About 54% of people make daily search engine queries. People rely on Google and search engines more than ever, which is why search engine optimization (SEO) is so vital for marketing.
But what is SEO? Does SEO work? We’re happy to explain. Keep reading to learn the basics of SEO, today’s trends, and how it can help with your branding efforts.
What Is SEO?
SEO is the method of building a website and brand content in a way that makes it easily found in search engines. You do this by learning about all of the important attributes that Google and other search engines reward with visibility, ranking, and preference.
Some of these attributes include keywords, keyword placement, images, and links. It’s a broad and pervasive form of marketing that every brand and company can use.
How Can SEO Help Me?
Simply put, SEO supercharges everything that you’re trying to do. It’s a form of marketing that delivers the best return on investment (ROI). Today, 40% of brands that use SEO get a 500% ROI or greater.
It’s a universal form of marketing that transcends industry. Whether you run a dental practice, own a sneaker shop, produce a podcast, or tour as a motivational speaker, you need search engine traffic.
The principles of SEO extend toward just about any form of marketing you’d like to do. There are more than 32 million bloggers in the United States today.
Blogs are excellent for SEO because you can use several primary and secondary keywords. This media is also the ideal platform for using quality links that attract search engine attention.
Video content is an excellent form of SEO marketing that’ll draw attention. Putting out video content with logos, catchy SEO titles, and SEO-enriched descriptions can garner traffic.
Successful SEO will drive organic hits that you can turn into followers and sales. It helps you approach your marketing scientifically, with measurable goals and analytics.
Does SEO Work for Branding and Marketing?
SEO enhances every part of branding and marketing that you’re working on. You’ll improve user experience (UX) across the board, and in an organic way.
This form of marketing aligns your brand with Google’s algorithms so that you’re easily found, and so that people better connect with you. Best of all, SEO works well with other forms of marketing.
SEO techniques transcend tone, business style, and media format. By fighting for the top of the search engine results page (SERP), you’ll promote a strong brand that people identify and engage with.
What Is Local SEO?
Local search engine optimization takes keywords that are centric to cities, towns, states, or other geographical points. It’s essential to any business that has or requires a strong local presence.
People today that need the services you offer are likely to find you by whipping out their phones and running through a Google search. A company that has optimized its site for local searches with keywords, Google My Business listings, local contact information, and other steps will draw in traffic.
Mobile SEO also strengthens your local SEO efforts. You can optimize for mobile by increasing your page speed, making your site more minimalistic, and boosting your web hosting.
What Is Organic SEO?
The more organic your SEO efforts, the better and more long-lasting the results. Organic SEO thrives because you’re catering to your customer’s sensibilities and wants.
Examples of organic SEO include putting metatags to use, choosing links with strong Domain Authority (DA) and Page Authority (PA), and doing a deep dive on your competitors.
This differs from search engine marketing (SEM), which allows you to pay to shoot your way to the top of the search engine results. You’ll get quicker results with SEM, but your organic SEO results are more long-lasting, accurate, and sustainable.
What Should Go Into Your SEO Strategy?
Your first step is knowing who you are and why people benefit from your brand. Understand your mission and factor in how SEO can carry you to the finish line.
An SEO strategy needs to include measurable goals that you can track in detail. You’ll be able to use SEO analytics and keyword research tools to consistently boost rankings in your industry.
Every SEO strategy today needs to have content as a cornerstone. Putting out SEO-enriched content on a consistent basis will help your brand stand apart from competitors.
Always use your SEO content as a feeder system for things like your e-mail list. This will help you to continue marketing to your followers, so you can leverage it onto revenue.
How Can You Hire a Pro for an SEO Plan?
Hiring the best SEO pros will help you carry out your plans. Do your due diligence in finding experts that can take your SEO goals and put them to action.
They’ll formalize an SEO plan for you over the course of the next several months, and will give you regular reports. Consult with different SEO pros to see what companies they’ve worked with, and what measurable results they helped them achieve.
Any SEO pro that you hire should track measurables like click-through rate (CTR), bounce rate, and search rankings.
Good SEO Is Not Cheap and Cheap SEO Is Not Good
This is the golden rule that you need to internalize whenever you use SEO. Quality SEO strategies plant seeds with search engine results pages (SERPs) for the long term.
It’s a long-term investment that carves out digital territory that grows in value, not unlike owning physical real estate.
You have to hire SEO professionals with this importance in mind. Failing to invest in quality SEO is like owning a high-priced car (website) that doesn’t go anywhere.
Driving organic traffic through SEO will improve other forms of marketing, such as e-mail, direct mail, pay-per-click (PPC), and social media marketing. Results don’t happen quickly with SEO, but they’ll sustain your future.
Dig your heels in and commit to strategies like content optimization, meta title research, improving page experience, and adjusting to Google’s algorithms. You’ll reap the rewards of your consistency over time.
Get Your SEO Marketing in Order
What is SEO? Now that you have the answer to that question, it’s time to put some SEO strategies together.
When you start with the advice in this article, it’ll help you achieve the results that’ll equal long-time followers and improvements in revenue.
Growth Local is a company that helps clients all over and would be happy to assist you further. Take the time to contact us for a free quote, or give us a call at (804)466-4769.
