SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, can be confusing to many business owners. Do I need it? Do I have it?
Well, yes, you need it. SEO is everything you do for your website to obtain a better ranking in search results. It allows you to get found more easily….hopefully on page 1 of a search.
Why SEO is important to your business
Search engines are how your prospective clients look for and find your business. This means that SEO is critical for your business to survive and thrive online.
How do search engines work?
Search engines use an advanced set of algorithms to crawl, index, and pull up web pages. Crawling, the first stage, is the process of scanning through or reading your website’s code. Indexing, the second stage, is where search engines save all the web pages that were crawled to a huge database. The last stage occurs when someone enters a query and the search engine will look through the database to show the web pages that are most relevant for that specific query.
What is local SEO?
Local SEO refers to specific actions you take in order to appear in search results for businesses in your area. Boosting your local SEO is a great way to attract prospective clients from your local area.
One of the best ways to boost your local SEO is to sign up on online directories, such as Google My Business. This allows your business to show up on Google Maps so customers can find you.
How to get found on Google
Since Google is the world’s largest search engine, you certainly want your business to be found on it. To get your website crawled and indexed, here are steps you should take:
Verify your site with Google Search Console
Google Search Console (previously Google Webmaster Tools) is a free service provided by Google for website owners. Verifying your website with Google Search Console is considered an SEO best practice.
Submit your sitemap
A sitemap is a plan of your website. It shows how your website’s pages are connected to one another. Sending a sitemap to search engines allows them to crawl your website more easily and quickly, which improves your overall SEO.
Test it
Check to see if your website is indexed. In the Google search box, enter ‘site:yourwebsitename.com’ and see if anything comes up. If your page comes up in the result, it means your website is indexed. If it doesn’t, don’t worry. The indexing process can take three months.
How to get great SEO
Every aspect of your website, from content to design, can have an impact on your ranking in search results.
Content is one important element of great SEO. Your content must be well written and of high quality. Use the right keywords in your page content, image descriptions, and in your blog posts.
Your website’s crawlability is important too. Do your pages have headlines. Is your website secure? Have you optimized meta titles?
What are SEO keywords and how to find them?
Keywords are two to five-word phrases that someone would type into a search engine when looking for a business like yours. Choosing and using the right keyword terms is crucial since keywords help Google’s bots to understand your website better and identify you as a relevant result for a specific search.
To find the most relevant keywords for your website, make a list of all the possible words that potential or current clients would use to find you online. It’s not how you would describe your business, but what people searching online would be looking for.
Get SEO backlinks
Backlinks are links from external sites to your website or any of its pages. They are an important part of SEO strategy because the more links you get, the more your website is considered trustworthy and authoritative in Google’s eyes.
Getting backlinks isn’t simple but you can start by connecting with bloggers, websites, and online magazines in your industry and try to get mentioned by them.
SEO can be confusing but we hope we’ve answered some of your questions about it here in this blog. If you need help with your website’s SEO, Blue Lilac Marketing Group can aid you in getting found!