What is SEO?
SEO stands for “search engine optimization.” Simply, it means improving your site to extend its visibility for relevant searches. The higher your pages’ visibility in search results, the more likely you are to garner attention and attract prospective and existing customers to your business.
How does SEO work?
Search engines like Google and Bing use bots to crawl pages online, going from site to site, collecting information about those pages and putting them in an index. Next, algorithms analyze pages within the index, considering many ranking factors or signals, to determine the order in which pages should appear within the search results for a given query.
Search ranking factors are often considered proxies for aspects of the user experience. Our table of SEO Factors organizes the elements into six main categories and weights each supporting its overall importance to SEO. Content quality and keyword research are critical factors of content optimization, and crawlability and mobile-friendliness are important site architecture factors.
The search algorithms are designed to surface relevant, authoritative pages and give users an efficient search experience. Optimizing your site and content with these factors can help your pages rank higher in search results.
Unlike paid search ads, you can’t pay search engines to urge higher organic search rankings.
Why is SEO important for marketing?
SEO may be a fundamental part of digital marketing because people conduct trillions of searches annually, often with commercial intent to seek information about products and services. Search is usually the first source of digital traffic for brands and complements other marketing channels. Greater visibility and ranking higher in search results than your competition can affect your bottom line.
However, the search results have evolved over the past few years to offer users more direct answers and knowledge that are more likely to stay on the results page rather than driving them to other websites.
Also, note that features like rich results and Knowledge Panels within the search results can increase visibility and give users more information about your company directly within the results.
