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SEO - What You Should Know Before Getting Started


The effective use of SEO is an important aspect of any online marketing strategy. Due to a lack of understanding and the preponderance of black hat SEO firms, may companies cast a weary eye on the practice. As the online marketplace for products and information continues to grow, however, companies who ignore the value of working with an ethical SEO company are limiting their growth potential.

A significant contributor to the skepticism surrounding SEO is the belief that search engine optimization ends with achieving high search engine rankings for targeted keywords. This, however, is merely a means to an end. The ultimate goal of any intelligent search engine strategy should be to improve traffic to a website and to convert this traffic into paying business. For this to occur, it’s important to understand what keyword phrases are used by people who are researching or interested in buying the products and services your company sells.

This is where the importance of keyword research comes into play. All effective SEO campaigns should begin with a deep dive into the keyword space you’re targeting. Elements of this include search volumes for potential keywords, search volume trends, the commercial value of keywords, and the intent of searchers using these keywords. It’s important to analyze the spectrum of keyword phrases that are relevant to your business to gain a better understand for which ones it makes sense target and how difficult they will be to rank for.

After you have finished your keyword research, all SEO campaigns should incorporate 3 basic elements: a) Onsite code, tags, and structure best practices; b) Original, relevant content creation; c) Quality link building. There are countless SEO manuals, guides, and insider tips out there, but ultimately, almost all of the SEO practices you’ll find will fit into 1 of these 3 basic areas. Without incorporating all of these elements into your SEO campaign in a well thought out, coordinated manner, your results will leave something to be desired.

With all of the misinformation floating around about SEO, some companies choose to put their online marketing budgets toward PPC. PPC can definitely be useful, but in most cases, SEO will yield a better long-term return. The reason why is because working with a quality SEO company enables you to construct an online asset that will lead to traffic and conversions long after your initial SEO campaign is finished. While renting may require less of a financial and time investment initially, owning a home gives you an asset that with proper upkeep will appreciate as time goes by. It’s important to keep in mind that like all property, online assets necessitate ongoing maintenance to prevent deterioration. An apt comparison is the difference between renting and buying a house.

With the social media platforms that arose out of the Web 2.0 movement now ubiquitous, finding a way to include social media in your online strategy will strengthen your SEO efforts. Social media marketing can seem daunting at first, and some companies are weary of spending too much time writing blog posts, staying active on Twitter, developing Facebook pages, etc. While social media marketing campaigns can certainly be extensive, you can begin with something as simple as a blog where you post company announcements or answer customer questions several times a month. Social media’s power is in its ability to enable brand building, strengthen customer relationships, and follow what people are saying about you online. Like SEO, it’s important that you develop a cohesive strategy when creating your social media campaign.

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