If you are a website owner, then you have likely heard about SEO. A lot of us have heard of SEO and know that it is important to help build your business and bring your target audience to your page, but we do not know what it entails or how it can help businesses.
This guide is intended to cover the significant aspects of SEO, from identifying the terms and phrases that can drive targeted visitors to your website, to optimizing your website for search engines and promoting the distinctive value of your website.
First, we need to have an understanding of the definition of SEO.
WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF SEO?
SEO stands for “Search engine optimization”. According to Wikipedia SEO is defined as Search engine optimization is the process of improving the quality and quantity of website traffic to a website or a web page from search engines. But we can simply put SEO as getting a website to the top of search engines like Google so that it gets more visitors and may make more money. It is also the technique that helps your website rank higher on search engine result pages.
SERPs; The web page that a user sees after entering a search query into a search engine like Google, Bing, or Yahoo is known as a SERP (Search Engine Results Page). The goal of search engines is to provide the user with relevant results on the SERP that will enable them to find what they are looking for. If a user types in “red flags,” for instance, the search engine will provide a list of relevant results from around the internet that helpfully talk about red flags.
KEYWORDS: Keywords are words and phrases that users enter into search engines as keywords help them find the information they’re looking for. For instance, you may enter “ladies suit” into Google if you wanted to purchase a new suit. That phrase is still a keyword even though it contains many words.
To capture your audience’s interest and keep them as your users, search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial. No matter how resourceful a website is, if not enough people visit the site, all the effort is for naught.
WHY IS SEO IMPORTANT?
Brands need SEO because it’s a highly effective approach to increase their exposure in search results, increase traffic to their websites, become recognized as experts in their field, expand their businesses steadily and sustainably, and do a lot more. Here is how each of these elements affects how important SEO is for your brand.
BENEFITS OF SEO
- SEO increases exposure: Nowadays, the majority of professional search research is carried out online. Using natural references and selecting keywords related to your industry and activity can make you more visible to the market for your goods and services. Others in your immediate area can also find a solution using SEO tools. For example, a tailor, plumber, caterer, florist, hairdresser, etc. can all benefit from it.
- Improved conversion rates are possible: Targeting customer requests is made easier by SEO tools. You are guaranteed to get people to start reading their mail or spend more time on your website by including links to relevant pages on the specific request they made.
- Improve the usability of websites: Websites are made to help businesses and organizations have an online presence. In order to effectively fulfill their main objectives, SEO makes these websites visible.
- Better focused traffic: You may be certain that you will speak to your target audience by using an editorial approach based on natural referencing. Your editorial stance is constant and covers every part of your business. Because of this, you appear to Internet users as subject-matter experts.
- Customer satisfaction is raised: The client finds it enjoyable to browse a website with material that has been designed for natural referencing because it is practically certain that the article will address his request. Google often places a website that most closely matches Internet users’ searches on the first page of results. If your website is optimized, it will entice users to read more and swiftly use your services.
Now that we have a full knowledge of what SEO is and its benefits let’s take a look at recommendations for google business listings for local businesses.
Recommendations for Google business listings for local businesses
Google is a powerful tool, and businesses of all sizes should be aware of its capabilities and how to use it to their advantage.
Fundamental Principles:
- First and foremost, make sure that your business is listed in the correct categories. Make sure you qualify for inclusion in the Google My Business index. It is important to have a physical address, and interact with customers in person, either at your location (like a retail store) or at theirs (like a designer).
- Represent your local business’s name, address, phone number, website address, company categories, operating hours, and other details honestly and precisely.
Things to avoid
- the creation of Google My Business listings for non-eligible businesses.
- The exploitation of the Google My Business listing’s review section through the use of fake good evaluations for your company or fake bad reviews for your competitors.
- Providing false information about any of your essential company details, such as “stuffing” your company name with geographical or service keywords or making listings for fictitious addresses.
Identifying your client goal/ knowing your website
A good way to start any project is to know your website/client’s goals. This information can help you determine what kind of content will be most effective, as well as how best to market the project. Once you have a clear idea of your client’s objectives, it will be much easier to develop a strategy and create content that will meet their needs.
What KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) will you use to gauge the ROI of your SEO efforts? What metric do you use to directly assess the effectiveness of your organic search efforts? Even if it’s this straightforward, you should have it documented:
Below are some common KPIs to help you get started:
- Downloads
- Sales
- Phone calls
- Email signups
- Contact form submission
You should also establish KPIs for your Google My Business listings if your company has a local component. They could consist of:
- Clicks-to-call
- Clicks-to-website
- Clicks-for-driving-directions
Do not use terms like “ranked” and “traffic” in the KPIs list.
“But hold on a second!” Says you. “You’re telling me they aren’t essential goals? I came here to learn about SEO because I heard it could help me rank and get traffic.
Never at all! You have the right idea. Ranking and traffic are the only means to an end for SEO; they can help your website appear higher in search results and hence attract more visitors. It serves little purpose to rank high if no one is visiting your website, and it serves no purpose to increase traffic if that traffic isn’t helping you achieve your overall business goals.
While running a lead generation website, for instance, would you prefer to have:
- 500 monthly visits and 3 people fill up the contact form? or;
- 200 monthly visits and 40 people fill up the contact form?
We hope you choose the latter if you’re using SEO to promote your website and encourage conversions. Make sure your business goals are written down before starting an SEO campaign; from there, utilize SEO to assist in achieving those goals, not the other way around.
Compared to vanity metrics, SEO achieves far more. When executed properly, it aids real businesses in achieving their success-related objectives.