Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is one of the most popular internet marketing strategies in use today. It is a set of tactics that help improve your website’s organic search engine results so that your site shows up as a top result for searches of a certain keyword. The goal is to increase the amount of traffic you get and improve the quality of your leads. SEO strategists can work with all elements of your digital marketing portfolio to create a cohesive and targeted campaign that will ultimately bring in more business.

What can SEO do for you?

• Improve the Quality of Traffic to Your Site: You can attract all the visitors in the world, but if they’re coming to your site because you show up on a Google result for a service you don’t offer, you’re not getting quality traffic. SEO tactics can help you attract visitors who are looking for the products or services that you offer.
• Increase the Quantity of Traffic: Once you are certain you have the right people clicking through to your site from the search engine results page, increasing the quantity of those visits is a huge boost.
• Organic Search Results: There are two types of results you can see on a search engine result page: ads and organic results. SEO deals with organic results, which you don’t have to pay for. When well-strategized, these rankings can be even more consistent than ads.

How SEO Works

Today, the vast majority of all online experiences begin with a search engine. Combine that with the fact that the first five results on Google get 67% of all clicks, and you get an idea of why SEO is so important. If your product, service, article, or blog post is on the first page of a search result, people are more likely to click through. The more visibility your site gets, the greater your potential to generate new leads.

Search engine result pages (SERPs) are not ordered by random chance. The search engine checks the internet and creates a result page ordered by what it thinks is the most relevant information. Whether you use Google, Yahoo, Bing, or another search engine, there are plenty of factors that determine what shows up first. These factors include things you can see on the site, such as your content (is it unique, informative, and easy to read?) or tactics that might not be immediately visible, such as business ratings, online reviews, social media use, and even how quickly your site loads. It’s important for your site to perform well across all platforms to rank as well as possible.

A search engine’s ultimate goal is to show searchers high-performance sites that will give them the information they need. Your ultimate goal is to turn your website into the kind of site that a search engine deems relevant.

An SEO marketing professional will work to optimize your site so that it performs well for a search engine and keeps visitors interested once they arrive. Your strategist will factor in your specific goals when developing strategies. Do you want more phone calls? Online purchases? In-person visits? Your SEO strategy can be tailored accordingly.

The Evolution of SEO Tactics

Search engine algorithms change frequently – Google updates theirs at least once a day. Not all of these algorithm changes are major; in fact, most are minor. However, SEO professionals are constantly updating and fine-tuning the strategies they use to remain up-to-date with current best practices.

Hiring an SEO Marketing Professional

If you are considering SEO as a marketing strategy, it can be tempting to try and optimize your site yourself rather than pay a professional. Keep in mind that hiring a reputable professional means that you can be certain your strategies are up-to-date and in line with best practices. SEO is a long-term strategy, not a get-rich-quick scheme. Anyone promising that you will rank on the first page out of the gate is unlikely to be using tactics that will work for a sustainable long-term strategy. If you want a cohesive and high-quality SEO campaign, it’s best to go with a professional.

Hearst Media Services Southeast Texas offers targeted, cost-effective SEO marketing services for your website or business. Reach out to us to learn more!