What is SEO?
SEO stands for search engine optimization. It is the process of improving the visibility of a website or web page in search engine results pages (SERPs). This can be done by optimizing the website’s content, structure, and code for relevant keywords. It is a broad field and can be confusing to navigate all the terminology and overlapping scopes. Hopefully, we can dispel some of the haze and get you started on your journey to a more successful business
Different types of SEO
On-page SEO: This refers to the practice of optimizing the content and structure of a website to make it more visible and relevant to search engines. This includes optimizing things like title tags, meta descriptions, header tags, keyword usage, and internal linking. Think of it like putting a wrap on your car, it changes the look from the outside and draws eyes towards it.
How to engage in on-page SEO:
- Conduct keyword research to identify the terms that your target audience is searching for.
- Optimize your title tags and meta descriptions to include your target keywords.
- Use header tags to structure your content and make it easier for search engines to understand.
- Use your target keywords throughout your content, but avoid keyword stuffing.
- Link to other relevant pages on your website using internal links.
Off-page SEO: This refers to the practice of building backlinks to your website from other high-quality websites. Backlinks are seen as a vote of confidence in your website, and they can help to improve your search engine rankings. Think of it like posting pictures of your car online, drawing viewer from places where you car may not be visible in person.
How to engage in off-page SEO:
- Create high-quality content that other websites will want to link to.
- Promote your content on social media and other online channels.
- Reach out to other websites and ask for guest blogging opportunities.
- Submit your website to relevant directories and listings.
Technical SEO: This refers to the process of optimizing the technical aspects of your website to make it more accessible and user-friendly for search engines. This includes things like optimizing your website speed, mobile-friendliness, and site structure. This is keeping your car well maintained, so that it functions properly, a non-functional car is just a sculpture if it doesn’t run.
How to engage in technical SEO:
- Make sure your website is mobile-friendly.
- Optimize your website speed.
- Fix any crawl errors or broken links.
- Create a clear and concise sitemap.
- Use robots.txt to control how search engines crawl your website
Other types of SEO
E-commerce SEO: This type of SEO focuses on optimizing online stores to improve their visibility and rankings in search engine results pages.
Video SEO: This type of SEO focuses on optimizing videos to improve their visibility and rankings in search engine results pages.
News SEO: This type of SEO focuses on optimizing news websites and articles to improve their visibility and rankings in search engine results pages.
Benefits of SEO in General:
- Increased website traffic
- Improved brand awareness
- Higher conversion rates
- More sales and leads
Which type of SEO should I focus on?
The best type of SEO for you will depend on your specific business goals and target audience. However, all types of SEO can be beneficial for improving your website’s visibility and organic traffic. While everything a marketing agency does can be handled a business owner themselves, the value we offer is often simply knowing what the best tool for the job is. You could easily spend a ton of time working on on-page SEO, while there is a technical problem that prevents your site from even being indexed.
If you’re new to SEO, it’s a good idea to start with on-page SEO. This is the most basic type of SEO, and it’s something that you can do yourself with a little bit of research. We encourage our customers to take an active role in their marketing efforts. Lux Marketing Solutions LLC was conceived as a way to help small businesses, and education is a significant part of our business model as a result.
Once you have a good foundation in on-page SEO, you can start to focus on off-page SEO and technical SEO. These types of SEO can be more complex, but they can also have a bigger impact on your search engine rankings.
What can SEO do for you?
SEO can do a lot for your business, including:
Increase website traffic: When your website is optimized for SEO, it will rank higher in search results pages. This means that more people will see your website when they search for relevant keywords. Let’s be honest, when is the last time you bothered with the second page of a search result? I don’t remember either. We all want that number one spot, and SEO is the ticket there.
Improve online visibility: A high ranking in search results pages will make your website more visible to potential customers. This can help you increase brand awareness and attract new business. Even if we aren’t converting every lead into a client, we still see benefits in the form of brand recognition. You can show the Nike swoosh to just about anyone in the world and they know immediate who the company behind the logo is, and that has a ton of value when it comes to branding strategy. A lead who has heard of you repeatedly over time is far more likely to trust you than a company they’ve never heard of.
Improve credibility: A well-optimized website that ranks high in search results pages will be seen as more credible by potential customers. This can help you build trust and authority in your industry. This dovetails with the previous point quite nicely, and the combination can improve conversion rates dramatically. Credibility is actually one of the biggest currencies used in marketing and branding. The more of it you accrue with an individual, the more effective your ad and sales tactics become, they trust you.
Save money on advertising: SEO can help you save money on advertising. When your website is optimized for SEO, you will get more traffic from organic search results, which means you won’t have to pay for ads. I often advise our clients to pick one to handle themselves, if they can handle the workload, while paying an agency for the other, and perhaps a paid consultation session or two to help with strategy and answer questions. SEO is slow, but potentially free if handled DIY, and can piggyback off of the advertising strategies that already handled the keyword research for you.
How does SEO work?
SEO works by helping search engines understand what your website is about. When someone searches for a keyword, search engines look at a variety of factors to determine which websites to show in the results pages. These factors include the website’s content, structure, and code, as well as the number and quality of backlinks to the website. While web design used to be entirely about the user experience (UX), now we also have to focus on how algorithms evaluate a page as well. Think of SEO as a way to sell your site to search engines, who then display their favorites.
There are a number of things you can do to improve the SEO of your website. These include:
Optimize your website content: Your website content should be relevant to the keywords you want to rank for. It should also be well-written and informative, higher quality content draws users and keeps them for longer, signaling to search engines that your content is worth displaying. This is within the domain of on-page SEO.
Optimize your website structure: Your website should be structured in a way that makes it easy for search engines to crawl and index. This means using clear and concise navigation, and avoiding duplicate content. Technical SEO operates behind the scenes making sure that your site performs well.
Optimize your website code: Your website code should be clean and well-organized. This will make it easier for search engines to understand your website. This is another goal of technical SEO.
Get backlinks to your website: Backlinks are links from other websites to your website. They are a signal to search engines that your website is authoritative and relevant. You can get backlinks by guest blogging, submitting your website to directories, and participating in social media. This is probably the single most important thing I advise my clients to do. Networking is a good business practice in any case, but it also facilitates backlinking, which is free advertising and and important step in SEO.
If you are an expert plumber, write an article for your friend who is a general contractor on a potential hazard you are qualified to discuss. At some point in the article, often the end, include a blurb about yourself and provide a link to your page. Both you and your friend benefit from this, they get valuable content to add to their site, and you get access to their readers. I often recommend exchanging guest posts, that way you both experience the full benefits of the transaction and strengthen your bonds with the community at large.
Can I do SEO on my own?
Yes, absolutely, you can do SEO on your own. However, it is important to have a good understanding of SEO principles and best practices in order to be successful. If you are not sure where to start, you can hire an SEO expert to help you. For example, on-page SEO is something you should practice with all online content you produce, and understanding various SEO strategies can inform broader business decisions.
SEO is a powerful tool that can help you improve the visibility of your website and boost your sales. By following the tips in this article, you can learn how to do SEO for your website and achieve your business goals. For further reading, check out Google’s articles on Search Central.
Contact Lux Marketing Solutions LLC
Lux Marketing Solutions LLC can help you with all of your SEO needs. We offer a wide range of services, including keywo
rd research, website optimization, and backlink audits. We can help you develop a SEO strategy that’s tailored to your business and your goals. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you grow your business with SEO.