A Beginner's Guide to SEO

For any small business, it is imperative to advertise your services and products online. The easiest way to do this is through search engine optimization (SEO). SEO can be confusing, so here is a beginner's guide to SEO!

What is the importance of SEO?

If you are a small business, it can be hard to promote yourself throughout the world wide web. Usually you have to compete with larger businesses to get your voice heard and it can be challenging. In order to combat the competition, SEO consultants are able to boost your web visibility. Think of it this way: when a consumer is looking for services or goods, they will go online to a search engine. A staggering 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine, with over 100 billion global searches being conducted each month. It's crucial you stick it out to be on the first page of search results, as 75% users never go beyond the first page. But how do you gain visibility if larger businesses take up all that space?

How does it work?

Two main components of SEO are through keywords and paid ads.

Keywords

Consultants and managers that are experienced in SEO will talk with you about the use of keywords and what your vision is for your website. A keyword is a word that consumers will search, and it should be represented on your site to draw customers in. For example, if you are a hair stylist in Charleston, some keywords you may be interested in include "hairstylist Charleston," "highlights Charleston," or "cut and color Charleston." If you are a pet sitter in Buffalo, your keywords should be similar to 'pet sitter Buffalo,' 'doggie day care, Buffalo', or 'day care for pets Buffalo.' The goal is to have your keywords be relevant to the products and services you are promoting. They should match up to what the consumer would be searching for.

Paid ads

Pay per click (PPC) is another important aspect to your online visibility. Generally speaking, PPC is a model of Internet marketing in which advertisers pay a fee every time one of their ads are clicked. They pay the search engine a fee in order to have their ads represented at the top of the results page. Basically, those who use PPC buy a visit to their site. When done correctly, SEO can be a very powerful tool. If you are interested in any aspect of the SEO process, contact the experienced consultants here at Front Man Marketing!