seo and googleThe world of SEO, that is, Search Engine Optimization, is quite complex. The key components of SEO that one should understand are what Search Engine Optimization is, the importance of search engine marketing, and what search engines are looking for. Let our Atlanta SEO company explain.

What is SEO?

Search Engine Optimization is a marketing strategy used to increase visibility in non­paid search engine results. In other words, the goal is to help search engines better understand your website so that they can recommend it in searches. SEO isn’t only used to create websites that are search engine friendly. By utilizing the various principles of Search Engine Optimization, you can also make your website more user friendly, too. When a website is both easy for a user to navigate and communicates clearly with search engines, it has been effectively optimized.

Why is SEO important?

The importance of SEO can’t be denied. When an internet user types a search into Google, Bing, Yahoo, or any other popular search engine, they are looking for specific content. The utilization of Search Engine Optimization helps the search engine navigate to your website, providing a path from a person who is looking for what you have to you.

What do search engines look for?

A critical component of understanding SEO basics is knowing what search engines are looking for and what they are not looking for. Search engines show sites first when they have a strong combination of content (all the text on all the pages of your website), performance (the usability and speed of your site), authority (the credibility of your site), and the user experience (the overall design, ease of navigation, and safety of your site). Search engine optimization will be poor when your content is stuffed with keywords without providing any real value and when the user experience is poor (too high of a bounce rate, poor design, etc.).

Summary

SEO is a tool that can and should be utilized by everyone with a website. If you’re looking to grow your business or your reader base, understanding and implementing the knowledge of basic SEO will set a foundation for growth that can always be added to as you dig deeper into the world of search engine optimization.