SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. What’s that? Optimization is the process of improving your website or content to rank higher on search engines, like Google. The main difference between SEO and paid advertising is that SEO is “organic,” meaning that you don’t have to pay to be there. In simple terms, SEO is a strategy to ensure that when someone searches for your product or service, they find your website. If Google, Bing, or Yahoo can’t identify or understand what your business is all about, neither will your customers. At Rize AVS, our Local SEO programs are crafted to promote your business and selected services or products in your local markets.
Important Elements of SEO
SEO primarily drives ranking and visibility. Websites can rank for one position at a time in search engine results for the query. As time passes, a web page’s ranking might change due to age, competition in the search engine result pages (SERP), or algorithm changes by the search engine itself. Visibility describes how prominent a particular domain is in the search engine results. Ranking and visibility deliver the main SEO objectives – traffic and domain authority. How does Google know how to rank a page? Some ranking factors are E-A-T, keywords, quality content, backlinks, geotagging, site speed, and responsive design. Let’s take a look at how each of these improves your ranking.
E-A-T
Everyone has to eat, even Google. However, Google’s E-A-T is one of the many ways of evaluating content to rank it on search result pages. E-A-T, or Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness, isn’t a single update but instead a principle. The three together come from the content, links to and from your website, and business reviews. The content on your website should reflect that you are an expert at what you do. Expertise on your website can come from product pages or blogs. Another way to achieve expertise and authority is from links to and from your website. Other companies talking about your business is crucial to gaining authority. Likewise, any review on your Google Business Profile or Bing Places for Business is essential for gaining trustworthiness among customers and search engines.
Keywords
According to SEO for Dummies, SEO is built on keywords: the words people type into search engines when looking for the products and services you sell or the information you provide. These words must appear on your website to be recognized as matches for those searches. Keyword research is often helpful and can give insights into popular search terms.
Content Quality
Search engines always try to provide the ideal search results by directing you to the best content they find. Because of this promise, your content must be top-tier. If the content doesn’t answer the visitor’s questions, they will move on to another site. For the best-ranked content, you should consider the user persona and intent, while also making the text skimmable and actionable. Content is the engine that drives your marketing efforts, and it’s great to keep it regularly updated. Content is King!
Backlinks
Backlinks are other websites with links that point back to your website. For instance, if Food Network wrote about macaroni and cheese and linked to Kraft, Kraft would gain a backlink. However, backlinks can get tricky because even the popularity of a linking site can affect the quality. According to Hubspot, links from websites with good quality links pointing to them will yield better results.
Geotagging
For local SEO, geotagging keywords is crucial. While untagged keywords might get you more traffic, tagged keywords will ensure your viewers are inside your business territory. Geotagging keywords is simple; you can add any specifics about your location to the keyword you wish to rank for. For example, an untagged keyword would read “wool socks,” while a tagged keyword would read “wool socks Colorado.” Tagging will help narrow the viewer’s search results and show them your website first.
User-Friendly Sites
Slow or unresponsive sites not only push away viewers but could also hurt your search rankings. Because search engines want to give users the best experience possible, they analyze the website’s speed and responsiveness when posting search results. Typically, search engines favor mobile-friendly sites over those optimized for desktops.
Rize in Ranking
Building your online footprint is an ever-changing combination of art and technical strategy. Our team at Rize AVS can combine both with our SEO services to boost your organic rankings. No matter your business needs, we have an SEO package to help build your business online. When customers search for a service you offer, the first result they see usually includes a map with listings of nearby competitors. This search result is a compilation of the top local ranking factors, and you want to ensure you appear at the top of that list. Don’t settle for a second-page rank; Rize above your competitors!
