SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization.” In simple terms, it means the process of improving your site to increase its visibility for relevant searches. The better visibility your pages have in search results, the more likely you will gain attention and attract prospective and existing customers to your business website.
How Does SEO Work?
Search engines such as Google use automated bots to crawl website pages, go from website to website, collect information about those pages, and put them in a global index. Next, algorithms analyse pages in the index, taking into account hundreds of ranking factors or signals, to determine the order pages should appear in the search results for a given query.
Search ranking factors can be considered differently for different aspects of the user experience. For example, content quality and keyword research are key factors of content optimisation, and crawlability and mobile-friendliness are important website architecture factors.
The search algorithms are designed to surface relevant, authoritative pages and provide users with an efficient search experience. Optimising your site and content with these factors in mind can help your pages rank higher in the search results.
Unlike paid search ads (pay per click), you can’t pay search engines to get higher organic search rankings.
How Is SEO Important For Marketing?
Search Engine Optimisation is a fundamental part of digital marketing because people conduct trillions of searches every year, often with commercial intent to find information about products and services. Search is often the primary source of digital traffic for brands and complements other marketing channels. Greater visibility and ranking higher in search results than your competition can positively impact your bottom line.
However, the search results have evolved over the past few years to give users more direct answers and information that is more likely to keep users on the results page instead of driving them to other websites.
Also, features like rich results and Knowledge Panels in the search results can increase visibility and provide users with more information about your company directly.
