A lot of service based businesses often face the question: What is SEO and can it help me build my business?

There are a lot of misconceptions about SEO regarding not only what it really is but also who really is an expert? SEO as an industry is riddled with scammers who will promise everything and deliver nothing.

This article reviews what SEO is, who you can trust, and whether or not it is something you should pay for.

This AMPLiFY! Business eTip episode is an edited version of a Facebook LIVE from June 12, 2018.

Does SEO make your eyes glaze over?

Once you understand what SEO is you’ll find it a little less confusing. SEO refers to search engine optimization. It doesn’t refer to all your online marketing but only those elements that contribute to your website ranking higher on Google.

The idea is to get your website listing as high as possible in the Search Engine Results Page after someone looks up something you do but doesn’t know your company name yet. They’re after your service so your terms you want to rank for will likely be about those.

The rank on those SERP’s is all about Organic Rank. These are rank placements you can’t buy. Adwords can be bought easily, rank has to be earned.

So how do you earn it? That’s the debate. You have one side who know what they’re doing and the other side who don’t. It’s easy to spot the frauds: they offer guaranteed rank. Nobody can guarantee rank. This has always been the case.

Google, Yahoo, and Bing all have their own evolving algorithms they use to evaluate a website’s relevance to a keyphrase.

There are many strategic staples with SEO. After that the competition is a consistent effort where SEO teams and consultants work to exceed each other while striving to improve a website’s rank.

How is SEO done?

The primary key element is to optimize your website. There are some things you can do to fulfill the most obvious credentials to rank. Having a mobile version of your website with clean code that loads fast is something Google has openly stated are key ranking factors.

Because many websites are built with free content management systems like WordPress they have a bloated amount of code to load. Lots of code and in some cases due to plugins, redundant code, will hurt your ranking efforts.

If your website loads slowly Google sees that as a bad user experience. A slow loading site will have a high bounce rate and a high bounce rate means Google doesn’t want to send more users to your website because the ones who did find it didn’t stay.

Other elements have to be filled in. Have quality content with the on site signals included like properly structured meta data.

Another thing to look for are backlinking opportunities. These are both important and not important. The quality of the website who links to you dictates whether or not it will help you rank. A junky website or irrelevant website that shows the backlink wasn’t earned and just created to trick Google won’t work.

Should you ignore SEO?

No. A proper online strategy is a multi-pronged approach with SEO being one of the most important components. It’s a complicated industry and SEO is a full time role. Hiring on someone for SEO is a commitment that takes 6 months at least. It’s not the sort of thing you can do yourself because it will become more time consuming than your business.

You’ll need to be taking the right courses and reading the right advice and it takes a long time to learn.

Hiring someone to help you or an agency will get you the help you’ll need to create the off site content signals that earn high quality backlinks. Blogs are a great way to get your content on your website. Use the keyphrases you want to rank for in your own copy.

If you don’t know what those terms are it’s a good idea to hire a professional to help you. You can reference our own blog to see more articles on keyphrases.

When you get that content made you can then circulate it through your social channels.

So do you have someone doing SEO for you, did you try it yourself, or did you dismiss the whole idea? Let us know in the comments or email us and we’ll help.

And if you really want to dive into developing your online presence and making the most of your online marketing efforts check out AMPLiFY! Business Academy. Every month there are new videos and group discussions where you’ll learn the best methods for building up your social media and more! It’s ideal for any small business owner or entrepreneur who has the desire to have the best online presence possible and we’d love to see you there.

About the Author, Susan Friesen

Located in the lower mainland of B.C., Susan Friesen is a visionary brand strategist, entrepreneur, and founder of British Columbia’s premiere boutique web development and digital marketing agency, eVision Media.

With over 20 years of experience in the industry, she is an expert in helping businesses establish their online presence and create a strong brand identity.

Her passion for empowering entrepreneurs and small business owners to succeed in the digital world has earned her a reputation as a leading authority in the branding and marketing industry.

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