SEO (search engine optimization) is the term for making online content readily accessible and recognizable to search engines.
When search engines understand your content, they are better able to direct relevant traffic to your content from searches that are input by internet users.
SEO marketing doesn’t just benefit internet users. It benefits site owners, marketers, and the internet in general.
Why is SEO Needed?
The concept behind SEO marketing has to do with the digital world.
In the real world, anyone who wishes to draw attention to themselves or their business can market to the human senses; sight, hearing, smell, touch, and speech. In the digital world, of course, bots don’t have those senses; everything is in code.
But since uploaded content is translated into a coding language that bots can understand, we use the written word and other coding markups to communicate to bots so that the content receives relevant attention.
What is Relevant Attention?
Relevant attention simply means attention from a target audience. As an online content marketer, you want to receive attention from your target market.
For instance, if you run an e-commerce site that sells pet supplies, you want to attract pet owners to your site.
If you operate an online toy store, you want to attract parents.
From a marketing perspective, attracting an irrelevant audience costs you money in terms of advertising costs.
For example, you don’t want people with no interest in pets clicking on your ads when you are paying for each click.
What is SEO Marketing?
SEO marketing is the practice of purposely implementing SEO strategies in order to draw traffic to your site for the purpose of making a sale.
For marketing purposes, SEO should include:
- using targeted keywords above the fold
- ensuring the site is designed for mobile first
- having an SSL certificate in place
- ensuring the site is handicap accessible
- offers value for the user
- fast loading times
A site that is lacking in any of these factors may not rank high in Google’s search engine and have a negative impact on marketing expectations.
What Are Examples of SEO in Marketing?
SEO marketing takes many forms. SEO can be applied to all online content, including:
- images
- PDFs
- videos
- infographics
- podcasts
- websites
- blog posts
- ebooks
- newsletters
- and more
In short, anytime a person is attempting to draw traffic, SEO should be used.
What is an SEO Checklist?
An SEO checklist is a tool that organizes and simplifies search engine optimization on a website.
Because there are so many tasks involved with SEO, a checklist helps to ensure that nothing gets missed.
For example, it’s widely accepted that there are five important factors to bear in mind. These matter whether you are optimizing an entire site or whether you are placing online ads.
Doing so will ensure that the largest search engine, Google, as well as other search engines like Bing, etc., will see that you are following best practices.
Keeping these things in mind will also help ensure you get the relevant results that you are hoping for.
1. Designing for Mobile First
Google recently announced that it is ranking highest for sites that are designed first for mobile. This simply means that they are following the trend of more and more people using mobile devices—rather than desktops—to access the web.
2. Accessibility
There was a recent awareness that the internet might discriminate against those who are sight-impaired. Therefore, Google and other search engines now expect all sites to comply with accessibility. This can be accomplished with a simple plugin and accessibility button.
3. Sitemapping
Sitemaps are built for bots so they can understand the hierarchy of importance relative to your site structure.
4. Tags and Categories
Again, this creates a kind of organized digital map that helps both bots and human users quickly find information on a site.
5. Site Security
The site should have an SSL certificate, with no links to hacker sites.
These are just the five basic SEO considerations.
When optimizing for each engine, there are hundreds of smaller tasks that need to be completed.
That’s why many site owners opt to hire an SEO expert to ensure that every single detail relating to SEO is taken care of.
It’s these SEO experts and marketing professionals who typically utilize SEO checklists.
What Are Good SEO Keywords?
Keywords are words and phrases (called long-tail keywords) that human users enter into search engines to find what they are looking for.
The best keywords are ones that mimic the natural ways that humans search. For instance, an example of a good long-tail keyword is: “funny cat videos.”
An example of a poor long-tail keyword is: “very short movies featuring felines that make people laugh upon viewing them.”
The exact keywords that will draw traffic to a particular site will depend upon the focus of the site.
The best way to find good keywords for any particular topic is to use a keyword research tool. These are readily found online and are typically available to use at no cost.
SEO in Online Ads
Many marketers use placed ads to draw attention to their sites. Just like other online content, SEO needs to be implemented in online ads.
To do this, professional marketers typically strategically place relevant keywords in the ad itself. This helps to ensure that the ad appears when users type that search into Google.
For instance, if a user types in pet-friendly apartments in Pittsburgh, an ad may appear that reads, “Pittsburgh pet supplies,” or “apartment decor for Pittsburgh pet owners.”
Using keywords in this manner helps to make sure that the ad appears on relevant pages and helps to attract people that are most likely to click and buy from the site.
There are many details to know about SEO in marketing, but this guide gives a sound foundation upon which to get started.
Remember, at its basics, a lot of SEO has to do with the written word. For that, you need qualified writers who understand how to maximize your online content to get the best results.
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