SEO: Cutting Through the Jargon

The world of search engine optimization goes much deeper than most of us will ever need to go. Browse a technical SEO blog and it doesn’t take long to get neck deep in discussions of complex algorithms and machine learning. There’s enough depth in the SEO world for a doctoral degree – but most business owners don’t need that level of knowledge.

Just learning the jargon and terminology of search engine optimization would take days or even weeks of research and work. And who has time for that? The truth is you don’t need to understand every element of SEO to optimize your web presence for search engine results.

But there are a few basics that everyone should know – whether you’re a business owner or a marketing professional. Today we’ll cover five of the most important things to know when you’re trying to optimize your website.

Useful Content

Useful content should be the number one SEO priority. All the algorithm knowledge in the world don’t matter if you’re not providing answers to searchers’ questions. The entire search engine industry is built around providing relevant and timely answers to search queries – so make sure that you are providing relevant and useful content.

Forget about all the SEO tips and tricks if you don’t have solid, A+ content. Without it, you’ll never have the lasting SEO success that you need. Crafting good content isn’t easy, but it also doesn’t require a doctoral degree either. So spend the time (or hire out the work) to create useful content.

User Experience

This one goes along with useful content. All SEO best practices start with providing a good experience for your users. Confusing, slow, or broken pages kill the user experience and increase bounce rates. Before you start thinking about the more technical side of SEO, make sure that all your pages function in a clear and correct way.

The first step should be a manual stroll through your site – noting any broken links, confusing navigations, or slow load times. And if you really want to clean up your site, consider running a site audit to find any other errors hiding below the surface.

Stay Social

Social media links and shares aren’t going to radically affect your SEO efforts, but they are a solid foundation for amplifying your voice in a crowded market. By keeping an active social media presence, you get your content out in front of people – increasing your chance at page visitors, backlinks, and market authority.

Social media links may be nofollow (don’t worry if you don’t know what that means!), but content that is popular on social media will still send positive signals to the search engines. Besides, having an active social media presence is just good business practice.

Reach out for Links

Backlinks are easily one of the most important SEO factors today. But you can’t just create good content and wait for the links to roll in. There are (at least) thousands of other people out there producing content that is just as good as yours. So if you want to reap the benefit of backlinks you need to be proactive in your strategy.

Start making connections with industry websites and ask those people for links. I know, it’s not pleasant work but it absolutely needs to be done if you want to build authoritative links to your site. There only so much you can do on your own – and a successful backlink building strategy will require you to reach out and connect with other people.

Google My Business

I’m not telling you to Google search for your business. I mean setting up your ‘Google My Business’ account. It is free and super easy – just sign up for an account and follow their step-by-step instructions. If you can check your email, you can get started with a Google account.

Getting your business verified with Google is important to SEO because it shows Google you are a legitimate business and worth a high ranking. And since Google owns a dominant share of the search engine market, it is vital to do well with them. There’s a lot of other powerful tools available to you once you’ve verified your business, but that’s another article for another day.

SEO is Necessary

In today’s world, search engine optimization is a necessity. Getting buried on page 5 of the search engine results means your business doesn’t exist in the minds of many potential customers. Ignoring SEO would be like starting a brick-and-mortar business without putting up a sign – you might have the best product in the world but who is going to find it?

Fusion Group USA offers SEO services that are tailored to your business. From local optimization to enterprise level SEO management, we have plans that will get you moving up the rankings without breaking the bank. Check out our services page for more information and then contact us directly to set up an SEO consultation – totally free and without obligation.

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