SEO, is a term thrown around by many, but what does it actually mean and what even is SEO marketing?
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the process of optimising your website, across numerous factors, for your users/audience. You may be thinking “don’t you mean optimising for search engines like Google?”
Well, yes and no. If your website is optimised just for Google, you tick all their boxes and they love how your website has been built for them, then essentially it is built for your users. Because that’s what search engines want. They want your website to be so perfectly accommodating for your users because it makes them look good.
If I am searching for “gaming laptops” and some random search results get shown, then it makes search engines seem like they do not work so well, or that they are not accurate. But if I search “gaming laptops” and loads of websites display on the search engine results page (SERP), and it answers exactly what I am looking for, exactly what my intention is, then that’s great.
You will keep using that search engine, whether that is Google, Bing, Yahoo or any others out there, because you know it gives you the answers you are looking for.
Just to recap, we have understood that:
- SEO is search engine optimisation.
- SEO marketing is the process of optimising your website for your audience.
- The better your website is optimised the more likely Google will favour your webpages.
- SERP is a search engine results page, the page that displays after making a search on Google and other search engines.
What does SEO do?
Great, so we now know what SEO is, but what does it do?
If your website is optimised for search engines because you invest in SEO marketing, then you will be receiving organic traffic to your website.
Organic traffic is essentially any user that searches for a term, this could be “gaming laptops in Limassol” “the best PC to buy for watching films” or any other search term. When these users see the SERP (Search Engine Results Page) and they click on a website (your website) this is organic traffic.
You do not need to pay Google to rank at the top of the SERP, you do not need to run other types of ads, and your website is generating a lot of users organically. Why? Because you are doing SEO marketing and your website is showing up on search engines for loads of different terms, helping you target exactly what your audience is looking for.
Therefore, SEO essentially connects your business to relevant users, helping you get more traffic and more leads/sales.
Your webpage will only show up high on Google if it is relevant to the user’s search term and if your webpage is optimised in accordance with many factors that we will discuss.
So now you can answer, what does SEO do?
It drives organic traffic directly to your website, and people who are looking for your products or services.
What is SEO Marketing?
Ok, now you know what SEO is and you know what it does, so how do you do SEO marketing, and what is SEO marketing?
Optimising your website for SEO is a crucial service that I personally believe every company should invest in. By having an SEO marketing strategy, you can grow your brand, outrank the competition, increase sales and leads and much more.
SEO marketing covers many different areas from technical meta optimisations on your website, to simply using the correct content and web design structures. Today I will explain some of the more basic strategies that anyone can do themselves to help increase their organic traffic and boost their SEO score.
1. Google Business Profile (Formerly Google My Business)
This is something we have all seen, if you actively use a search engine such as Google, you would have come across a company business profile on the right side of your desktop (or top of your phone) that shows you a company’s profile, their reviews, contact details, location and more. This is a Google Business Profile, previously called Google My Business (GMB).
Having a free Google Business Profile is amazing for your local SEO (yes SEO comes in many different forms), which means it helps you to target those locally in your area. If you are a web development company in Limassol, then if someone searches “local website agency”, “web development company near me” or just your company name, then your business profile can show up.
For example:
This was shown after typing “web development company near me”, if you have a web development company and you have created your business profile on Google or Bing, then you can show up like this too.
This is an amazing free tool for companies that want to drive physical traffic, and people directly to your stores, such as restaurants and shops.
2. Meta Titles & Meta Descriptions
While this may sound technical, it is something quite simple and it can be done by anyone, as long as you have access to edit your website.
You can set your meta titles and meta descriptions on every webpage that tells search engines what your page is about. So, if users are searching for something that your page addresses, and you’ve set your meta tags to show that information, then you can be found, and users will click on your website.
You can check what your meta title is by searching for your webpage directly on Google, or by clicking on your page and seeing your title on the tab of your browser. Additionally, you can see your meta description by finding your webpage on the SERP.
Meta titles and descriptions are just two of many different meta tags that can help you optimise your SEO and are all part of SEO marketing.
These terms may fall under on-page SEO services or technical SEO services.
3. Speed Optimisation
You may be thinking, what does this have to do with SEO? Well SEO is all about optimising your webpages for the user, well a slow website wouldn’t be very optimal, would it?
Speed optimisation is extremely important for all companies to do as it can make a huge difference in whether a user goes to your website or your competition. Picture the scenario, a user searches for “coffee shops in Limassol” and they find your website, that’s great. But, if your website is slow to load, they will very quickly leave your site, and they will click on the next link on the SERP, which will be your competitor.
Not only can you lose a customer, but you can send them straight to your competition. Did you know that around 40% of consumers will not wait longer than 3 seconds for a webpage to load? 3 seconds is not a lot of time at all, but with the increase in mobile users, patience is becoming thinner, and users want quick results.
How can you make your Website Faster?
One of the main factors that slow down most websites is….images! Yep, just photos, many people upload unoptimized images directly to their websites, no matter how large the file size is.
This can drastically slow down your web pages, deter your users from visiting and weaken your SEO score.
Other main reasons for a slow loading website can be:
- Bad hosting provider
- Too many plugins (if you use a CMS like WordPress)
- Large JS and CSS files
We can talk all day about speed optimisation, so instead, we prompt you to read our article that specialises in making websites faster.
If you do your WordPress you can also check out our speed optimisation checklist here.
4. Mobile Responsiveness
It’s 2022 and we still need to mention mobile responsiveness. This is not only fundamental but an ABSOLUTE necessity when making any website for any reason. There should be no reason whatsoever why you have a website that is not responsive to mobile devices.
Most users across the world are on mobile, and this number will keep increasing. Phone usage has been soaring since 2016, overtaking desktop usage and will continue to do so. Therefore, if your website doesn’t look good on mobile then forget about it.
If you are investing in an SEO marketing service, then this is an absolute priority, your website needs to benefit your users, so if it doesn’t look good on their mobile devices, then it will not be good for your SEO score.
90% of the time (I would hope more), when your website is designed and developed, it will already be configured to look good on mobile devices.
The above are 4 main strategies for SEO marketing and by taking your time to make sure you do each of them, your website and your business will be much better off for it. However, this is really just scratching the surface of a full SEO marketing service, if you would like to know more, then you can contact us directly via our contact form.
How is SEO Measured?
So, your company is now doing SEO marketing, that’s great, how do you measure the success? Well, SEO is a long-term service, it isn’t something that is achieved overnight. It can easily take 6 months – 1 year to see any meaningful results because it takes time to completely optimise a website and continue to add and edit content. It all really depends on the size of your website, the age of your domain and many other factors.
However, if you have been engaging in an SEO service then it is important to be able to define the results. The main indicator will be your organic traffic. It is crucial to have analytics set up and installed on your website to track everything, especially before you begin your SEO service.
If your organic traffic is rising, that means more and more users are naturally finding your website just by their everyday searches online. This will be your core indicator of SEO success, but you can look at other factors that will show if your website is attractive enough for users to use.
Metrics such as bounce rate and duration on the website are two good indicators that show if your website is liked by customers. The bounce rate indicates how quickly users visit your webpage and quickly leave, therefore, the lower the percentage of users “bouncing” the better.
Learn more about SEO Marketing
I hope that I have defined SEO marketing and generally search engine optimisation well enough for you to start helping your own business. If you do have any general questions about the service, then you can also email us directly at info@absolute-websites.com.
When you are ready to take on a full SEO marketing service, beyond this definition, then Absolute Websites can provide you with the help you and your business need. You can email us directly via the email above or through our contact form.
We look forward to helping you grow your organic traffic and your business!
