06/13/2017
Let's Talk about SEO!
I get a lot of questions about SEO (what is it, how do you do it, is it important) so here's a short post on my approach.
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, and it is the umbrella term for the process of making your website more visible to search engines like Google. It has evolved as the internet has grown, and is now an essential piece of your web marketing plan.
The goal of a search engine is to find the most relevant website to the search term you entered. That's it. If you type "taco restaurant in tampa bay", it's Google's job to find the best site for that search. This means that Google (and other search engines) are continually scanning every web page on the internet, indexing all that content, and then serving it up when you search for something.
This process is simple at a high level, but can get very complex, when you factor in competition, paid ads, and even companies that try to manipulate the system to gain an unfair advantage.
If you call me for SEO work, these are the basic steps we'll follow:
1. Determine your goals. This is often overlooked, but is an indispensable starting point, if you are getting serious about SEO. Obviously, you want more traffic coming to your site, but having clear goals will affect how you get them there, and what you want people to do when they get there.
2. Audit your site. We'll assess where your site ranks currently, and determine a few select keywords to focus on. We can also tell which pages have good content for those keywords, and which pages need some help. A good SEO company will have the tools to see where you rank, and will be able to track changes as you work on your strategy. These tools are essential to make sure your efforts are paying off.
3. Prepare your content. Even if you have an SEO plugin loaded on your Wordpress site, your content can make or break your visibility. Here, we'll deal with meta tags, site structure, sitemaps and more. It's important to follow some basic best practices, and avoid mistakes that can hurt your ranking.
4. Set up paid advertising. You can get pretty far just by following the rules, and having really great content for your specialty, but if there is competition for your service or product, you will want a strategic use of paid advertising. The most common services today are Google AdWords, and Facebook. Creating great ads that prime your audience for your content can produce great results.
5. Analyze, review and respond regularly. All the above steps are basically one-time efforts, but it is vital to monitor your site on a regular basis. You want reporting on how your site is ranking, and how your advertising efforts are working. This cycle of review and response is really the key to long-term success.
There are many specifics loaded into each of these steps, but at a high level, this is what SEO looks like. At the end of the day, it's about connecting the right people to the right content.
If you are interested in improving your visibility to search engines, or are starting from the very beginning, I would love to talk with you! Call me today for a free 30-minute consultation, no obligation. If we're a good fit, I'll perform an initial site audit, and then we can prepare a detailed roadmap from there.
Adam Waugh Design
(813) 575-0534
