What does SEO actually mean?

Search Engine Optimization is the meaning of the acronym SEO which is very popular in the Digital Marketing space.

Okay, let's break it down.

Search Engine? What exactly is a Search Engine?

A search engine is a web-based tool that enables users to locate information on the World Wide Web. You’re probably familiar with the popular ones such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.(add their links)

More than 90% of the world uses the Google search engine, so we are just going to stick with Google, to keep things simple and relatable.

What does Optimization mean? Well, It means improving something or rather making something more effective and usable. So if you are searching for something on Google, you’re most likely to find it on a website.

Therefore Search Engine Optimization simply means the process of making a website rank higher on the search pages of search engines such as Google.

Why is SEO Important At All?

SEO helps to get your website ranking at the top of a google search and trust me when I say, that is the best thing for any business owner who owns a website. Okay, let's be honest, When I search for information on google, I promise you that I do not scroll past the first page, sometimes I do not even scroll past the first five suggestions.

And I am guessing you do the same thing.

You see, businesses that have successfully been able to optimize their websites and appear among the top-ranked searches end up really successful, why? Because their content is being shown to thousands of people every single time a specific topic related to your website is being searched.

Sola owns a website for a bakery business, Imagine if Sola has done a proper Search Engine Optimization, chances are once you search on google “bakery shops”, Sola’s website will most probably be among the top searches, thereby creating more leads and customer conversion which would result to higher profit for her business.

Sounds good right? Yes I know it sounds good.

SEO Is just like giving your business a free and everlasting promotion. When Sola began her bakery, she used to pay for advertisements just to get her business out there, it worked out really well I must say, But this promotion only lasted for a short time leaving Sola struggling again.

Paid ads otherwise known as SEM (Search Engine Marketing), help you get your website to rank the highest on a search engine. This works but isn’t a lasting solution and your business can just fall right back to where it was if proper SEO isn’t eventually implemented.

Above is a screenshot of a google search on "bookseller" showing the paid ad as the first suggestion

The suggestions right after the paid ads are usually the organic website pushed by Google.

With SEO, you’re not just targeting customers for a particular day or a stipulated period of time, if done right you will continue to rank at the highest on a search engine, and to me, I call that FREE AND EVERLASTING PROMOTION.

If your business cannot be found on Google, then you’re missing out on free traffic and leads.

"I failed at SEO"- Sola

Failure, Consistency, Time, and Success.

You see, in my opinion, these four words relate so much to each other, and just as the saying goes “All good things take time” SEO is not an overnight success experiment. It takes time and consistency to get the result out of proper optimization, and that just goes with all things in life, you have to stay consistent and persistent to get results, all you need is patience.

A lot of people shy away from SEO because they are looking for overnight results.

SEO takes at least 6-12 months to be effective, It takes the Right Strategy, discipline, patience, and consistency to be successful at SEO. This is totally worth it because at the end of the day you attract the right target audience and free promotion that will last for years to come. You do not have to spend a dime just to get a click on your website.

How to get started with SEO

Search Engine Optimization can be carried out in two ways:

1. On-Page Search Engine Optimization

2. Off-Page Search Engine Optimization

On-Page Search Engine Optimization

These are actions that you take inside of your website, which makes it easy for people to find your website when they search for specific keywords. Down below are a few actions you can take to make your website rank higher on search engines;

- Quality Content

When creating content for your website you need to ask yourself questions like this:

• Who is my audience?

• What do they want to gain from me?

• What are my competitors talking about?

• I’m I solving a problem with my content?

• What is the next step for my audience?

Answering a few questions like this will help you create not just content but valuable content. People are searching for information to help them and you should be able to be their answer. Google will take your website more seriously if you are solving people’s problems with your content.

- Relevant Keywords

Keywords are very important when it comes to SEO, with proper keywords in your website, then you stand a chance to win at the SEO thing. Keywords are the words and phrases that people type into search engines to find what they're looking for. Ahrefs is a tool that would help to develop relevant keywords for your website.

Choose your keywords based on

• Relevance to your business

• Keywords with Less Competitiveness

• The volume of people that search for it.

- HTML Title and Headers

Adding a few keywords to your HTML Title and Headers will go a long way. Headers and Titles help to inform people what your website is all about, it also helps search engines to direct people better to your website.

- Meta Description

A meta description is a text that shows right under the title of a website when you search for something. What the meta tag does is that; It helps to expand more on what you would find on that website while at the same time leaving you wanting more, so you eventually click on that website.

This is meta description under the title of a website that deal with motorcycles.

Meta characters should be kept at a maximum of 160 characters and 120 characters for mobile, and they should be as engaging and catchy as possible.

- Internal Linking

The more people stay on your website, the more your website looks Important to Search Engines. So you want to keep people on your website as long as possible. You can do this by Internal Linking.

This simply means having a link that leads people to other pages on your website, this would help to guide people from one piece of information to another. The goal is to make your website content as valuable as possible and keep people surfing for longer periods on there.

- Choose the Right Images

Images are added to a website using the images HTML tag, which usually goes with an attribute called “alt”. Alt simply means “alternate text”, it is an alternate text for an image, just in case, the image doesn’t load up.

Always give the right description to your alt texts. Your alt texts should describe the image and also it should be tied to the main content it is connected to. Hotspot CRM can help to adjust your image alt text for better SEO.

Off-Page Search Engine Optimization

These are actions you take outside of your website to increase traffic and customer conversion rate. Down below are a few ways you can implement Off-Page SEO.

- Social Media

We are in the digital age and social media is such a powerful tool to leverage when it comes to business. You need to learn to create engaging posts that will lead people to your website from different Social Media Platforms.

- Creating Backlinks

Think of Backlinks as letters of recommendation from credible websites to google about your website. Having the Link to your website on other credible websites will increase your chances at better SEO, Google will begin to trust your website, thereby would start to push you up that search page.

- Influencer Marketing

In this day and age, Influencers are really making waves on social media and digital marketing. They are very much trusted by their audience, so almost everything they talk about or advertise, their audience would jump right on it. Influencer Marketing would be a great business for a business, that wants to have a successful SEO.

SEO is very important for every business, individual, or organization looking to increase traffic to their website. With the few starter tips mentioned above, I’m sure you can go ahead to start optimizing your website for a higher ranking on Search Engines.

Would you rather use the Paid ads feature or stick to SEO? You can share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Thanks for Reading.