SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation and is way of increasing the number of visitors to your website. Businesses that use SEO as a digital marketing strategy have a higher number of and better-quality users directed to their site. This is because Google will rank your website higher up in particular search results, increasing your chances of being seen exponentially.
When looking to increase traffic to their website, many businesses go straight to Google AdWords, a tool which allows you to pay to be seen on the first few pages of Google. While this can be a good short-term campaign strategy, AdWords is an expensive and unsustainable method of digital marketing.
While an SEO campaign typically takes between 3 to 6 months to begin showing results, once your website is ranking with Google, the rewards will be tangible, and your traffic is likely to increase exponentially over time.
Because it can take a while to kick in, it’s never a bad time to start SEO. Even if your digital marketing is in its infancy, beginning SEO in the early days means your results will start to show at the same time as your other marketing results. For example, creating a website that correctly uses SEO and developing a Facebook Ads campaign later on means both of these tools will work together to boost your digital presence.
Many marketing agencies make SEO sound difficult and intricate and while the implementation of an SEO strategy can be complicated, it essentially boils down to this – Google wants your content to be easily read by both real people and its own algorithm. If you do this, Google will reward you by ranking your website more highly. If not, it will penalise you.
Creating valuable content means researching what your audience is interested in, as well as little things like including highly ranked keywords in your blog and other website pages. It also means ensuring your website is user-friendly (on both desktop and mobile), uses calls to action and encourages people to stay for as long as possible.
If you’re not sure whether your business is using SEO appropriately, why not take our quiz below to check the health of your SEO?
How’s your SEO?
- Do you have a website?
- Is your website optimised for mobile?
- Is your website a multi-page site with a variety of content that entices users to remain on the site?
- Does your business use keyword research or online tools to inform your content creation?
- Do you have a regularly updated blog?
- Does your website content draw upon highly ranking keywords?
- Does your business use Google Analytics to measure your website success and assess where traffic is coming from?
- Do you know who your competitors are and what keywords they’re ranking for?
- Do you use calls to action on your website?
- Do you have a Google Business Listing?
- Does your website rank on Pages 1 or 2 on Google for any relevant keywords?
- Do you have an active social media presence that drives users to your website?
How did you do?
0-4: Uh oh. Your SEO isn’t very healthy!
Your digital marketing is a great way to drive brand awareness and generate enquiry and SEO forms a huge part of this. Don’t let your competition overtake you – get in touch with Sea Salt Marketing and kickstart your very own SEO campaign today.
5-9: Could be better…
You may not know it yet, but you’ve already started implementing some SEO strategies. That’s what having a website is all about! But you could take it to the next level – have a chat to Amanda from Sea Salt Marketing today to see we can improve your SEO.
10-12: Great work! You’re on the way to becoming an SEO star.
Don’t forget that Google changes its algorithm all the time and with your business changing frequently too, it’s important to keep on top of your SEO at all times. Need a hand? Get in touch with the expert team at Sea Salt Marketing.
