One of the biggest questions that we get from our clients here at 1 Up Digital is what is SEO and how does it work ? For businesses that are just starting to build their website or going through a website redesign, search engine optimization or SEO can feel a bit intimidating.
SEO Definition: SEO is an acronym that stands for search engine optimization, which is the process of optimizing your website to get free organic traffic from the Google results page.
In other words, SEO means making certain changes to your website design and content that make your site more attractive to search engines like google. You do this in hopes that the search engine will display your website as a top result on the search engine results page.
There are over 2 billion people online. 93% of online activities start on a search engine. There are 40,000 searches every second, and 3.5 billion searches per day. There are millions of opportunities for your business to become found on search engines. One of the most important benefits of SEO is that your customers are using search engines daily.
SEO traffic is more likely to convert than other sources of traffic. In fact, search traffic has the best conversion rates for most websites. By positioning yourself on search engines, you are positioning your business to win more conversions.
People trust Google. They use it every day to find what they are looking for. By ranking high on search engines, your business will build trust and credibility with your audience. In fact, 37% of search engine clicks are on the first organic listing.
Kill or be killed. Your customers start their internet journey with a search. Your competitors are using search to grow their business. In fact based on a recent study, 61% of these marketers stated that optimizing their website is their top priority.
Sooner or later, if you are not using search to grow your business, you will not have a business!
If you operate a small business, you may find that it is tough to outspend larger competitors in AdWords. However, an effective SEO strategy may be your way to gain higher rankings. While larger companies rely on advertising, you can rely on a savvy SEO strategy to go in the back door to acquire customers.
SEO is more affordable than advertising to increase your conversions. SEO costs way less then traditional advertising.However, the return is invaluable. Once you rank #1 on Google, your website will receive thousands of free hits to your website.