Why Do You Need SEO?

SEO can help your business grow.

The term “SEO” has permeated nearly every workforce and industry and business owners are struggling to determine what exactly SEO means, whether it is important, and how SEO can help their businesses grow.

SEO stands for search engine optimization, and the term refers to the action of optimizing a website to rank well on search engine results pages (SERPs). At Gainesville Marketing, we want to make sure you understand the importance of SEO and the impact it can have your business, your profits and your consumers.

What Is SEO?

SEO is most commonly connected with content, and while optimized content is one of the most-effective ways to improve your SERP rankings, SEO actually applies to all aspects of Internet marketing and your website’s online performance. At Gainesville Marketing, our SEO goal is to boost your website to the No. 1 spot on Google’s SERPs. It can be a long road to success, but it’s a road that is paved with success.

Having an online presence is no longer a luxury. Twenty years ago, a business that had a website was new and exciting. Today, if you don’t have a website, your business will struggle to stay relevant. Even brick-and-mortar stores that do not rely on selling products and services online should still place an importance on creating and maintaining a web presence. Why?

• Local consumers often search for contact information, hours of operation and driving directions to brick-and-mortar stores.
• Word-of-mouth can travel much faster online via social media, blogs and forums.
• You can expand your audience and group of customers by appearing at the top of the search results when they search for similar services and products. Even if they are unaware of your business, you can still reel them in.

Any eCommerce business is probably well-versed on the importance of SEO. Not only can it get you noticed, put you ahead of your competition and increase your consumer base, it can improve the reputation of your business and raise brand awareness.

SEO is comprised of many tasks with a purpose of improving your overall online presence. We focus on keyword and keyphrase optimization so that users who search for those words and phrases can find your website. We also pair SEO tactics with high-quality, well-written content that is both informative and aimed at giving you better rankings.

Using SEO To Improve Your Business

No website is perfect. Design and content trends are always changing, and search engines continuously update their algorithms which are used to rank websites. Because of this, business owners should not assume they can “set and forget” their website. Websites should be updated regularly, and it’s always a good idea to check you site for malware and other security risks. In addition, a website that never changes provides little incentive for site visitors to return.

Search engines take a look at your website during the crawling process. Content, performance, navigation, usability and functionality are all rated. Popularity and user satisfaction are also taken into consideration, so building a website with the user in mind has never been so important.

So, with SEO, you can provide your consumers with a dynamic website that answers their questions, appeals to their interests and gives them a reason to visit often. There are several ways SEO tactics can help you accomplish all of this while also pushing your site to the top of the first page of Google results.

SEO Is Personal

An SEO strategy will change from client to client. What works for a restaurant’s website may not work for a home improvement company’s website. It’s important for Gainesville Marketing to get to know your business, your goals and the way you want your website to be represented. In doing so, we can ensure that your website is an accurate representation of your business but also appealing to your target audience.

Optimizing existing content on your website is the first step toward improvement. However, search engines look for new content, too. If you have a staff member who is able to provide fresh, well-written content for your website, then you’ll be ahead of your competitors. Not only can you expand the content on the core pages of your website, but consider adding a blog (or using the blog that may be left unattended). Business blogs and online press releases provide you with an excellent opportunity to regularly add content to the site. Both types of content can appeal to site visitors as well as improve your online presence.

What Does SEO Entail

Now that you understand how important having quality content is for your website, we’ll explain the other aspects of SEO. In addition to optimizing current content and implementing the most effective keywords and keyphrases for your industry, services and products, we also crawl your website, improve the experience for site users, and create a link building network.

• Submitting your website to the search engines is an important step in the SEO process. When you upload content or an entire website, search engines will eventually get around to crawling and indexing your site. But there’s no guarantee that will happen in a timely manner. By submitting your website to Google, we can initiate the crawling and index phase more quickly. This can allow your new website to rank well almost instantly.
• At Gainesville Marketing, our website development team strives to improve the user experience for every website. Websites that are difficult to navigate, load slowly or are unattractive can push visitors away in just a few seconds, which makes up your site’s bounce rate. A high bounce rate means that users quickly leave the site, but it does not always track the reason. A user may instantly close your site because it is unattractive, it does not contain the information they want, they are unable to local a navigational menu or any one of many other reasons. We create website designs that will encourage visitors to explore the site, quickly locate the information they want and enjoy the experience.
• Link building is another critical step to successful SEO. Building links refers to the process of having other websites link to your website. The easiest ways to build links to your site are from blogs, forums and social media posts. However, keep in mind that the type of links can provide a lot of additional benefits. For example, a well-known blogger linking to your website may garner more views and produce more conversions than a link from your best friend’s social media post. While the results may vary, it’s still a good idea to encourage your colleagues, friends and networks to help you establish a successful link building venture. Of course, there’s more to link building than this, and our SEO professionals at Gainesville Marketing will walk you through each step so that your website can be more valuable to your company.

SEO Is A Continuous Process

Remember when we said it’s unwise to “set and forget” your website? The same is true for SEO. Optimizing your website takes time, but it also relies heavily on the future of Internet marketing trends. Trying to foresee Google’s algorithm updates may sound impossible, but each update has something in common: providing users with better search results. Google has place an enormous emphasis on serving the user. So, it is our job to continually ensure that your website anticipates visitor wants and needs, provides relevant content, and is easy to navigate.

Now that you understand SEO and its importance for your business, take the next step and contact us at Gainesville Marketing. We can improve your existing website or redesign your website for a fresh start. Improve your search engine rankings, build a customer base and take your business to the next level of your online marketing campaign.