Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the art & science of building and promoting a website with the goal of achieving a high ranking on search engine results pages. It is a critical part of online marketing for any business or organization which seeks long-term success. Understanding the basics of what search engine optimization is can be broken down into a few key pieces: Search Engines, Your Website, & Credibility.
Search Engines’ SEO Goals
The most important thing to know about search engines is their long-term goals. Search engines like Google make money when users can easily and consistently find the answer or information they were looking for. There will always be ways to game the system, and the search engines will always find ways to close those loopholes and punish those who exploit them. So if you want your website optimization to be careful long-term, you need to have a real-answers focused strategy. Also, a huge portion of searches happening online now are for local services, places, etc. so if Google can match someone sitting in Fredericksburg Virginia to services, answers, and locations in Fredericksburg Virginia, those results will definitely rank higher.
Your Website’s SEO Performance
So when Google, Youtube, Bing or other search engines are ranking search results in say Fredericksburg Virginia, what are they looking for? First of all, they are looking for real answers that will truly help the searcher. Filler content, keyword-stuffed formulas, or worse, duplicated content is not the answer! Secondly, your website’s content has to be relevant to the topic. That one is pretty self-explanatory. Thirdly, having recent content is important. While it’s a bonus to have a website that has been around for a while, it’s also critical that your information be up-to-date! Lastly, even in a big+little town like Fredericksburg Virginia, to get a great spot on search engines your website has to be readable. This means readable by real human being and readable by search engines. Outdated code, formatting, and practices, search engine invisible content or images… these kinds of things will really hold you back!
Build Credibility From Outside
This last big piece of search engine optimization is the most challenging. In order for your organization’s website to be more visible to people in Fredericksburg on search engines, you have to build the credibility of your site. There is no ‘fast-track’ for this – this absolutely takes time. Building up your overall online presence and convincing Google that you are an expert requires consistent work in multiple areas. You want to maintain an active presence in social media channels. Your online listings (such as yp.com, plus.google.com, angieslist.com, yelp.com, etc.) all need to be accurate as well. All those sites need to have the same information so that Google can properly link their activity together and increase the credibility of your site. And, most powerfully, you need to get honest referrals and links from other reputable websites in the field. When other authoritative, highly ranked, well respected sites indicate that your site is an expert on your subject that creates a great boost to your site’s ranking. Show a regular history of suck references and you will steadily increase the credibility of your own website. Buy or cheat your ways into these links and Google will eventually punish you!
Search Engine Optimization is certainly a complex and ceaseless effort, but those organizations who pursue it honestly and consistently will, over time, reap great rewards and build an online presence to carry their business into the future. If you are in need of help with Search Engine Optimization in Fredericksburg, VA please give us a call or send us an e-mail to learn more.