Voice search technology is ever increasing as more and more people rely on virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa, as well as voice assistance programs on their devices. Is your SEO strategy prepared? Learn more!
Google has changed their search engine little by little and has transformed itself into the leading search engine. It’s more important that ever that your small business remains relevant in search results. Learn how SEO can help!
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. This is commonly shortened to just search optimization. It refers to a strategy to generate “organic” traffic. This type of traffic comes from ranking high in search engine results. This is traffic that you don’t have to pay a per click fee.
All search engines store a database of primary results. When someone searches for a term then they are shown content from this database. Content may be in the form of web pages, local listings, or videos. All content receives a ranking based on how relevant it is to the search term. Search optimization is the process of creating relevant content in a way that increases relevance to all search engines.
It is easy to create a definition of search optimization or SEO. But, putting it into practice requires understanding its individual parts.
Targeted Keywords: Keywords are the basis of search returns. They are figured by looking at your content and the words it contains. Words and phrases that are repeated are seen as what your site is about. By creating content around keywords that visitors are searching for, you attract potential customers.
Keyword Density: Keyword density is as important as the terms themselves. This is the percentage of times a word or phrase appears in your content versus the total number of words. For example, let’s say you are targeting the phrase “Halloween costumes”. You create a 500-word article about the best ones. If you use this term three times then that equals six words. If you divide six by 500 then you get 1.2 percent. That is your keyword density.
Targeted Traffic: You can receive thousands of visitors per month. But, if the traffic is not targeted for your product or service then it doesn’t help you at all. For example, if you are selling SEO services but search engines send traffic that wants to start their own search optimization company then they are not likely to buy from you.
Authority Backlinks: If you research this topic much then you hear a lot about backlinks. They are any website that links back to your content. But, not all backlinks are created equal. Search engines look not only at the number of backlinks you have but also the quality of the sites they come from.
Search engines are thought of as directories that you put a search term into and receive a list of related web content from. This thought is right. But, have you ever thought about what goes into this content list?
Part of understanding search engine optimization or SEO is learning how the engine’s algorithms work. They have a robot that runs through every piece of web content available. This search creates an index. The index is then run through an algorithm. This looks at a variety of factors, including keyword density, number of backlinks, quality of backlinks, unique and relevant content, social shares per page, and much more. This explains the search part of search optimization.
The “O” part of SEO is optimization. This is the process of presenting your content in such a way that it ranks higher. This is where all the algorithm factors come into play. You control such factors as meta tags, page titles, keyword density, and internal links. You can create all these pieces in such a way that they are attractive to the robot.
Understanding exactly how your content is ranked and how to increase those rankings is just the beginning. Now that you have a basic understanding of search engine optimization, contact us for a Free SEO Analysis.