Many organizations understand the importance of having an online presence for their business.
However, few understand what it really takes to compete in the online marketplace and capture the largest share of consumer dollars.
Effective online marketing is the key to increasing sales, and understanding how to use SEO is a major part of that equation.
What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is the art and science of creating online content that attracts both the reader and the search engines.
SEO is the science of convincing the search engines that your website is the most relevant one for your searcher’s needs.
If you conduct a simple online search for a key word or phrase, your search engine will deliver what it believes to be the best sites for your needs.
The search engine ranks these sites in order of relevance, placing the most highly relevant results first and the least relevant sites last.
How the Process Works
Your website itself is a sales powerhouse and one that can be used to generate new business for your company.
Effective SEO starts on your website with your online written content, images and links.
One of the most important pieces of this puzzle is the online content on your site.
SEO experts will create content that contains the key words and phrases that your audience is searching for.
If you sell custom sheds, your SEO specialists will create blog postings, articles and product descriptions with the words “custom sheds” or “custom built garages,” or any combination of similar terms.
When your consumer searches for these terms, the search engines will find your site and deliver it to your customer, boosting your online presence.
Image captions, page headers and links are all important pieces of the SEO puzzle.
When you hire an SEO specialist, they will review your existing site to find out what areas need a greater SEO presence.
They will then make the necessary adjustments, renaming your images and captions, creating inbound links and changing the names of your page headers.
This will make it easier for the search engines to find you.
Be the Boy Next Door
Local search is an integral part of the SEO puzzle. If you sell to local customers, you can absolutely benefit from geotargeted search.
This means that your SEO specialist will tailor key words in order to capture consumers who are searching for local businesses.
If you run a bakery in Boston, you will need entirely different search parameters than if you were a wholesale nationwide bakery distributor, for example.
Geotargeted search will help you to be found on maps, through local search engines and through national search.
An SEO specialist can find the right key words to find the right local customer every time.
Integrating SEO into Your Site
SEO can boost your company’s credibility, leading to more customers and higher profits.
By making the most of your SEO, you will be able to spend less money on marketing and advertising and more time on your business.