We live in the age of the internet. Everyone around the globe is connected through the magical powers of social media. Anyone can access anything by the help of inter web in a jiffy. For businesses, in particular, internet has defined the essence of modern marketing strategies. A business owner is no longer limited to print media for advertisement purposes. Internet and search engines have opened a new door, rather a gigantic gate, to cost effective yet efficient media strategies. People can connect with the business through their website, or social media pages. They can lodge complaints. They can also easily access alternative options if their choice fails to meet their demands.
Why Do We Need SEO?
While on the one hand businesses have access to a larger market, on the other hand, competition is sky high. New businesses are constantly popping up, people are being bombarded with better alternatives for their needs. This is where SEO comes into play. Search Engine Optimization, as per Wikipedia, is a process of improving the quality and quantity of website traffic from search engines to a certain website. Now, to a beginner this definition might be hard to wrap their heads around. So here is a simplified version of Wikipedia’s definition: SEO aims to increase the traffic on a website through search engines. It targets organic results, implying that robots and fake means of increasing traffic are of no use. This traffic can be generated through image or video search, news search, and vertical search engines. Hence, as the term suggests, it optimizes search engines to increase the traffic on a website.
So how does SEO really work?
Internet users are constantly using various search engines to look for things of interest. It was found that in 2020, 4.9 million searches were made on Google. While it received 292 million searches per hour in the same year. It clearly entails that users are constantly using search engines. Consequently, the search engines want to give the best to their users. They deliver results based on relevancy. The Search Engine, let’s consider Google as an example, will scan various websites and deliver results apropos to the keywords put into the search bar. But this is not it. Google will also check the user interface (UI) of the website to provide a seamless navigating experience to the user.
Pay Attention to Your Content
It is, therefore, elemental for businesses to understand SEO to gain better rankings on search engines. For starters, one should focus on the content they display in their websites: both written and visual. Quality is better than quantity, and Google is aware of that.
Do Not Forget the Keywords!
At the same time you cannot forget about “keywords”. You need to know what words or terms people will use to search for certain items. But that does not mean that you should use whatever keyword that is currently popular. You ought to know where your product stands, and how relevant it is to the frequently researched keyword.
Know Your Target Audience!
The target audience is of prime importance. Understanding the customer demand will help you gain a better understanding of the keywords. Try assessing the target market through the Five W’s.
- What are they looking for?
- Where are they located?
- Who else is your competition?
- When is the product usually in high demand?
- Why would the audience opt for your product?
The Five W’s will give you an idea of what your keywords can be. You can also search the keywords used by the prospective competitors to garner better and pertinent keywords.
Metadata is Important
Another important thing for Search Engines is Metadata. It is the information you put about the contents in that page. There are three types.
- Title Metadata displays the titles of the page at the top of the window. While in search engines it is shown as the headline.
- Description Metadata is the description the search engine will use to display in the page search return. It is usually two sentences long. The content displayed might attract users to access your website.
Lastly, Keyword Metadata is used rarely, for charting search engine rankings.
Your Website Link Should be Appropriate
Sometimes websites do not provide proper link to their websites. A simple “click here” can be distracting, and seems rather lazy. For search engines, “click here” is useless. Therefore, focus on creating descriptive links. This will greatly impact SEO. It also appeals to the users.
Rookie Mistakes to Avoid
Now that we have covered the ways of increasing ranking through SEO. Here is a list of the few rookie mistakes you should avoid.
- Do not create pages abounding in advertisements and third party links. It is not only repulsive, but search engines usually do not indulge such websites.
- Your keywords should not be arbitrary, nor hard to understand. Keep them precise and apropos to the content. Do not choke your web page with keywords.
- In your URLs try to avoid using non-alphabetical characters. Make the URL descriptive, and easy to remember.
- Avoid using duplicate content. Again, it showcases laziness at the hands of the website creator. Search Engines also do not cater to such websites. The Google algorithm is judiciously designed, and we cannot always fool it.
SEO has changed the way digital marketing works. It has made it easier for new businesses to gain success, with the right amount of effort. Nevertheless, for a newbie, understanding SEO can be difficult. One should focus on their content, and its relevancy. Irrelevant data does not only wards off target audience, it also leaves a negative impact on SEO. Keep your content updated as well. The digital world changes rapidly. Fads have become prevalent. In order to remain significant and at top of your game, make sure to upgrade your website regularly.
If you still find it hard to understand, our team at Ternion Solution can guide you further and help you achieve the best of SEO. With a few clicks, Ternion Solution would help you assess your Website content to gain the type of traffic on your website that would bolster your business in a few months.
