When you start talking about marketing these days, SEO is one of the hot topics. Is this really so important?
In short, yes. And if you’re not sure yet what it’s about, we have you covered. Read our short summary that will give you enough insight to benefit you in your next marketing campaign.
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SEO Explained
SEO is the commonly used acronym for ‘Search Engine Optimisation’.
Imagine you’re searching for a certain service in your geographical area and you look at the website options Google supplies you with. You won’t be very impressed if all the options are located far away or they aren’t even the types of companies you were interested in.
Simply put, search engines want to provide browsers with a quality product. For search engines their ‘products’ are lists of pages that provide quality information that’s relevant to whatever the browser typed into the search box.
Search engines need browsers to have successful user experiences when using their search functions. To guarantee this they write intricate algorithms to identify the best possible websites for each search.
When you apply SEO techniques, you improve the quality of your online content in order to attract more quality traffic. This will happen when search engines’ algorithms notice your pages are valuable for browsers, and so they’ll place you higher up on the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages).
So, how do you make sure Googles notices your pages, so you can draw the traffic you need?
Factors that Influence SEO
Many different functions influence your SEO rating and search engines tend to change their algorithms all the time. Therefore, you need knowledge and experience to ensure you can make your site rank on the first page of a Google SERP.
In general, whether you employ an SEO company in Cape Town or an international freelancer, the experts will advise you to work on the following aspects of your website.
Content
As mentioned above, search engines want to provide a list of quality websites for their browsers. To ensure this they created advanced algorithms that can rate your content in terms of the quality of writing, such as the grammar and punctuation.
If you’re not sure if you can write exceptional content, you need to employ a copywriter who knows about SEO.
Relevance
You will get noticed for Google searches that are relevant to the content you provide. To make sure you land high up on SERPs, you must make it clear what your content is about.
Keywords
One way to clarify what your website is about is to use relevant keywords throughout your pages. You know how people tend to search for product, services or information. Do these seem familiar?
- Plumber Cape Town
- Pizza near me
- How to fix a tyre
You need to determine what your audience types into search engines when looking for YOUR product, service or information online. When you use those words in your content, you’ll take a big step forward in your SEO process.
It requires in depth analysis of keyword data of your industry to determine which words work best and will draw the most traffic to your site. That’s why it’s smart to employ an SEO company in Cape Town or Johannesburg, wherever you’re located. Use experts that are familiar to your niche.
Links
Search engines also consider how well you’re connected to the rest of the World Wide Web to determine the value of your content. If your pages are linked to from other websites, it can be seen as others referencing you, therefore proving you have content that’s well respected.
You can obtain these links by placing guest posts on other blogs which link back to your own site.
Mobile Friendliness
How often do you use your mobile phone to search for information compared to using your computer? Mobile usually wins, right?
Across the globe people are using their mobile devices more and more for online searches. This necessitates that websites must be mobile responsive and mobile user friendly. And in the past year it has become a non-negotiable: if you want to have a good SEO rating your website MUST have a mobile version.
Location
Recently, it has become more important to make clear in which geographical area you operate. Consumers often look for service providers near them. Your pages may get ignored if search engines aren’t sure if you are relevant to someone’s search parameters.
Conclusion
This short acronym, SEO, is here to stay, because online searches are becoming more and more prevalent. Just think of how online shopping has boomed and how much time people spend online.
Will your website get noticed?
