SEO

SEO is also called "Search Engine Optimization." In a more straightforward language, it means improving your website to increase its visibility and reach organically.

SEO, mainly, accomplishes two goals.

We get to know what the audience is looking for.

And after knowing that, we can curate our website so that it becomes user-friendly & easier for search engines to find.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is not as simple as it looks. It is a whole procedure that comprises numerous guidelines, several stages & a set of control. If practiced thoroughly, it can generate a lot of organic traffic.

WHY IS SEO IMPORTANT?

• Ranking

Users are most likely to visit one of the top 5 websites on the first page of the search results. If the SEO guidelines are precisely followed, it will rank your website higher in the search results and automatically increase your reach.

• Web Traffic

If your website is not getting noticed by potential customers, sales opportunities are missed. SEO is a brilliant way to increase your website's organic traffic, in turn increasing the number of visits your page gets daily. This will increase traffic and sales – because the more prospects that visit your site, the more likely you are to convert them into customers. 

• Trustworthy

The greater chance you'll appear on search engines like Google and Bing directly depends on your website's SEO score. Getting ranked higher brings two benefits: 1) increased reach and 2) The trust you gain with potential customers. Users are most likely to prefer websites displayed on top of search engine result pages (SERP). So having a higher search engine ranking for the keywords a user is searching for will, in turn, solidify your product or service as trustworthy in the user's mind. 

• User Experience

A well-optimized website conveys what product or service they are ready to offer, how to avail it, and any other questions surrounding it. By curating a user-friendly website, search engines are possibly going to push this information to users. If a user encounters specific problems navigating your website, search engines likely will too. Therefore, it is crucial to consider users and their preferences before curating your website. 

• Growth

Without a doubt, SEO is the key to growing your brand. As mentioned earlier, the higher your website is ranked in the search results, the more organic (unpaid) traffic it will generate. A well-optimized website is more likely to draw in more customers and generate more significant sales. Additionally, once the visibility and reach of your website increase, users are more likely to share your brand on other social platforms such as Facebook or Instagram through different search engines.

• Long-term strategy

It is a long-term strategy. It generally takes 8-12 months to see the results, but the key advantage is that just as it takes time to maneuver up the rankings, it takes time to move down the rankings. Once your website gets a higher ranking, it will rarely move down. This may happen either because of the increased SEO competition or the ever-changing Google algorithms.

• Cost-effective

SEO is a no-brainer. Why spend money on Paid Ad-campaigns when you can follow the guidelines and the rules, which will automatically increase your website's traffic, which will also increase your company's customers.

Three main stages of SEO - Search Engine Optimization

As mentioned above, SEO is not as easy as it seems. There is a lot of time, effort, and patience involved in the SEO process to obtain excellent results. It is a thorough process. It is a framework with definite rules and regulations you must follow.

Four main types of SEO:

1. Technical SEO.

2. Local SEO.

3. On-site SEO.

4. Off-site SEO.

1. Technical SEO

Technical SEO refers to measures taken to help search engines navigate your website. As search engines and their algorithms are ever-changing and get more complex, these requirements change, which means that this type of SEO is constantly evolving. To make sure that the search engine navigating your website does not face any problem. Keep your Technical SEO looking good. 

Some of the key points to remember—

• Website speed.

• mobile-friendliness.

• site – structure.

2. Local SEO

Local SEO is a variation of SEO which mainly focuses on increasing your page's reach within your community rather than on a national or international level. It deals with increasing your presence in your locality and promoting your products or services to your native customers. 

The key benefits of Local SEO include

• Extremely targeted.

• Budget-friendly (almost free)

• There's a greater chance of ranking locally as only 44% of businesses claim their GMB listing.

3. On-Site SEO

On-Site SEO, also termed On-page SEO, mainly deals with optimizing your website's content. This consists of your keywords, headings, meta titles, meta descriptions, images, and more.

Points to remember during On-Site optimization:

•        Research your key phrases – Determine the phrases and terms which will benefit you in ranking your page higher. Do thorough research on which keywords have maximum relevance and more volume. However, less competition. Once you've decided on the proper keywords, then optimize your website and headings for those terms.

•        Optimize metadata – metadata tells Google the content material of a page. You should make sure your meta titles and meta descriptions encompass relevant content and keywords, so the possibilities of your website getting a higher search engine rank increases

•        Internal linking – Internal links are URLs found on different pages of your website. Begin inserting links to your targeted keywords to make your website user-friendly.

4. Off-Site SEO

This is something that does not happen on the website. It is all about developing trust and a relationship with your customers, resulting in increased conversions.

Some quality link building tricks encompass – 

• Guest posting – 

Many blogs and online courses will notice your posts and post them on their accounts. Make sure the site posting your content is relevant and includes a link back to your website.

• Competitor research – 

Check out the inbound link profile of your biggest competitors. Please find out the source of their hyperlinks and which websites will permit a hyperlink.

After overviewing what SEO is, its importance in brand development, and how to implement it – keep in mind that it is a lengthy procedure with extended–term benefits. Your website's ranking highly relies on your competitors, search engine algorithms, and the effort you put in. You are not going to get instantaneous results; hang in there!