SEO has been digital marketing’s “secret sauce” for years. However, only a few business owners are comfortable including this in their marketing strategy for the following reasons: 

1. SEO is overwhelming 
2. SEO is technical 
3. Business owners know there are other ways to convert leads into customers that they can do themselves 

If this sounds like you, then after reading this article, you’ll be one step closer to taking that initiative in understanding what SEO is and what it can do for your business! Remember, you are not alone. We can help! So, keep reading. 

So, What is SEO? 

The simplest way to understand SEO is “SEO makes your searchers happy.” That’s it! How will you do this? Your goal is to rank #1 in your business’s category on the first page of Google and to make your searchers’ experience as seamless as possible! 

SEO stands for “search engine optimization.” It is the practice of gaining quality and quantity of:

1. website traffic
2. brand exposure

You accomplish these goals through obtaining organic or “non-paid” search engine results. 

SEO is about analyzing what your target leads are searching for online, the answers they are looking for, the words they are using to search for them, and the type of content they want to receive. This is the first aspect of it. The other side is delivering content and having your website structure in such a manner that search engine crawlers can find and understand what your website is about. 

As we go along in this blog, you will understand more about how SEO works through crawling, indexing, and ranking. Don’t be afraid! We will explain this to you as simply as possible, we promise!  

How Does SEO Work? 

Search engines are answer machines. They discover, analyze and organize the internet’s content so that it can be easily digested by the searchers.  

The most vital step is for your content to be visible to search engines so that your business can show up in SERPs (Search Engine Results Page).

A SERP is the page that a search engine generates after a user submits a search query (question). 

As you can see in the photo below, on a results page, there are paid ads that sit at the top and there are “organic” listings that hover a bit farther down the page. When your business starts ranking for SEO, you will hopefully attain a coveted position at the top of the organic search results.

Google has three major functions, which include:

 

1. Crawling – This is a process in which Google’s AI (artificial intelligence, online robots, or algorithm) searches the internet for content and keeps track of the code/content for each URL they find. In other words, Google is constantly scanning to check which websites exist in its ecosystem. 
2. Indexing – After crawling comes indexing. This is the process of storing and organizing content that has been found. Once a site is indexed, it is now displayed per Google’s indexing, only showing the information that Google deemed relevant and made visible. 
3. Ranking – Think of this step as scoring, meaning Google will now identify the most relevant content to answer your searcher’s query. You want to make sure that your site and its content are the most relevant in your business vertical and location.

Why Google? 

Important Note: Why do we focus so much on Google when there are a lot of other search engines? Believe it or not, more than 90% of web searches happen on Google. 

Can crawlers find you? 

The best way to check if the crawlers were able to index your website’s important pages is to type in the search engine site:yourdomain.com (example, site:Promoticon.co)

 

If you have found that there are pages that should be indexed but are not there, try signing up for Google Search Console and try submitting your sitemap and monitor how many were added to Google Index.

At Promoticon, we have an extensive team of SEO professionals who can help you optimize your website. We can ensure that your essential website pages are indexed and fix crawlability issues that are impacting your site’s ranking.

What are other cool SEO functions that Promoticon can fulfill for your business? 

• Search Engine Rankings – This report represents the website rankings in the Local Map, Knowledge Panel, and Carousel Section of Google Search Results. When our team started working on our SEO, things dramatically improved, quickly.

• Heatmap Image – This identifies which part of your page your users visit and click on frequently. It is important for you to know the hot and cold sections of your site so that you can revise accordingly. The brighter the spot, the more it is visited and/or clicked.

• Overlay Image – This is an image that portrays how many clicks you received on certain sections of your website.

While all of these tools are great and can be exciting to use, they were created to help you increase your website’s impact. If searchers are looking for services or products that your business provides, then you want to make sure that you are appearing on the front page of their search results, every time.

If you need help, we are here for you! It doesn’t have to be overwhelming or expensive to win in SEO. And when you win with Google, you win with customers. 🙂

For questions regarding SEO, feel free to DM us on our Instagram page or book a demo.