SEO is a Fancy Schmancy Term for Getting the Search Engines to Notice You
You’re a small business owner. You have a website. You think it’s a good website. You were told it was going to help bring you customers. But it’s not. And you’re wondering why, since everyone is online these days. I’m here as an Internet Marketing Consultant to tell you that you probably need to begin a relationship with the online search engines. To start this relationship you need SEO, a short term for Search Engine Optimization. Right now the search engines might not even know you exist and you want them to. When it’s done right, SEO is the best thing you can do for your website and your business. So let me help you understand how we can get those search engines to like you.
SEO is one of the most important pieces of an internet marketing strategy. SEO gets you found more easily on the web using search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo. It helps organic search results, and I’m not talking about food here. In internet marketing the term “organic” refers to natural search results, as opposed to paid search results, which is a whole other blog in and of itself. When you are searching for something, you want to get what you’re looking for, right? Search engines want your search results to be relevant. The only way they know how to give people results relevant to the terms they typed into the search bar, is by the keywords used on a website. Keywords are the foundation of a successful SEO strategy.
Your Website Holds the Keywords to the Search Engines Heart
Yes, a bit corny, but just trying to lighten the mood. SEO is not an easy thing to understand or even explain, so hopefully you’re still with me! Keywords are the terms and phrases that people are typing into the search engine in hopes of getting the information they are looking for. Keywords help your website communicate to the search engines, allowing them to get to know you and what you offer. This makes your website easier for people to find, and attract potential customers that are actually looking for the product or services you provide. There are tools available that allow you to find out what people are searching for. The classic example is shoes. Let’s say you’re a runner and you want to buy a new pair of shoes. If you type “running shoes” into the search engine you get a whole slew of results. But if you type in “red women's running shoes” you’ll probably see the company Zappos show up pretty near the top of your page. That’s because Zappos has keyworded for “red women's running shoes” on a page of their website, and they’ve done it well.
SEO Will Help You Get a Date With Customers
The goal of SEO is to start a relationship with the search engines through the use of keywords so they will see your site as valuable, and find what you provide to potential searchers. This will give you a higher ranking in the search results, helping you get ahead of your competition and allowing people to find you. Once they do, and click on the link to your website, you’re on your first date. If they like you and find what you offer valuable, the hope is the relationship will go to the next level. By next level I mean they will become a customer. Don’t be fooled by companies offering a cheap, quick fix for website SEO. Just like a relationship, a good SEO strategy takes time and patience.
So remember, if you want to get ahead of your competition, attract the people who are actually trying to find something you offer and make the search engines happy too, you need SEO or Search Engine Optimization and you need it to be done right. As an Internet Marketing Consultant, I’ve learned over the years that the best looking website in the world will do nothing for you if you don’t have a successful SEO strategy in place.
Do you have an SEO strategy and is it working?
