What is SEO and how does it help grow your business?

If you are looking for a way to grow your business, then Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is worth exploring as part of your digital marketing strategy. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation and it is a technique that helps increase the amount of traffic to websites through organic search engine results. This is an introduction to what SEO is and why SEO is important in your digital marketing strategy and how it drives traffic to your site!

You will learn how Central Queensland’s Digital Agency and Website Designer, ‘Sebcat Digital‘ (SCD) uses SEO as a powerful tool to build world-class websites for your business helping to elevate your business’ online presence and accelerate your overall business growth.

Firstly. What actually is Search Engine Optimization?

Search engine optimization, or SEO for short, is the process of getting your website to rank higher in search engines like Google. As you may know, when people are searching online they will often type what they are looking for into a search box. The query they have typed is what we refer to as a ‘keyword’ or ‘long tail keyword’. The search engines use these keywords to search their vast databases to get a list of results that include websites with content that match or relate to these keywords. The list of results returned is often referred to as ‘SERPs’ – Search Engine Results Pages.

This is how Seo can help grow your business

For example, if you have an online store that sells lamps and lights then you would want to make sure your webpage appears on the first page of search engine results when someone searches for “buy lamp” or “where can I buy a light bulb?” SEO is what helps increase this ranking. It’s important not only because it will get more customer leads but because it will get your site to the top of search engine rankings, meaning you’ll be more easily found by future customers.

The ranking at which your site appears on this list can make an enormous difference in how many visitors or leads you receive on any given day because it’s easy for them to find what they’re looking for without having to scroll through pages and pages of Search Results filled with your competitor’s links.

We refer to this as organic search versus expensive Pay Per Click models like Google Ads. Organic search is a cost-effective way of ensuring your website ranks highly long-term but in an affordable way making for a great return on investment and more $’s in your pocket.

The top 5 things you should know about Search Engine Optimization are-

1. SEO is not what gets your website ranked, it’s what helps make you the most visible to search engine algorithms.
2. Search Engines don’t rank your website they rank each page on your website.
3. There are both ‘on-page SEO’ and ‘off-page SEO’ techniques.
4. To build a strong online reputation, you need to post quality articles that contain the keywords or phrases that ‘people’ are searching for.
5. Your content needs to contain internal and external links to other well-written content.

Let’s start with a concept called On-Page SEO.

What is On-Page SEO?

On-Page SEO is the process of optimizing the content of your page so that search engines can read and index it.

The first step to On-Page SEO is ensuring you have a well-structured website with easy-to-navigate layouts.

Secondly, you need to ensure your website contains relevant keywords, and that the information on each webpage matches what people would be searching for when looking for information or products on search engines like Google or Bing. 

What do Google and other search engines like Bing look for, when returning ‘results’ after someone enters a search term?

With so much information available, without help sorting through it, finding what you need would be next to impossible. Ranking systems from search engines like Google use tools like ‘bots’, machine learning and systematic analysis that find out what is relevant for a particular search term and are able to provide the most helpful results in less than an instant.

Search algorithm ranking systems take many factors into consideration when determining the relevance and usability of web pages. The weight applied to each factor varies depending on the nature of your query—expertise of sources, the freshness of content, relevance and usability are all important and forms the basis of any written content on your web pages.

The most used search engine currently is Google. Google has told us that the following factors are used to decide which web pages should be returned for a specific search.

Meaning of the search query

Here the search engines are looking at the user’s intent behind the search.

One of the first things SCD does when engaging with businesses and developing a digital strategy for them is customer research.

We need to know who your customers are and at what stage of the ‘buying’ process they are at. We create Personas and Customer Journeys to help direct the content of your site so that we can purposely direct prospects to the most relevant pages of your site.

Relevance of webpages

Are searchers still in the ‘looking for information‘ phase or have they decided on what they want but now are researching where to purchase from? Or have they narrowed it down to a few outlets and are ready to make that purchase. You can see how important it is to see what the searcher’s intent is so that a potential lead who is ready to purchase doesn’t end up on your information pages, they need to land on your ‘conversion’ or Sales pages.

Knowing who your customers are and where they are in the buying stage ensures we have the right content across your site to cater to potential customers at every step of the purchasing process which will bring the ‘right’ traffic to your website and enhances the user experience.

