search engine
optimization
Rank Higher, Increase Sales
At its core, search engine optimization is the process of improving your website to increase its online visibility when people search for products and services related to your business in Google, Bing, and other search engines.
Put simply, utilizing SEO will help a website rank higher in search engines. This traditionally translates directly to an increase in website traffic, leads, and sales. The more you understand how search engine optimization works, the easier it will be to create a strategy to get your website to the top of search results.
How does SEO work?
Google, Bing, Yahoo, and all of the major search engines use bots to crawl pages all over the internet. These bots go from website to website, gathering data and sorting in an index. This index allows websites to be categorized by keywords and relevance.
Next, the search engine algorithms scan pages in the index to determine the page rank and order that pages should appear in search engine results. The search engine algorithms take into account hundreds of criteria, but the algorithms are always changing. Because of this, it is recommended that you use a tried and tested search engine optimization strategy instead of looking for shortcuts.
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On Page SEO VS Off Page SEO
These days, the majority of people go to search engines to find whatever they need. A great way to attract new customers is to have your website rank at the top of search engine results, or SERP. The SERP shows you the “organic results” as well as “pay-per-click ads” (or PPC). The organic search results are those that are tethered to SEO, while the PPC ads are paid.
Successful search engine optimization strategies are typically split into two categories: on-page SEO and off-page SEO.
On-page SEO refers to SEO strategies focused on refining and optimizing elements of your website that you can control. On-page optimization is about creating content to improve search engine rankings. Utilizing keywords throughout your pages, making sure metatags and titles are dense with keywords, and posting relevant content on a regular basis are all elements of on-page SEO.
Off-page SEO refers to SEO strategies centered on developing your website or brand across the internet. Off-page optimization are things that take place away from your website, such as trustworthy backlinks. It might seem daunting, but this off-page SEO is pivotal to your overall SEO progress.
A little bit more about how SEO works
Search engines use bots, which are also called spiders or crawlers. These automated robots gather all sorts of information and data points about your website, and all of its subsequent pages. Some of the data points collected include backlinks, page speed, meta data, internal linking, and social signals. Google, for example, uses over 200 ranking factors in the algorithm they use.
Because of this, there are many factors to consider when creating your action plan for optimizing your website for SEO. The on-page and off-page rankings we discussed earlier also determine how well your website is optimized for SEO and how it ranks. Once you develop and implement an SEO strategy, you can track your progress moving up in your keyword and page rankings. As you bolster your SEO, you will want to begin using Search Engine Marketing and PPC along with your core SEO strategy to really expand online visibility and grow your brand.
Why hire an SEO professional?
Unlike paid search ads, like google adwords, you cannot pay search engines to get ranked higher organically. This means, you need a strategic plan to rank for the keywords you want to show for in the areas you want to be seen. The search engine algorithm and bots are designed to showcase relevant, trustworthy websites and give its users the optimal search experience. SEO experts, such as Astoria Media Group, know how to best navigate the search engine algorithms to deliver a long term strategy to rank higher in search engines.
Additional resources for those new to SEO
