What is SEO (Search Engine Optimization)?
When a website is made, the assumption is often that it will naturally appear on Google and other search engines. However, without proper optimization, some websites only ever rank for their business name. When this happens, they are losing out on valuable web traffic from users searching for services like theirs. If search engines like Google can’t tell what a website is targeting, they don’t know who to recommend it to!
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization which is the process of improving your website so it shows up in Google and other search engines when people search for topics related to your business.
Every time someone “Googles” or searches something online, the search engine sorts through millions of web pages and presents a list of options based on how relevant and helpful they are. SEO is how you tell Google, “Hey! I’m the answer they’re looking for.” Whatever the search engine deems as the best answer or result will be the #1 position on the results page.
A Quick Activity to Help Understand SEO
Step 1: Search your business name
To see this in action, all it takes are a few Google searches! First, if you have a website of your own, search your business name. Hopefully, your website comes up first. This is the easiest thing to rank for because your business name is likely included on important elements of your website. Because of this, Google (and other search engines) know to show it as the top option when people search for it.
Step 2: Search for your service, not your name
Next, leave out any hint of your business name. Instead, search for something that describes your service or product. For instance, this might look like ‘Calgary brand photographer’. Don’t be alarmed if you have go through a few pages until you find your website. Even though you really are a brand photographer in Calgary, your website isn’t being shown as a top contender because Google doesn’t understand the content on your site well enough to recommend it.
Step 3: See an example that works
To see this done the right way, try searching ‘Lethbridge home builder’. There are dozens of home builders and renovators in Lethbridge, but Google “crawls” (reads) and “indexes” (ranks) dozens of websites in order of what it deems to be most relevant and helpful to the user.
At the time of writing this article, Stranville Living Master Builder comes up as the first organic search result. Key Creative designed and wrote this website in 2022 with a focus on SEO so it could do just that. According to a study by SISTRIX, the #1 organic result in Google gets an average of 28.5% of clicks – that’s 1 in 4 of searches! But the second position drops quickly to 11% (a little more than 1 in 10). Evidently, appearing first is a huge advantage!
So how do you become that top result? It starts with understanding elements of SEO and how to use them.
What Are Some Basic Elements of SEO?
The umbrella of SEO incorporates on-page, off-page, and technical SEO. Let’s start with the basics of on-page SEO. This includes everything you can edit from within your website builder and are often the things that are easiest to update (and can make the biggest impact). This includes H1-H6 headings, content, keywords, meta descriptions, page titles, URLs, and more.
Let’s touch on three of the most important of these.
Headings – Using H1 through H6 and Proper Structure
Proper heading structure is crucial for organizing your web content in a way that makes sense to search engines and users. Headings follow a hierarchical order that starts with H1 and goes down to H6, followed by paragraph text.
There should only be one H1 heading on each web page – this is one of the biggest mistakes I see on websites! H2 headings are your main section headings, and there can be several. If you have subheadings within a section, those would be organized as H3s under the relevant H2. Subheadings within a subheading would use H4, and so on.
This structure helps search engines understand your content, especially when headings are written clearly and include relevant keywords.
For example, the heading just above this content is an H3 heading, as it’s a subheading within the H2 titled “What Are Some Basic Elements of SEO?” The next couple of subheadings will also be H3s until I move on to a new section and return to an H2.
Keywords – Choosing the Right Ones and Properly Incorporating Them
Keywords are the building blocks to your SEO. You could fill in all headings, meta descriptions, and page titles, but if they don’t include the right keywords, it won’t matter.
Keywords are words or phrases that people use to search for things on Google (or other search engines). A few examples would be
- ‘Pedicures near me’
- ‘Lethbridge restaurants’
- ‘How to make a soufflé’.
If a business wants to appear as an option for any of these search queries, it’s critical that they include those keywords, and others to support it, in all the important places on their website.
Site and Page Titles
Another one of the biggest SEO mistakes I see, is not taking advantage of site and page titles 😳. These are HUGE for both SEO and usability.
Without thinking about it, new businesses often name their their homepage something like just their business name—and then leave it at that! But Google allows 50-60 characters for each page title. This means you have plenty of room to include keywords that target your service, product, and/or location!!!
Again, it’s important to be choosing the right keywords for this important SEO element.
So What Does SEO Mean For Your Business?
All of this technical talk means one thing: you shouldn’t be sleeping on SEO.
There are people searching for services like yours everyday and your business could be one of the top results Google shows them! However, this doesn’t happen by itself. It takes conscious effort to choose the right keywords and and place them strategically across your site. There are many excellent resources online that can help you build up your own SEO. Or you can call in a professional.
TL;DR: What You Need to Know About SEO
- SEO helps your website show up on Google when people search for what you offer.
- Without SEO, your site may only show when people search your exact business name.
- On-page SEO (like headings, keywords, and page titles) makes a big difference.
- Showing up in the top search results = more clicks, traffic, and sales.
- SEO is doable—but having expert support helps you get there faster.
Interested in Done-For-You SEO?
We love SEO—because we love helping businesses succeed. When we help our clients appear in front of more potential customers, they win. We build websites with SEO in mind so they not only attract organic traffic but also convert that traffic into leads or sales.
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