SEO - What you need to know.

Search engine optimization sounds daunting but having a plan in place is extremely beneficial for your website and increasing traffic to your business!

What is SEO?

In a nutshell, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is digital marketing focused on gaining visibility on search engine results, like Google.

Google takes what the user types into the search bar and plays matchmaker by displaying the most relevant web searches. Fact: Google analyzes 40,000 search queries a second, that's about 3.5 BILLION searches per day. So needless to say Google has a lot of content to go through in order to provide the best results to their users.

This is where your SEO plan comes in handy.

Who needs a SEO plan?

Anybody with a website! SEO isn't compulsory but if you want to get organic (non-paid) hits to your website it is in your best interest to set up an SEO plan. Google makes up the majority of search engine traffic, so to take advantage of that (your potential clients could be searching for your services as we speak) create a plan that improves your ranking or even getting found on Google in the first place!

Here's a few quick tips to help you start your SEO journey.

SEO - The importance of keywords

1. It all starts with your website.

Don't wait until after your website is live before creating your SEO plan. Google ranks your website based off your content, keywords, title descriptions and images. It is important to use words that are unique and relevant to your business or services in order to rank higher on Google.

2. Research.

It is important to research what your customers may search for. Act as if you were seeking out your own services. What would you type into Google? If you see a competitor come up, it is likely the keyword phrases you searched are important. Take note of the search results that appear for you and use those keywords in your web content.

3. Keywords.

You've probably noticed we use the term 'keywords' a lot! That's because keywords are extremely important when designing your website and SEO plan. Keywords are 1-5 word phrases that users type into Google when searching something. Well thought out keywords are half the battle for SEO. Remember all that research you did? Now is the time to put it to use.

4. Get linking.

Getting linked is basically promotion for your website. The more websites you link or businesses that link your website, the higher you'll rank compared to your competitors. Social media, reviews, email campaigns and listings on Google Business are great ways to get your webpage linked. Take blogging for example, Google LOVES well-written and frequently updated content. Writing a blog, whether it be once a week or once a month, is an extra boost in your ranking. Blogging is also a great way to use unique keywords that aren't easily added to your other webpages.

5. Patience.

You know that saying "slow and steady wins the race", that's the number one thing to remember when working on your website's SEO. Google is always updating its algorithms, analyzing billion of searches a day and always crawling website content to provide the best matches for their users. Every time you get a click, that improves your rankings.

SEO is always a forever changing game and as such you will need to accommodate and make changes along the way. It takes practice and patience but in the long run it pays off!

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