A Lightning-fast SEO Overview

To those new to digital marketing, SEO can sound like hokum. Terminology like "algorithms," "spiders," "schema," and "tags" can overwhelm and confuse the unititiated. At Grow With Studio, we want to remove the confusion and mystery around SEO and help our clients come to a better understanding of how they're ranking on the web.

Below is a quick review of SEO basics

What is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and it is the process of growing website traffic, online visibility, and site authority in search engines through organic (unpaid) means. SEO isn’t a single method but more of a collection of best practices and strategies that are designed to help a website’s traffic improve without paying for ads. The strategies include Content Creation, Keyword Research, Link Building, and other forms of optimization.

Learn more about the basics of SEO

How Does SEO Fit in with Digital Marketing?

Search Engine Optimization is a piece of the digital marketing puzzle. SEOs are great at analyzing competition, looking at the different ways Google assesses and displays information on the web, and helps your site rank better for specific keywords and searches.

The role of the SEO, especially for small- to medium-sized businesses, can often include responsibilities that might not fall under the organic search umbrella. That’s because SEO has an impact on all other facets of a digital marketing strategy, including social media marketing, paid advertising, and design.

In context of a larger digital marketing team, SEO can help enhance the strategies from other disciplines:

• In digital advertising, a page’s relevancy, keyword targeting, and UX can impact quality scores and - ultimately - how much you spend per click.
• In social media, SEO can help improve the experience between your social profiles to your website, keep social referral visitors there longer, and help them convert.
• For design, SEO includes the content that is being used on the page. Even a beautifully designed page is useless without proper targeting and optimization.

Good SEO is the foundation for a successful website experience that leads to a conversion (whatever that may be).

What types of businesses can benefit from SEO?

On some level, any business with a website can benefit from SEO, however, there are certain businesses where your investment in SEO makes more money sense. For example, it doesn’t make sense to hire an SEO marketing agency for a brand new website that doesn’t have any products to sell or any idea of what they want their users to do once they get there. SEO should always have a real world goal attached to it so that strategies can be created to meet your business needs. Here are some of the types of businesses that can really benefit from an effective SEO strategy:

• Ecommerce Businesses - Ecommerce stores rely on traffic to generate revenue. Without traffic, you’ve got no organic visitors, and without visitors, you’ve got no revenue. Along with paid advertising, Search Engine Optimization is a great option for ecommerce merchants who want to increase conversion-ready visitors to their site and generate long-term ROI.
• Service-based Businesses - Business owners who sell a skill, expertise, or a trade are great candidates for SEO. They rely on their website to drive traffic and leads for their service. Service-based businesses can benefit from SEO strategies that incorporate locally-focused optimization, or Local SEO. That way, when someone in their service area Google’s “plumbers in Austin,” they’ll show up.

From an industry-specific perspective, the list is long. Businesses across all kinds of industries have an imperative to invest in their website’s SEO strategy. Here are just a few industries that should have a solid SEO Strategy in place:

• Fashion & Apparel - This sector is highly competitive so fashion websites need to be extremely strategic about what their goals are, what their customers want/need, and how SEO can help them achieve it.
• Food-based Businesses - From monthly subscription boxes to specialized food suppliers, there are a lot of businesses working hard to drive online revenue. Finding your niche and pinpointing what your core value proposition through informative articles, blogs, and link building will help position you for success in the SEO landscape.
• Hardware & Heavy Industry Supplies - These types of businesses rely heavily on brand or part specific search behavior so product and metadata are a major concern as well as a strategic advantage.
• IT & Technology Suppliers - Chances are these businesses aren’t building their own components but selling other brands. For this industry, technical information is key to standing out and providing customers with enough information to make a purchase decision.
• Boutique Goods (i.e. artisan jewelry, hobby, etc.) - For smaller shops it’s nearly impossible to compete with the likes of Amazon, Ebay, and Etsy head-to-head. Instead, carving out your niche with great product information, a pleasant checkout experience, speedy delivery, and ample resources help you break out from the pack.

Any business with the goal of selling products online should have an SEO strategy in place that will help them meet their growth and revenue goals.