PW Media | September 24, 2021

So, what exactly is SEO? How does it work, and why is it important? That’s what we are here to answer for you.

Search engine optimization — better known as SEO — is an organic search tactic used by businesses with a digital presence to increase brand awareness online and boost quality website traffic. Ultimately, SEO helps convert web traffic into sales. While it’s not the only thing that will make your business a success, this type of online optimization is imperative for building your online visibility. 

What is SEO?

While SEO is often used as a marketing tactic, it is not necessarily a tactic only used by marketers. According to Ten Ton, a blog designed to educate entrepreneurs in web design, SEO is “the active practice of optimizing a website to become a recognized authority for a specific topic.” 

Using different SEO best practices to develop your website gives you a better chance to reach the top of the SERP, or search engine results page. The higher you rank on Google or other popular search engines, the more likely potential customers will click on your website link. Your SEO goal is to show search engines why you should show up first for key search terms related to your business or service. The more relevant and reputable your website’s content is, the more likely people searching will choose you from their results. The best way to achieve this is through SEO. 

How SEO Works

Search engines use bots that crawl through an extraordinary number of pages, collecting and indexing data. A series of complex algorithms then analyze the collected data based on thousands of different ranking factors. From there, it is sorted and ranked into results pages for any given search. 

The exact algorithms used to determine this ranking aren’t released, and search giants like Google go to extreme lengths to protect them. However, Google has released various best practices that boost your rankings and SEO strategy. After all, Google and other search engines want to ensure internet users get to the places they want to go. 

Why Is SEO Good for My Business?

Prospective buyers turn to the internet first when learning about a local small business, and most never check beyond the first page of results. So, good SEO — and especially local SEO — is crucial to your web presence. SEO makes getting your website, blog, videos, and related marketing content to the top results an achievable reality when done right. It has many benefits, especially for small and local businesses:

• Lead generation
  The main goal of SEO is to drive more traffic to your website. But not just any traffic; well-qualified leads that translate into conversions. Paid advertising can certainly target users more effectively, but only for a finite amount of time at a considerable cost. SEO is a cheaper, long-term strategy where its impact can last for years, not weeks. 

• Build brand awareness
  Through SEO, your website becomes more accessible to people searching for answers on a search engine. The more you show up and the more organic traffic (traffic to your site via the search engines) you get, the more people will recognize your business and keep coming back. 

• Level the playing field
  Searches that include “near me” have vastly increased in the past few years, which means people are looking for what’s local as a key factor. This is how you can get an edge on your competition. You'll show up next to them in the search results and have the opportunity to steal away customers who might not otherwise know you were there. 

• Great ROI
  SEO techniques require no money if done independently and can have a lasting impact over several years. In fact, 60% of the pages that rank in the top 10 Google results are 3 or more years old. Building a strong SEO foundation will get people to your website, and a robust user experience will convert those visitors into repeat customers. Organic search has one the highest ROI of any marketing channel today.
  

Yes! Yes! Different SEO practices will help build your web presence and boost your website to the top of the SERP.