What is SEO?

Learn about the best practice in digital marketing.

By Jesse Martinez (SEO Specialist)

Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the most important digital marketing strategies for businesses today. With more and more people using Google and other search engines to find products and services, having an effective SEO strategy is critical for reaching your target audience online.
On this page we'll cover the following topics about SEO:

What is SEO?

Imagine having a beautiful website with top-notch products or services, but no one knows it exists. That's where SEO comes into play. SEO is the art and science of optimizing your website to rank higher on search engine result pages (SERP's) like Google, organically. It involves various strategies and techniques aimed at improving your website's visibility when users search for relevant keywords.

The end goal of SEO is to have your web pages appear at the top of the search results for keywords and phrases related to your business. Ranking higher means more visibility, traffic, and customers. An SEO agency like CRE8 Digital can help your business's website start gaining those benefits that SEO can bring.

What are the types of SEO?

Before diving in headfirst to rank on Google, it's essential to grasp the different types of SEO, also known as the pillars. These pillars not only support SEO but also drive its success for your website.

So what are the 4 pillars of SEO?

Using these four SEO pillars is key to boosting your website's rankings. It's even better to implement all of them instead of relying on just one. You see, one pillar alone can't carry the weight, but by using multiple pillars, your website becomes stronger.

On Page SEO

On-page SEO refers to optimizing individual web pages, its content and HTML elements to improve organic rankings. Key elements of On Page SEO are: 

Title Tags and Meta Descriptions

Crafting compelling and keyword-rich title tags and meta descriptions that encourage users to click on your search results. Titles should be concise, include a primary keyword, and entice clicks. 50-60 characters is ideal. Meta Descriptions are the snippets under titles summarizing page content. Keep them between 155-160 characters using keywords.

Keyword Research

Identify relevant keywords that your target audience uses to find products or services similar to yours. Find keywords and key phrases to identify terms with decent traffic and low competition. Avoid over-optimization.

High-Quality Content

Focus solely on quality over quantity. Meticulous and original content ranks much better than weak, duplicate content. Your content must be optimized for people and search engines. Publish valuable, informative, and engaging content so that your audience can trust you in your industry and Google can see the same, leading to an increase in your website's visibility.

Off Page SEO

While On-Page SEO covers individual web pages, Off-Page SEO refers to external factors that affect a site's overall search performance to build authority and trust for your website, those factors are: 

Backlinks

High-quality backlinks from reputable and high authority websites that point back to your website, is the path for your site to gain similar authority as an expert in your industry.

Social Media

Being active on social media platforms can directly impact your SEO by posting or promoting your content and engaging with your audience on a consistent basis.

Local SEO

Dominate your local area first! Optimize your business listing like Google My Business Profile. What is Google My Business? It's your business profile where you can manage your presence directly on Google.

Technical SEO

This pillar of SEO deals more with the back-end of your website. The better your website performs in terms of functionality, the better your chances your website gets to be recognized by search engine crawlers. A few key elements of this are:

Site Speed or Page Load Speed

Ensure that your website loads up fast and efficiently for your user's experience. If your website's information is displayed quicker, search engine algorithms will be satisfied with your results.

Mobile Friendly

More than 63% of Google searches happen on mobile devices. Also, search engines prioritize mobile-friendly sites first.

Sitemaps

An XML sitemap tells Google's crawler what is on your website and it helps index your pages effectively.

Content

Content is KING. It's part of On-Page SEO however it can be identified as it's own separate pillar because of it's detailed process. The multiple types of SEO content are as follows:

Blog Posts

Videos

Informative Articles

Lead Generating Posts

Landing Pages

Guides

Your content and SEO strategy form a dynamic duo to reach a broader audience and promote your products and services online. This powerful relationship enables you to boost sales and revenue, making your business thrive in the digital realm.

There are more than 63,000 Google searches per second.

Become part of those searches by optimizing your website using our SEO services today!
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Why is SEO important?

There is a heavy use of search engines in today's age and only 30% small businesses have an SEO strategy to raise their website rankings so that they can appear first in searches. Without SEO, your website will stay deep in the trenches of rankings.

