Just what the hell is SEO anyway?

Marketing, like many industries, uses a ton of shorthand, jargon and acronyms to…actually, I don’t know why we use it, it’s not like it takes noticeably longer to say SEO  as opposed to Search Engine Optimization, but we do it anyway. For writing, sure, conserve characters and all that, otherwise it’s pretty much just a way to show everyone you’re in the club.

Granted, some clubs are more desirable than others

Anyway, SEO is one of those acronyms that throws a lot of people off, even those who are already in the club. Put simply, SEO is all about getting traffic to your website. But traffic isn’t as important as ‘engagement’ you might be thinking and you’re somewhat correct, however when it comes to getting people to engage with your site, step one is getting them to your site.

There are two kinds of traffic, Natural and Paid. Natural traffic comes from search results whereas Paid traffic comes from well, paid sources (think advertisements, Google AdWords, etc). Neither is really better or stronger than the other. Both are critically important components of your marketing strategy.

The five points of a stellar SEO (see what I did there? Stellar means “star,” stars have five points) are:

• Quality Content
• Keywords
• Optimize
• Links
• Report

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QUALITY CONTENT

Quality is not in the eye of the beholder

 

Like everything else in marketing (both online and off) Quality content is crucial. Doesn’t matter how amazing your site looks or even how high up in search rankings your site appears. Consistency and habitual behavior are the keys to long term traffic generation. If your site is lacking in content, word will spread quickly and traffic will suffer.

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KEYWORDS

some people don't really 'get' keywords

Being aware of the language, terminology and keywords used by your target audience is essential. Keywords are what people use for search for sites and what search engine sites use (along with their cryptic search engine algorithmic magic) to provide the sites people are searching for. It all comes down to the number of searches performed and how many websites are using the same terms. Keywords that are too popular have too much competition while keywords that are too unique may not yield much traffic at all. Striking a balance is a challenging and ongoing procedure, however above all you should focus on the terms that are most relevant to your business and target audience.

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OPTIMIZE

No, I said Opti-MIZE, not...nevermind...

This is the hardest part of SEO and the reason why businesses hire SEO professionals. Front end (what the visitors see) and back end (the behind-the-scenes mechanics of the site) are both equally important in driving traffic. Optimizing your site requires a technical understanding of search engine functionality, site analytics to create comprehensive visitor behavioral profiles, and a strong grasp on digital marketing communications as revisions and improvements to your site have to occur in the three C’s-  the Content in the site, the Copy written on the site and  the Coding of the site. If you don’t have the resources to hire an SEO professional, you can work with your web designer and developers to optimize your site.

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LINKS

If you know why I used this image, congrats! You're a nerd too!

Links are a deceptively easy way to increase SEO. Bing, Google and the other search engines measure the relevance and popularity of your website for the keywords you have selected based on the number of outside links leading back to your site. There are many unsavory and somewhat unethical ways to create more links like creating dummy sites and/or keyword farms, but most search engines (especially Google and Bing) keep an eye out for this type of activity and will pull your site from rankings. Generating links is pure marketing, at the very least, you should promote your site via your social channels, and execute targeted strategies to create virality (ie, other people sharing and retweeting your links). Banner ads are effective as well. Work with your marketing team to devise a solid plan as to getting links.

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REPORTS

Red staplers just staple better, right Milton?

The single most important aspect of SEO is that it’s trackable and measurable. Ongoing assessment and interpretation of your analytics should be the core of your online strategy. If you have the resources and time, daily monitoring of analytics is ideal, however, you should be looking over and revising your strategy based on the analytics on at least a monthly basis. Activity for activity’s sake is a waste of time and resources. Try to avoid doing anything on your site that isn’t data-driven, meaning  unless you’ve got numbers to back it up.