An Introduction to Search Engine Optimization
Search Engine Optimization is a marketing service that most people have heard of, but most people couldn’t accurately define or understand. And that’s okay. It isn’t straightforward. It’s our job as a marketing agency to boil down complicated marketing strategies into understandable, bite-sized tidbits. In this article, we’ll describe for you in high-level detail what Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is and why it matters for your company.
What is it?
Essentially, Search Engine Optimization is what it sounds like. Google, a search engine, has millions of websites and webpages it has to sort through when someone searches for a “mexican restauraunt.” Google has to decide somehow, who will show up as the first result. This is achieved through “optimization.” Google rewards high-quality websites that answer “search queries” most effectively and succinctly. Google is all about delivering value for the user. As a result, the website itself needs to provide value to the user, and Google will, in turn, reward the website with a higher search ranking.
The complicated aspect of SEO is in the “optimization” part. There are many nuts and bolds for optimizing a website.
- Outbound links
- Internal links
- Keyphrase in introduction
- Keyphrase length
- Keyphrase density
- Meta description and length
- New keyphrase
- Keyphrase in subheading
- Image Alt attributes
- SEO title width
- Keyphrase in slug
- Text length
- Site authority
- Backlinks
That’s not a comprehensive list, but that will give you a window into all the contributing factors of Search Engine Optimization. As you can tell, it’s not a “click a button to rank #1 on Google” kind of task. There’s some real effort that needs to take place for meaningful results to happen.
“Like it or not, what Google thinks about your company’s website will influence your business significantly.”
Why it matters
So, you understand a little bit more about what SEO is, but why does it matter? The digital world is in control of the search engines. Like it or not, what Google thinks about your company’s website will influence your business significantly. It’s in your best interest for Google to be pleased by your website and the value you’re providing for its users. If Google is not pleased, they’ll find another website that’s doing it better, even if their actual services are worse than yours. The personal touch of your services holds no weight in the eyes of Google.
As a result, most small businesses are between a rock and a hard place. They barely understand SEO, Google has the power to decide their fate, and there’s not much you can do. Here are your options:
- Do it yourself
- There are courses available and blog articles that can teach you SEO and the countless amounts of tips and techniques. This is virtually free because it’s only using up your time. Unfortunately, it will require an immense amount of time that could be spent building your business in other ways.
- Hire someone internally
- This is undoubtedly a better option than the first because it doesn’t suck up all your time. You’re free to work on the business itself, but unfortunately, this is the most expensive option. It’ll require a full investment into an employee for your marketing.
- Hire a creative agency
- You could hire a creative agency like Studio490, where your time won’t be wasted on learning SEO, and it’ll be thousands of dollars cheaper than hiring an employee. This is the route we recommend for most small businesses.