. None of those platforms or content will be nearly as successful without SEO, or Search Engine Optimization. You’ve likely heard of this before, but you’re not fully sure what it is, what it entails, or how exactly it works. Don’t worry. Whether you are new to marketing your business, or an old pro who needs a refresher, all you need to know is down below. First things first:
What is Search Engine Optimization?
As has already been mentioned, SEO is short for Search Engine Optimization. SEO, according to Moz, “is the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results.” In short, it’s about ensuring your business’ website, content, and social media platforms are among the first things people see when searching online for something. The ultimate goal of SEO is to be found online.
So, how is this done? Like everything else in marketing, it’s about knowing your audience. Who do you want to search for your business and content? This is where the quality part of SEO comes in. As Moz explains in their SEO 101 Beginners’ Guide, SEO is “about understanding what people are searching for online, the answers they seek, the words they’re using, and the type of content they want. Knowing the answers to these questions will allow you to connect to the people searching online for your solutions.”
Once you have a good understanding of your audience and what they are searching for online, you can use what you learned on your website, platforms, and content in the form of keywords. Tools such as Google’s Keyword Planner help pick keywords to use that will propel your content to the first pages of Google results. Moz explains that this is when you can finally invoke the quantity part of SEO and aim to drive traffic to your website with organic results (i.e. traffic you don’t have to pay for).
What are the Three Types of Search Engine Optimization?
SEO isn’t just about keyword planning and search engines. There are three types of SEO that you should be aware of. They are:
- Onsite: This is also known as on-page SEO, according to an article written by Jennifer Yesbeck on the Alexa blog. Onsite SEO “relates to the content on your website.” It involves everything discussed above; searching for keywords and ensuring they’re optimized for the best use in your website, content, and social media platforms.
- Offsite: According to Yesbeck, off-site SEO “[helps strengthen]the influence and relationship your website has with other websites… [and helps] to build a website’s reputation and authority. This is important for search engines, as they’ll see your website as credible and trustworthy, and therefore, a good search result on their front page. Backlinks are a good offsite SEO tactic to use, linking back to other websites and content that are not your own when writing posts for your website or social media.
- Technical: This type of SEO isn’t content-related, instead, it’s about the technology of your website, Yesbeck explains. This includes your website’s speed and security if it’s mobile-friendly. Technical SEO is meant to improve the readability of your website, which makes it easy for search engines to understand your website and see that it’s high quality. Technical SEO also provides a user-friendly experience for those visiting your website.
Where to Start With Search Engine Optimization?
Congratulations, you’ve learned the ins and outs of SEO. But where should you start when putting it into practice? This will vary depending on the website you already have and what content you are putting out, but overall, you want to make sure your website is up to date in the technical sense, making sure it’s user-friendly and secure. You want to know what your target audience is searching for and use appropriate keywords to draw them to your website and content, making sure to link back to other sources when necessary. Finally, you want to ensure that your content is relevant, timely, and posted frequently.
If you still have questions or are interested in a free consultation, contact us at Kevin Brown Design for more information.