What is SEO and how will it help my website rank higher on Google

What is SEO?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of optimizing a website to rank higher in search engines, in turn increasing traffic to pages on a website. Its not just about traffic quantity, but also quality. Increasing the number of visitors to your website is not helpful to anyone if your content is not relevant to them, thus those visitors are not relevant to you.

Searches result in both organic and paid results in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Organic traffic is unpaid traffic. In simple terms, if your website has demonstrated to Google that your content is the most relevant to a specific search query, it will rank higher on the SERPs, thus making your website more discoverable to potential users.

Search engines use complex algorithms to serve up the most relevant results to users. Google’s algorithm is arguably the most reliable and accurate, which makes it the most widely used search engine. Google doesn’t give all of its secrets away though, that would result in people gamming the system to rank higher with content that doesn’t necessarily produce the best results and experience for searchers.

How SEO works?

It is thought that Google uses over 200 ranking factors to determine how a web page ranks in the SERPS. It is important to remember that Google ranks pages on your website, not entire websites. Below, we will dig into a number of the top-ranking factors that are most influential to the algorithm. These ranking factors are in no particular order of importance, as there is no way of knowing for sure, which factors are most influential.

Searchability

Search engines must be able to find your web pages. This isn’t automatic when you publish a page or post. Google uses indexing to store information about your web pages in its database. When a Google user inputs a search, Google goes to its database to deliver up results. Google uses web crawlers to find web pages, its important that a website takes steps to ensure Google can find its pages.

Page speed

A website with pages that load quickly keep Google’s users happy. Web users are impatient and will quickly grow frustrated and bail on a website that is slow to load.

Backlinks

Backlinks are links to your web pages from other websites. Think of backlinks like a vote of confidence. It’s a bit of a popularity contest in that websites that are seen as most trustworthy have more pull with Google. Tactics can be used to build trustworthy backlinks, Hunt & Howl can help with that.

Mobile Friendly

Google knows that many users are searching the web via their mobile device. Delivering web site content to users in a way that is easy to view on a mobile device makes for a better user experience.

Optimized Content

Relevant content with a nice balance of keywords throughout is critical to the chances of your web pages ranking high. Its also critical that content be fresh and original, Google does not take kindly to duplicative content.

Additional Ranking Factors

Additional ranking factors for consideration include:

• Age of domain – the older your domain, the more legitimacy and trust Google grants it
• Expiration of domain – domains purchased for short time periods could potentially be seen as spammy
• Technical SEO – sitemaps, meta tags, URL structure, canonical URLs. Breadcrumb menus, robots.txt, and more
• Content length – Google rewards pages with longer content

Why SEO? 

SEO takes time, commitment, and patience. It doesn’t happen quickly, which can be frustrating and cause people to wonder if their efforts are working and worthwhile. When you are ready to pull the plug, that’s when you need to prepare yourself to settle back in and remind yourself to be patient and trust the process. Think of it like relationship building. You don’t immediately trust people upon meeting them, so why would Google immediately trust your website upon meeting it?

SEO is an incredible tool because it reaches people when they are potentially near conversion in the sales cycle. If they are looking for keywords related to your business, they could be a very hot lead. Google users typing “drug rehab near me” or “cardiologist in Phoenix, AZ” are at the bottom of the sales funnel and actively looking for a solution or answer to their needs or problems. Your business needs to be at the top of the SERPs for your relevant keywords.

Next steps to implement SEO

Hunt & Howl will help your business come up with an SEO plan. We will research and develop a list of relevant target keywords and build a plan to ensure your website is optimized for those keywords. This includes content creation, backlinking, and technical SEO. Contact us today for a no strings consultation about your website and SEO needs.