SEO is search engine optimization. This is the practice of being found organically (non-paid) on the search engine result pages. Now saying non-paid can be a questionable topic. It can be free if you do it yourself. If you pay a company, like JM2 Webdesigners in Valparaiso Indiana, then you are paying for SEO. When you here that SEO is for being found organically and not paid it means that you are not paying the individual search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.) to be shown in their paid listings. You are striving to be found because of your great content. Content after all is king when it comes to a great SEO strategy.
Digital Marketing is a marketing discipline where you strive to increase your search engine results in organic ways to be found at the highest possible spot within the SERPs (search engine result pages). SEO when done well will improve your rankings on the SERPs, drive traffic, and increase the awareness of your company brand.
There are techniques to bump your rankings within the search engines quickly. Do not do this! Let's say that again: Do not do this! When you try to circumvent or cheat the system you will move up quickly. The problem with this is you stand a chance, a very good chance, you will be penalized and as quickly as you moved up move down and years later still struggle to get your position back. These techniques are called “black hat” techniques and are something you need to stay 100% away from. No one can guarantee a position one on page one spot.
Story: There was a client that we had that we had on page 1, position 1. All legit. They then turned and did some black hat techniques. The first month their new keyword phrases put them on page one. The next month they dropped to page ten. That's right from 1 to 10. It has been two years now and they still have yet to reach page 1 and are as of the writing of this article on page 2 (half way down).
Our next takeaway for SEO is that this is a process. There is no ultimate secret on how to instant results. You need to think of SEO as a marathon and not a short sprint. This is a process that should go on with no end. The ultimate lesson out of this entire article is that “SEO is not about building a website that is optimized for the search engines. The search engines are extremely smart and can figure out what your intent is. The key to the entire SEO process is to build your website for people and not the computer.”
We are asked this all the time and the answer is truly yes. SEO is a complex beast but something any business can do if you take the time and are diligent in doing it. Most of our clients that do it themselves learn about it from articles like this one. A small amount of knowledge, patience (this doesn't happen overnight), willingness to learn, commitment, and a dedication to your site visitors you can have a good SEO experience for your clients.
We would love to answer with just a yes and to come to us. That isn't necessarily the case. Many businesses are not busy (yet) taking care of clients and have the available time to achieve a good SEO strategy. For those that are currently busy or do not have the inclination to learn, stay up-to-date, etc. on the current search engine recommendations then you should outsource your SEO. This will allow you to grow your business while your SEO company promotes and pushes your online exposure.
Even if you do decide to outsource your SEO we strongly recommend that you be familiar with common keywords you will be hearing. We have the most common that you will hear and a brief description of them.
SEO should never be an afterthought. It needs to be a core part of your digital marketing plan to grow your business. SEO is a marathon and should be taken as such. You can run the marathon yourself or you can align with a strategic partner to help your business grow. Knowing the keywords so that you are knowledgeable in the process is recommended for everyone.
JM2 Webdesigners in Northwest Indiana strives to serve our clients by not only being a cost effective provider for your business with packages to give you everything you need while letting you focus on growing your business and not on learning and keep updated on the latest search engine recommendations. If you would like to align with a Northwest Indiana web design company focused on helping your business grow you can reach us at @BUSINESSPHONETOLLFREE@, email at @BUSINESSEMAILADDRESS@, or through our contact form here.