What is SEO and Why should I care about it?

 SEO Overview 

Do you have a website? Do you want more traffic to it? Well, search engine optimization is the way to go! SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and it’s the process of making your website more visible to search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo! etc. If done correctly, you can rank high on SERPS (search engine result pages) which will lead to increased traffic and sales conversions.

Why SEO matters to your blog or business

SEO will help your site rank higher in Google searches. When this happens, people who are looking for what they’re selling will find them on their search results page. This is why SEO matters and this blog post is going to tell you everything about it. “It’s not enough just to be online these days,” says internet marketing specialist Jeanie Fritz. “You need visibility.”
While most people know they should create a website or Facebook page but little knowledge about the importance of SEO! Without SEO, your website will not be discoverable by future customers.

How to do SEO for my blog or business

If you’re looking for the best way to get your business noticed online, then consider investing in SEO. If you are uncomfortable doing this yourself, Ruby Web Marketing can assist you.  We will give you a few tips to help get you started:

1. Keyword Research – Pretend you are your own potential customer and think about how you might “Google” your business or blog. These are keywords you want to use.  For instance, my business offers web design services and digital marketing, those are two keywords I use frequently on my own website.
2.  Before you build your blog or website, choose a domain name (web address) that contains keywords if you can.  You can your domain to be short and easily remembered by your customers.
3.  Use keywords in your title tags and meta descriptions on your website – Failure to do so will leave your site sitting out in what I call Google land and it will not be easy to find for your potential customers and clients.
4. Optimize images with alt text/descriptions so they’re not ignored by crawlers from Google or Bing.  These crawlers look for keywords, so make sure to include them in your photos titles, descriptions, and alternate text.
5. Create original content around topics relevant to your business- This may be challenging for some, if you need help with this, feel free to contact us.  For almost every site we have worked on, we created the content for the business owners.
6. Link out to other relevant websites – As crazy as it may seem, this actually helps with your SEO.   If you are uncomfortable with writing content, you could create links to other businesses sites or blogs as well as take advantage of youtube.  I do not suggest linking to your competitors 🙂
7. Try blogging about industry trends or newsworthy items- This will help you create a stronger online presence and get potential clients to your website.  The more you blog, the more discoverable you are.  Remember to use those keywords.  If you do not feel comfortable writing a blog, hire us to do it for you!
8. Promote social media posts through paid ads or Facebook advertising- make sure to create quality posts with images so that potential customers are not deterred from your products or services.  If it has the potential to hurt your brand, do not post it.

The two types of backlinks you need to focus on for successful SEO

When it comes to having a successful SEO strategy, you need two types of backlinks: one type that helps with your rankings and another type that helps with your conversions. The first type of backlink is the link-building kind, which will help you rank higher in Google’s organic search engine results pages (SERPs) for a certain keyword or phrase. Link building is important because it raises your site’s credibility and makes people more likely to click on your links when they see them online. On the other hand, conversion links are those links going from pages on one site to pages on another where there is an opportunity for some purchase action – these can be as simple as a “buy now” button at the end of an article or something schedule an appointment now, call now, etc. They are sometimes referred to as call to action.

Final Thoughts on SEO

SEO is not rocket science, but it does require some work. The good news is that the basics are pretty straightforward and if you’re willing to put in a little time you can see your rankings skyrocket. If this post has sparked an interest in learning more about how to do SEO for your own blog or business, please feel free to contact us with any questions! We’ll be glad to work with you and answer anything else related to search engine optimization. What are your greatest concerns about doing your own SEO? Let us know in the comments below.

Additional Resources on SEO:

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Starter Guide

Five Ways to Improve your Site’s Ranking (SEO)