Does SEO Actually Work?
By now, everyone should be familiar with digital marketing companies and the benefits of SEO. If you own a restaurant in Denver, for example, you should know that using a Denver SEO company can help you greatly increase your website traffic and result in more conversions on your website. But does SEO actually work? How long does SEO take to work? And what things should focus on if you’re trying to improve your website’s rankings. In this article, we’re answering these, and more questions. Continue reading to learn more about how you can improve your SEO tactics.
Table of Contents
What Is SEO? How Does SEO Really Work?
SEO is short for search engine optimization and it describes the process of optimizing websites so they rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs). SEO uses the fundamental principle that if you can increase your ranking on these search engine results pages, you can increase your visibility, website traffic, overall conversions, and sales.
The main components of SEO are as follows:
- Page speed
- Domain authority
- Site crawlability
- Mobile-friendliness
- Quality of content
- Relevant internal and external links
However, these are not the only factors influencing SEO strategy, and it’s important to keep in mind that SEO requires you to consistently adapt your strategy depending on the curveballs Google and other search engines throw at you. Above all, the goal of SEO should be to increase user experience rather than to simply improve technical aspects and
Why Is SEO Important?
The higher your website appears on the page, the more likely someone is to click on your page. Think about your habits when searching for a company, be it a restaurant or hotel. You will likely click on one of the first results that appear.
After all, who has the time to sift through website after website? From looking at your own online browsing habits, you can see how SEO can increase your website’s traffic and visibility. But that’s not enough, you need to be able to convert people once they arrive at your website. How do you do that? Let’s take a look at how SEO works in real life.
When Does SEO Work?
Effective SEO campaigns intermix technical SEO with compelling content, high-powered links, PR, and analytics. But that’s really the tip of the iceberg. It also comes down to off-page SEO, how adaptable you can be to changing algorithms, and your brand reputation.
Even though there are certain aspects of SEO you can’t control, such as algorithm updates, you can still prepare your SEO campaign using some proven strategies.
When You Grow Your Keywords
SEO works when you increase your keywords. Keywords are the key terms and words that users type into search engines when they’re looking for something. If you increase the keywords on your website search engines notice and boost your rankings because these are good indicators that you can answer the users’ questions.
However, you can’t simply throw a bunch of keywords into a low-quality piece of content and expect it to increase your keyword rankings. Keyword rankings go to companies who produce informative content that is personable. Search engines also favor pieces of content with highly readable content.
When You Grow Your Traffic
Another indicator that can help improve your rankings is increasing your traffic and decreasing your bounce rate. Traffic describes the number of visitors that come to your website. Bounce rate describes how quickly and how often users leave your site. The more you increase your traffic and the more you decrease your bounce rate, the more dependable you become in Google’s eyes.
SEO Is One of the Most Important Marketing Strategies Today
There’s a reason why SEO is so important today. It’s because everyone uses the internet and search engines like Google are only influencing consumer decisions more and more as time goes on. But aside from the influence search engines have on consumer decisions, what other benefits can SEO help you achieve?
Building Brand Awareness
Due to the increased visibility generated by SEO and increased rankings, you can generate brand awareness. The more people who can easily find your brand, the more they talk about it, and the more expansive your market reach will become. Improving your SEO is one of the most effective strategies to expand within your market or to tap into emerging markets within your industry.
Driving Organic Traffic
One of the most important benefits of SEO is that it can be free if you’re good at it. Sure, you can pay an arm and a leg to pay for a Google ad, but nobody wants to pay for anything. If you can increase your website’s traffic without paying, then you will have funds left over for your marketing strategy and other company initiatives you want to invest in.
Common SEO Mistakes: How to Make SEO Really Work?
To unlock the potential of SEO and see SEO works, you need to avoid these common mistakes.
Targeting the Wrong Keywords
Creating great, compelling content is the first step to achieving Google supremacy, but it’s not the only step. You also have to keep in mind that everyone else within your industry is trying to rank higher on Google. Avoid targeting the wrong keywords when adopting an SEO strategy. By the “wrong” keywords, we mean keywords that are highly competitive and don’t have much volume.
Keyword Stuffing
Avoid cramming keywords into your content. You might think the more, the merrier, but it makes your content sound mechanical and boring. Your content should be compelling on a human level. It should address areas of concern within your industry and provide solutions to your customers’ problems.
Linking to the Wrong External Sites
External links are important for Google to establish a level of trust that your content is backed by reputable sites. By the “wrong” external sites, we mean sites that have low domain authority, which is a Google metric used to describe the site’s dependability.
Forgetting the Meta Description
The meta description is a small paragraph of text that describes the topic of a piece of content to Google. It also provides context to users about whether your content could potentially solve their questions. Never ignore the meta description. Instead, write a clear and concise description of around 50-100 words that explains exactly what your piece of content is about.
Conclusion- Does SEO Actually Work?
From this article, you can see that SEO actually works and that implementing a concrete SEO strategy in your digital marketing strategy can pay dividends. But keyword optimization and link building are only a few pieces of the puzzle. To create a truly effective SEO strategy, you need to combine both on and off-page SEO tactics and create compelling, user-friendly content. Searcher task accomplishment is perhaps the most important aspect of your SEO strategy. Contact a Denver SEO agency to get started
Adhar Dhaval is experienced portfolio, program and project leader with demonstrated leadership in all phases of sales and service delivery of diverse technology solutions. He is a speaker sharing advice and industry perspective on emerging best practices in project leadership, program management, leadership and strategy. He is working for the Chair Leadership Co.
