SEO is crucial if you want people searching to find what they need
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the active practice of optimizing a website by improving internal and external aspects in order to increase traffic. Firms that specialize can vary; some have a highly specialized focus while others take an approach more broad-focused on all areas they feel are important for search engines consumption including web design, content strategy, and social media campaigns.
This guide, designed to describe all areas of SEO. From the discovery of the terms and phrases that will generate traffic, to making a site search engine friendly, to building the links and marketing the unique value of the site/organization's offerings.
For those of you that like history, I thought that understanding where SEO and SEARCH came from will lead you to appreciate what we have now and where we are leading. Click here to learn about how Search Engine Optimization started.
Why does my company/organization/website need SEO?
The majority of web traffic is driven by the major commercial search engines — Google, Yahoo! and BING. If your site cannot be found by search engines or your content cannot be put into their databases, you miss out on the incredible opportunities available to websites provided via search — people who want what you have visited your site. Whether your site provides content, services, products, or information, search engines are a primary method of navigation for almost all Internet users.
Search queries, the words that users type into the search box which contain terms and phrases best suited to your site, carry extraordinary value. Experience has shown that search engine traffic can make (or break) an organization's success. Targeted visitors to a website can provide publicity, revenue, and exposure like no other. Investing in SEO, whether through time or finances, can have an exceptional rate of return.
Why can't the search engines figure out my site without SEO help?
Search engines are always working towards improving their technology to crawl the web more deeply and return increasingly relevant results to users. However, there is and will always be a limit to how search engines can operate. Whereas the right moves can net you thousands of visitors and attention, the wrong moves can hide or bury your site deep in the search results where visibility is minimal. In addition to making content available to search engines, SEO can also help boost rankings so that content that has been found will be placed where searchers will more readily see it. The online environment is becoming increasingly competitive, and those companies who perform SEO will have a decided advantage in visitors and customers.
We are your Marketing dollars going THESE DAYS?
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Web 40%
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Cable TV 14%
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Broadcast TV 8%
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Radio 7%
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Magazine 5%
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Newspaper 8%
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Yellow pages 3.2%
Internet Marketing Components:
- SEO
- Search Engine Optimization is also known as Organic Search
- PPC, Pay per click
- Email Marketing
- Blog
- Social Media
- Mobile Marketing
- Video Marketing
- Web Analytics