Quality of Content

The search engines and bots are looking for relevant content to present to users, otherwise, those searchers will go to other search engines to ensure they are finding the information they need.

Many years ago it was ok to ‘stuff’ your website with keywords in the hope of ranking near the top. This strategy has not worked for many years, as the major search engine companies realised that it was hurting ‘their’ brand. These days to get your site returned high on the search engine pages means that your pages have to be filled with quality information that is relevant to web users searching for business products and services.

Having high-quality content on your site increases the authority and trust of your site. This increases the likelihood of getting found by relevant search terms and ranking higher for those keywords and increasing your website traffic.

Quality website content also improves your customer’s experience, as you are providing what they want to see on your site – not just what you think is important.

Having high-quality content also helps with getting ‘backlinks’ or external links from other websites. This helps show the Search Engine bots that your site is well trusted and has authority in the industry.

At SCD we do extensive keyword research and couple this with the Customer Personas and Customer Journeys that we have already mapped. We then write well-structured high-quality content for your website. We ensure the content is current, relevant and easy to read which will keep prospective leads on your site, engaged with your business.

Usability of webpages

User experience (UX) has become one of the major factors in determining the Rank Juice of a website page and how high it will land on the SERPs.

UX encompasses many aspects of a website and the pages that make up that site. Below are some of the areas that Sebcat Digital focuses on to ensure your website will achieve high rankings.

Responsiveness

“RWD design,” also known as responsive web design, is a modern web design approach that allows websites and pages to render on all devices with ease. It does so by automatically adapting content, regardless of the device it’s viewed on. RWD combines features from adaptive or fluid layouts to create improved experiences for users across multiple screens and devices

Sebcat Digital ensures that your website is responsive to leads coming from mobile, tablet and desktop devices.

Speed

It is generally accepted that if your website takes longer than 3 seconds to load then you will lose over 50% of the traffic that is hitting your site. They will simply move on to the next site which is faster.

Therefore we can see that website speed is a major factor in your customer’s first impression of your company’s brand, products and services.

Sebcat Digital implement strategies to make sure your site loads quickly. We know how important speed is for ranking on search engines, and we want you to rank high on every search engine’s results page so that more people will visit your website.

Structure

Consistent design across all pages of the website, including the logo headers and footers is important, not only for effective brand awareness but also for the search engine bots.

The bots can quickly identify websites that are well structured and rank these accordingly as they add to a site’s overall UX.

Sebcat Digital designs well-structured websites that consist of the following

• Home page
• About page (did you know this is the second most visited page on websites and helps build trust and authority with your customers)
• Service pages
• Articles – 3 fold –

1. Keeps your website current and fresh in terms of the search engine bots
2. Keeps customers/leads engaged by providing news or product updates on a regular basis
3. Provides a way of funnelling customers to your sales/service pages.

• Contact Us – Ensuring leads can reach out to you for any information they may require
• Header and Footers – consistent delivery of your brand and static details keeping it at easy reach of the lead whilst they are browsing your website
• Call To Actions (CTAs) Converting your leads to customers by getting them to take action

Navigation

Good site navigation is an easy way to get good UX on your website. The easier it is for prospective customers to navigate your site the more engaged they will be and the lower your website bounce rate will be with the search engine ranking.

At SCD we start with a well-structured website as above and then add navigation controls that make it easy for prospective customers to find the information they need quickly.

We start with a well-defined menu that remains static across the top of the website, regardless of which page your visitor is on. The menu is website responsive so that it can be viewed via mobile, tablet, or desktop without impacting the view and look of your brand.

We also include internal links to other areas of the website that a customer may find important when reading through your content.

We also provide a search facility that can assist visitors with finding information on your site quickly. The search field also provides a way for your business to see what terms are being searched for on your site. This can be a great way to see if

1. There are new products that you can add to your business
2. Whether better navigation controls are required to help the customer find products or services
3. An opportunity to extend your authority by providing new articles that cover trending search topics.

Context and Settings

Search engines, like Google and Yahoo, use a variety of variables to offer the most personalized results such as your location, past web browsing history and search settings.

