“It’s not the job of search engine optimization to make a pig fly. It is the job of the SEO to genetically reengineer the web site so that it becomes an eagle.” –Bruce Clay
Since I began working in this rapidly evolving digital industry, I noticed that acronyms get tossed around left and right, and SEO is one of them. SEO, which stands for search engine optimization, is an extremely important part of any digital strategy or digital marketing campaign. So what’s the point of “SEO” and why do I need this strategy implemented for my business?
Based on the Wikipedia definition, “Search engine optimization is the process of affecting the visibility of a website or a web page in a search engine’s “natural” or un-paid (‘organic’) search results.” The launch of search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Bing, or Ask Jeeves revolutionized how fast we find answers to our biggest questions. But what if the information gathered from the search engine wasn’t relevant to my question? That’s the problem big search engines are trying to eliminate; so they implement algorithm updates (Panda, Penguin, and Hummingbird are some of Google’s larger updates) to help make search engines bring up the most relevant and interesting content. Making sure your questions and “wants” are answered as best as possible is the job of search engine optimization.
You used to be able to do things like this…
Google has done a good job of eliminating bad search results. A recent study stated that 91% of users say they find what they are looking for when using search engines. Due to these algorithm updates happening quite frequently (small updates every few weeks!) optimizing a website for search needs constant upkeep and updating to keep up.
SEO professionals use a variety of different strategies and tactics to make websites appear higher in organic search and hopefully get the user to click through to find what they’re looking for. There are more than 200 different factors that help determine the results of a search query. There’s no glory book that has a step by step process of what exactly encompasses those 200 different factors, but the industry has strategies in place that can have a major impact on SEO. Optimizing the technical side of a website, page optimization, and link building are all major parts of SEO.
There are now over 12 trillion monthly search queries on Google alone. 93% of online activities begin with a search engine, and roughly 75% of search users ignore the paid search ads and focus on the organic results. Almost 50% of searches don’t even go past the first page of results on Google. Making sure your site is relevant, technically sound from an SEO perspective, and SEO optimized can play a huge part in getting your site moved up in search results and help build traffic to your website!
With website design and development being one of our specialties at Three29, we know that having a wicked awesome website is only one part of the puzzle. What good is a great looking website if nobody sees it? Optimizing a website to perform well in search and get found, is just as important.
Is your website search engine optimized?
Want more information regarding SEO?
Google’s “How Search Works” is a fantastic place to start. Once you’ve reviewed that, you can move on to Moz’s Beginner Guide to SEO. This resource will have a few more actionable suggestions to get you started. You’ll also start learning about some of the nuances of SEO. Once you cross over into the world of backlinks, check out Linkio This tool will help with backlink analysis, specifically picking out the right anchor text to use. Link building is a tricky part of SEO so a tool like this in your arsenal will be a great help.
