The Basics of Search Engine Optimization

Whether you’re in the marketing industry or not, you’ve probably heard the term Search Engine
Optimization (or ‘SEO’) before. If you’re a business owner or a brand manager, you’re probably
aware that SEO is important for driving traffic to your business or page. But what exactly is it?
You’ve come to the right place to have that question answered—continue reading to learn about
the basics of Search Engine Optimization!

What Is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization describes the process of designing a website to create an
optimized web traffic endpoint. SEO serves to improve both the quality and quantity of traffic
finding and visiting a given website through organic search results by including informative and
relevant data on the site. When utilized well, SEO can make your site more visible to potential
customers or clients. If your goal is to be on the first page—or better yet, the top spot—of results
in a given search engine, then you’ll need to use Search Engine Optimization to get there.

Why Is SEO So Important?
As the business landscape has shifted online over the last decade, and especially as we’ve
seen an uptick in online transactions over the last two years, Search Engine Optimization is
more important than ever. According to a recent poll, approximately 75% of internet users don’t
bother clicking past the first page of search results. As consumers turn to the internet to help
them make important research decisions before making a purchase or signing up for a service,
getting your business on the front page of results is crucial. A site that’s been optimized using
SEO best practices will appear at the top of these results, which leads to more and better traffic
and ultimately conversions. If your site isn’t on the first page of results, you’ll lose your potential
customers to competitors with better SEO.

How Exactly Does SEO Work?
To understand how SEO works, you first need to understand how search engines work. The
three most popular search engines—Google, Bing, and Yahoo—use bots to collect information
from pages on websites and index them. Those indices are then analyzed with complicated
algorithms and are placed in a specific order on the search engine results page. The algorithms
used are considering tons of data from the webpages: things like keywords, security, mobile-
optimization, and content originality. As the internet evolves, so too does SEO criteria evolve.
That’s why it’s a good idea to always work with a reputable SEO firm like Go Lead Consulting.

How To Improve Your SEO
Although SEO criteria are ever-changing, there are a few tried and true ways to improve your
website’s findability without going into the nitty-gritty.
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1. Make sure your site loads quickly, is secure, and is optimized for mobile browsing.
2. Keep potential search queries in mind. What are your potential clients or customers
likely to search for? Anticipate and answer those questions in your web copy.
3. Make sure your pages, sections, and media have accurate titles, URLs, and
descriptions.
4. Ensure that search engines can find your site by improving your crawl accessibility.

If optimizing your website sounds daunting, it doesn’t have to be! Get in touch with our team of
experts here at Go Lead Consulting and find out more about how we can help. Let us focus on
your SEO—you focus on growing your business!