Digital marketing is key for any business because it is how leads will be generated and people will actually spend money on your product or service. Social media and website design likely overwhelm business owners as it is, so most of them miss out on the SEO angle. That means that they are missing out on something that is not just a vital piece of online marketing; it’s the cornerstone or practically the foundation of a good digital marketing strategy.

Defining SEO

Essentially an acronym for search engine optimization, SEO is when you optimize your website to gain organic traffic from search engines like Bing or Google. This requires changes to the content and design of your website in order for it to rank highly on search engine result pages (SERPs).

Aside from increasing the quantity of traffic to your website, it also enhances the quality of visitors you get. Setting up high-quality content and a solid network with backlinks that are organic will do wonders for your business.

Three-Step Process

There’s a three-step process when search engines are involved. It starts with data collection. Bots that send snapshots of all accessible content to search engines’ servers, called crawlers, are periodically released. They are sent throughout all the audio, images, videos, webpages, and more on the internet.

Second, a searchable list is created by organizing the collated data. The massive list is known as a search index, and it serves as a raw keyword search’s basis.

The popular search engines, Bing and Google, actually take things a step even further and rank all relevant content to the query of the searcher using an algorithm. The list was then arranged from most to least relevant. That algorithm is always changing, so it’s best to stay updated.

Ranking Content

Most people do research online before engaging in the purchase of any product or service. Your website really needs to rank highly on search engines for this exact reason. When you’re ranked highly, that means high relevance, which in turn leads to people trusting not just your website but your brand as a whole.

Hundreds of different ranking signals mixed up are the general basis for how Google determines rankings. There are, however, a trio that has been constant: links leading back to your website, RankBrain which simulates “gut feel” in humans through artificial intelligence to interpret searches, and of course, quality on-page content.

Clicks, page views and the time spent on the page are just some of the metrics both Bing and Google employ to measure the user engagement levels through your website. These became the basis for indicating user satisfaction with information found on the site.

Better quality content means more relevant content, which raises the likelihood of your pages being ranked by search engines.

Conclusion

SEO is absolutely the best bet for business’ digital marketing strategies. While there is such a thing as paid ads, like Google’s own Adwords, the boost received is temporary. A well-designed website that’s optimized will continuously generate leads and organic traffic.

Let us help you bring your company’s brand, story, and vision to life. Wondering how to stand out in marketing? Contact us at Stand Out Ad today!