Here at SCD, we ensure that when writing good content we also add relevant content that can assist the search engines in qualifying the searchers and ensuring your site is only ranked when it is relevant to the searcher’s intent.

What else is there to know about Search Engine Optimisation?

There are many aspects to SEO, with on-page SEO being just one. It’s important to remember that there is no one answer fits all, and the best SEO campaigns are those where you think about what your audience needs.

So far we have looked at what we can do on your website in terms of SEO, again we call this On-Page SEO.

What is Off-Page SEO?

Off-Page SEO encompasses all the activity that your business does online but where these activities occur outside of your website.

• Sponsorships with links back to your business – builds trust
• Guest posting with links back to your website – builds authority and trust
• Business citations e.g. Google My Business or Yellow pages provide links back to your business.
• Social Media – expands your brand to other markets – Linked In, Facebook, Instagram, etc
• Video Platforms eg. Youtube again provide another market channel and link juice back to your website

During the research and analysis phase of creating your digital strategy, SDC ensures that by identifying your customer’s journeys and personas we can target the correct Off-page SEO strategies to ensure fully qualified leads are funnelled to your website on a regular basis.

Is SEO a one-time thing?

SEO is not something that you can turn on and off at your convenience. Many people are under the misconception that SEO is a one-time thing when in reality it’s an active process of identifying what keywords to target for traffic; then modifying content around those keywords so search engines rank them more favourably.

In order to have any success with SEO, you need to have a website that is constantly refreshed with new content. It’s also important to go back and revisit pages on your website, as well as link out to other sites for additional traffic.

The best way to implement SEO into your business’ marketing strategy is by having someone who knows what they are doing so it can be done often and consistently.

SEO can help grow your online presence by providing more visibility online so you’re seen when people are searching for what it is you offer. This leads to a higher conversion rate as well as increased traffic and better customer retention rates because they found the information that they were looking for.

In order to rank highly in search engines, keywords must be targeted, and used correctly and in the right context.

When you partner with SCD, you are ensuring that your SEO strategy is always regularly updated and accounted for so you can continue to grow your business.

-If you’re looking at SEO as a way to improve how well people find what they are searching for on your website, then search engine optimization is the answer. It’s also important that it be done correctly or else you risk not showing up in search results which impacts your online visibility.

So how does having SEO as a tool in your digital marketing plan help your business grow?

A great SEO strategy combining both on-page and off-page SEO techniques can help rank your website quickly in many ways. The quicker and higher you rank the more potential there is for people to see your business in the search results.

A great SEO strategy can also help you get indexed on search engines quicker. For example, Google will rank your website higher if it’s been in business for over four years and has a lot of unique content that is updated often.

Another benefit to having an SEO plan in place is you’ll be able to control where your visitors land on your website. For example, if someone searches for “rental car” you’ll be able to show them a link that will take them directly to the page where they can book their rental car online instead of having it displayed in search results with other companies who sell cars and renting vehicles on an individual basis.

Finally, SEO helps drive traffic to your website, which will result in more traffic to your business. For example, if you’re a dentist and rank as the “best dentists near me” it’s only natural that people are going to start coming to your website because they want the best dental care available close by them.

In summary, the top 5 reasons why SEO is essential to your business.

a) SEO helps potential customers find your company, and it can grow brand awareness with prospective buyers

b) It leads to more web traffic in the form of a wider visitor base who hunt for keywords on their smartphone or laptop that are specific to what you provide

c) It grows trust and authority for your brand by showing your customers that you care about what they want and need

d) SEO optimizes a company’s website to be found by search engines like Google for keywords relevant to their business.

e) Just as advertising is required for bricks and mortar stores, so too is it required for your online business. SEO enables a cost-effective way of ensuring your potential customer can find your service or products.

At Sebcat Digital we keep abreast of all the accepted white hat SEO strategies to ensure that we are providing the best techniques to get our customer’s websites ranking quickly and highly to help your business grow. Our 12-month fixed price contracts ensure that we not only build you an effective website but we continue to analyse, review and enhance your website for those 12 months to ensure your website becomes a valuable asset to your business. We then offer ongoing ‘Care Packages’ that will continue to keep your website fresh and current and highly ranked.