What is SEO Marketing?
You’ve seen and heard the term SEO (Search Engine Optimization). But what is SEO marketing and why is it so important? Let’s dig into what SEO is and how to use it for your website.
SEO; the definition
SEO is the use of strategic keywords to increase the amount of visitors to a website by obtaining high ranking placement in Internet search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Bing etc. Using SEO is known as an organic (non paid) way to rank higher in these search engines instead of buying ads to gain placement. These keywords can be certain words, terms and phrases that associate with your website content.
Sounds complicated right? Well, truthfully it can be. Having the right tools are important in helping to figure out how to get your website noticed in the ever growing digital landscape. It is not enough just having a website or using Social Media, you now have to be strategic in your way of designing and developing websites and using Social Media. This is the marketing strategy behind the term SEO. Knowing where to use keywords and using them properly.
Keyword Tools
So how do you figure out what keywords to use? I use a wonderful tool called Jaaxy. They rank keywords and websites and let you know the saturation level of any given word or phrase. A keyword doesn’t have to be ONE word, it can be a phrase or complete sentence. Jaaxy will take what you type in and let you know if too many others have used it and come up with many other options for the keyword.
There are other keyword tools also like Google keyword planner. My favorite by far is Jaaxy, I find it the easiest and most efficient.
Google Search Engine
Since Google is the number one used search engine. Therefore, I am going to use it here to describe what SEO and using the right keywords actually does.
Google uses an algorithm (or a mathematical formula) to figure out what websites you should be looking at based on what you type into the search engine. It is tough explaining what an algorithm is. I like the way Shopify described the Google algorithm in one of their blog posts so I am going to repeat it;
“Think of the algorithm like a collection of empty buckets. One bucket gives you a score for the quality of your site, one bucket gives you a score for how many sites link to you and one bucket gives you a score for how many people trust you…” – Shopify
Basically you need to fill your buckets more than any other website. But don’t worry, there’s plenty of buckets for everyone! To fill them you need to think keywords, content and exposure. Building a following builds trust. Having great and engaging content gives you quality. Suing keywords everywhere in your blog content These two will in turn give your website a higher ranking.
I do hope this answered the question to what is SEO Marketing. Explaining the ins and outs is quite difficult to do simply. SEO Marketing is a constant game we as web designers and managers are playing. If you have a website, you must maintain it. This cannot be stressed enough. It is extremely important to keep your website current or your site will get lost in the masses. Optimizing your site for the best search results will keep you recognized and helps fill your buckets.
Why SEO is important
The SEO process is a process of proving search engines that you are the best site. Your site has the most unique content, is trusted and the best offering for their customer. You need to market your site to be the best of the best so you rank highest in the search engines. People often don’t look past page 2 so you want your site to be on page 1, and on the top. Your site needs to build trust, have great content and use keywords everywhere to get recognized. By combing all of this, you will sell more of your products and/or services and rank higher in the land of Google (or Yahoo, or Bing). That is why SEO Marketing is important to know about and why it is important for your website and business.
