What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is ‘simply’ the process of making your website more ‘findable’ to users who are searching for your business offering on Search Engines.
Search engines such as Google and Bing use unique algorithms that draw on information and data found in your website to calculate how relevant they are to the keywords searched. There are many different methods used to sculpt and optimise your website so that your website is more easily found by search engines.
Be there for your Buyer’s Journey!
Search Engines have become a major tool for consumers to research their needs and desires, establish their own selection criteria, perform in-depth decision making, and choose where to purchase (in fact, possibly traversing the complete buyer journey online). Quite simply, your business needs to be highly visible online!
A Bird in the Hand…
Part of the successful outcome for SEO is the rankings of your website for search terms used by searching customers. However, the main focus should always be actual business results; i.e. the generation and conversion of in-bound leads to customers. Birds, hands, and bushes. Performed successfully, search engine optimisation can be one of the major in-bound sales channels for your business.
Build it and they will come?
The adage, “build it and they will come” does not hold true for business websites; people have to know that you are there in the first place, AND that your business offering might be what they are looking for. In other words, you have to have the means to drive traffic to your website. And … (you guess it), the major tool people use, that lets them find businesses that offer the services and products they might be interested in, are the search engines.
You need to help potential customers find your business, by being highly visible online, especially in the search engines (…enter SEO stage left). So, the corrected adage might be “build it and they might come, … if they know you exist, can find you, and/or know what you have to offer”.
Would you like bells and whistles, or fries with that?
SEO-ready, Basic, Partial, and Full SEO. You will no doubt heard these terms mentioned around the traps. As a business owner it is important that you have an idea what they mean.
“SEO Ready” generally means that the backend web system has some functionality that will assist an SEO practitioner in their craft. In reality, it is a bit of a throwaway line, as you would expect most website systems today to have this functionality. SEO-Ready is really just code for “SEO not included”.
“Basic SEO” means that that you will have some aspects of SEO attempted, but some will not be. This would be fine if optimisation was like a basic car, as it might at least get you from A to B. However, SEO is simply, not like that. If you wanted to stick to the Car analogy, SEO is more like a collection of car parts that go to make up a whole car. So, just having a steering wheel without a set of tires will not get you far!
There are also numerous SEO “products” or packages out there (including those from large multinational corporations), that exclude aspects of SEO and are considered partial SEO at best.
I have witnessed SEO specicalists say things like, “You can buy this one for $1600 pm but it does not include {this or that}, or you can buy our top-of-the-range one that includes everything for $6000 pm”.
Run away quickly, … because you won’t be “driving” with the lower package (and you will have to sell a leg or two to afford the later). Let’s keep driving the car analogy; would you spend money on a car that has parts missing, and doesn’t go anywhere. Maybe you will get tires AND a steering wheel! Or just a steering column! Don’t fall for it.
Complete or Full SEO
The point has probably been made; in SEO, you can’t exclude items that effect the outcomes, without putting the outcomes in jeopardy. If you could, you would not need them and they wouldn’t be SEO aspects!!! Who would have “thunk” it? Fries “need” to be part of the meal, components make up the whole, and SEO strategies need to be complete!!
Call us today to talk about our successful search engine optimisation methodologies and how our Adelaide SEO Specialists can make a difference to your online presence.
