SEO, which stands for “search engine optimization,” is a search marketing strategy that utilizes organic tactics to improve your search engine result visibility.
When you use SEO for your marketing strategy, you don’t pay for ad placement on the search engine results pages. There are various tactics used to prompt the search engines to show your company’s content near the top of the search result because the content is authoritative and valuable.
Different Types of SEO
When it comes to SEO, there are various types that can be used depending on the needs and goals your business has. The different SEO programs include:
Local SEO
Local SEO helps your business show up on search engines for searches that are close to your business location. With local SEO services, your content is optimized for “near me” or geo-specific searches. Local SEO helps you to show up for local searches, which allows you to gain exposure and new business throughout your local community.
With local SEO, you can:
- Become a local authority within your industry
- Improve your organic conversion rates and leads
- Beat out thousands of local competitors for organic rankings
National SEO
National SEO is a search marketing strategy that uses organic tactics to focus on promoting your company’s website to rank for broad, highly-searched keyword terms at a national or nationwide level. If your services or products are available nationwide, your company’s goal is to establish a national digital presence, and you want to increase your sales pipeline, then National SEO is a great option for your business.
How Does SEO Work?
Before we explain how SEO works, we need to cover how search engines work. Google, for example, uses complex processes, also called algorithms, to organize and rank website content. These algorithms take an array of factors into account when deciding how well a page ranks on the results pages.
In most cases, with any SEO strategy, the primary goal is to rank high on Google. Google does the following to find and rank content:
Crawling
Bots crawl the web and look for updated or new web pages. For a page to be found by Google, the page must feature links that point to it. Typically, the more links a page has, the easier it will be for Google to find the page.
Indexing
Once the crawling is complete, Google will analyze the URLs discovered by the bots to determine what the page is about. Google checks the page for content, images, and other media files and stores or indexes this information in the Google Index.
Serving
After Google has analyzed the URLs, it will determine which pages are relevant to the users’ search queries. With this information, they will rank the page in the search engine results.
SEO works to help convince search engines to recommend your content to the user as the most authoritative, valuable, and comprehensive solution to the user’s problem. This is done by optimizing your web page content with keywords, improving page loading speed, and creating content with the user’s intent in mind.
Common SEO Factors
There are over 200 different SEO ranking factors that help the search engines determine which sites should appear in the search results and how they should rank. Some of the top factors include:
Content
High-quality content is a great way to boost user engagement and appeal to search engines. When it comes to SEO ranking factors, content is one of the more important ones to invest in. The whole goal of the search engine is to provide users with the best results possible. This is why they provide the top rankings to websites that publish in-depth, well-researched, and well-written content.
It is also important to consistently publish high-quality content to attract crawlers and boost your search visibility.
Backlinking
A backlink is another signal that notifies search engines that a website is authoritative and credible. The number of quality links pointing to your site has a significant impact on your place in the search rankings.
Backlinks are considered to be the second most important SEO ranking factor by many. To ensure your website ranks, you need to build high-quality backlinks for your website through link acquisitions, guest posting, and other backlinking strategies.
Reputation
Reputation is another factor that can affect your local search rankings. Your company’s Google review count and review score will factor into your local search ranking. The more reviews and positive ratings you have, the more it can improve your company’s local ranking.
Site Security
Site security is considered to be one of the most important ranking factors by Google. This refers to the use of HTTPS encryption on your website. Websites with HTTPS encryption have an SSL certificate on their website that creates a secure connection between your website and the user. This creates an added layer of protection for the information that is exchanged between the website and the user.
Google and other search engines work to direct users to trustworthy websites, so HTTPS encryption indicates to the search engine that the site is secure. Check your website URL. If it begins with HTTP and not HTTPS, it is not secure. You can contact Higher Images to add an SSL certificate.
Benefits of SEO
Improve Brand Awareness
With SEO, you can focus on improving the user experience for consumers. This means that SEO strategies are used to improve the design, site speed, content, responsiveness, and intent of your website to make it easier to find and access. The easier it is for users to find your business online, the faster you can build brand awareness and expand your customer base.
Increased Leads
SEO is used to help you rank for business-related keywords that you want to target. It also helps potential customers find your website content through organic search results. If this content meets the needs of the user or target audience, you then have the opportunity to convert the user into a lead. SEO works like a funnel to stream leads to your website to help make your website your most valuable lead generation tool.
Build Credibility
When you rank high on search engine results, your website will often be seen as high-quality and trustworthy by search engines. This will help in boosting the credibility of your company. To boost your credibility, SEO strategies are used to add consistent, high-quality content, improve site speed, and add valuable keywords to help your site continue to rank higher.
SEO Services in Pittsburgh
If you want to improve your search rankings and generate more leads, work with Higher Images today! We offer a variety of SEO programs that can be tailored to meet your specific needs and goals. Whether you want to generate more leads, improve your website usability, or become an authority in your industry, we have the skills and expertise to help make it happen. Contact us today to learn more!
Bryan Thornberg founded Higher Images. 22 years ago. As Owner and Chief Marketing Officer, he leads his team in all digital projects, consultations, development, marketing, public relations, sales, analytics, account management, and product support.
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