Google can be your best friend or worst enemy, you choose!
We just started a new module on Business Optimization and I've learned a lot about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and I have made a quick outline of the importance of SEO and how it impacts business revenue. (This post is Google-focused but the main concepts apply to Bing and Yahoo as well).
What is SEO?
It's what happens when computer users Google you or your company and where you show up in the search results.
SEO is important because Google ranks all websites.
- The higher your Google ranking, the higher your location on the search page.
- The more likely a visitor will visit your page.
- The more likely a visitor will convert to a customer.
Content is king.
Your website should be relevant and on point with high quality content because a high bounce rate (the number of visitors who immediately leave your website) will lower your Google quality score and thereby lowering your Google ranking.
What can I do to increase my Google ranking?
It's a complicated process with many moving parts that are constantly changing. You must achieve a delicate balance with your strategy, otherwise you risk being blacklisted by Google.
There are tons of articles about website optimization on the web. Seriously, a quick Google search will turn up tons but here are a few examples:
- Organic links to your site from other websites drives traffic but also better ranking positions.
- Have your own high quality content (i.e. start page, category pages, product pages, & blog/news).
- User behavior analysis (knowing how your visitor is using the website will help you optimize it's content & improve the user journey).
- Optimize your HTML meta tags with relevant keywords.
As long as you know the basics, you can make a big impact on your website's SEO but definitely learn how to use Google Search Console and read Google's SEO starter guide.
To sum up, you should care about SEO because this important step in your online presence is what can make or break your business revenue. If you don't show up in search results, how can your customers and potential customers find you?