Here are some key reasons SEO should be a core part of your digital marketing strategy:

Increased Visibility

SEO helps your brand have an increase in visibility and it's crucial because it helps businesses attract more attention from potential customers. When a website ranks higher in search engine results, it becomes more visible to users searching for related products or services, increasing the likelihood of organic traffic.

More website traffic

Who doesn't want more visitors coming to their website? More traffic is beneficial because it brings a higher number of customer to your website. Increased website traffic provides more opportunities to showcase products or services, engage with visitors, and ultimately convert them into paying customers.

High Conversion Potential

Sometimes we get leads who are only shopping around however a good SEO strategy can turn that around. Lead conversion is critical because it directly impacts a business's revenue and growth. Converting leads into paying customers is the ultimate goal for driving sales and fostering customer loyalty, ultimately contributing to business success.

Cost effective

Yes, SEO is a cost-effective strategy for driving organic traffic and acquiring customers. Once optimized, a website can continue attracting relevant visitors without the ongoing expenses associated with paid advertising. SEO also targets users actively seeking products or services, resulting in higher quality leads.
We can go all day about why SEO is important. The key here is to understand how valuable SEO can be for your business and implementing a powerful SEO strategy can bring amazing benefits for the future of your business.

The difference between SEO vs PPC

PPC stands for Pay-Per-Click, the definition is in the word, you pay for every click action. In this case, whenever a user click on one of your advertised links, you'll have to pay for that click. Whenever a user searches up the relevant keywords you decided to bid for, then your search result will pop up first. It's basically the quickest way to reach the top result for as long as your ad campaign is up.

When you're comparing both SEO and PPC, you have to understand what they are and point out their strengths and weaknesses.

Understanding SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a set of techniques designed to enhance a website's organic visibility on search engine result pages. The primary objective of SEO is to improve a website's ranking for relevant keywords, thereby attracting more organic, unpaid traffic.

Pros of SEO

  • Long Term Results: SEO efforts build over time and can lead to sustainable, long-term traffic growth.
  • Trust and Credibility: Appearing organically perceives your business as trustworthy by users.
  • Cost-Effective: Once your website achieves a high ranking, cost can lower due to your number one rank.

Cons of SEO

  • Time consuming: SEO takes consistent effort to start seeing your results.
  • Competitive Industry: There are some keywords which are too competitive to rank for.
  • Changes in the algorithm: Search engines constantly update their algorithms making it challenging to stay up to date.

Understanding PPC

Pay-Per-Click advertising, on the other hand, involves creating and running paid advertisements on search engines and other online platforms. Advertisers bid on specific keywords, and their ads appear at the top of the search results in the PROMOTED section when users search for those keywords. Advertisers pay only when someone clicks on their ad.

Pros of PPC

  • Immediate Visibility: PPC ads deliver instant visibility and can appear on top of organic search results.
  • Precise Targeting: Advertisers can target specific demographics, locations, and user behaviors.
  • Measurable Results: PPC campaigns provide detailed data, allowing for precise performance tracking and analysis.

Cons of PPC

  • Costs: PPC advertising can be expensive, especially for competitive keywords or industries.
  • Ad Blindness: Some users may ignore or actively avoid clicking on ads, reducing their effectiveness.
  • Dependency on Budget: Once the advertising budget is depleted, the ad stops running, leading to a potential traffic drop.
Both SEO and PPC are powerful tools in the digital marketing. When you're trying to decide between the two then it should be based on your specific business needs and objectives. While SEO offers sustainable long-term growth and credibility, PPC provides immediate visibility and precise targeting. A well-thought-out combination of both strategies can lead to a comprehensive and successful online marketing campaign.
If you're wondering how to start your SEO strategy today or PPC campaign, partner with CRE8 Digital to get your business brand out there for your current and future audience to reach you.

How to start using SEO for your business

Search Engine Optimization is a vital aspect of modern digital marketing, you'll be helping your businesses improve their online visibility and attract organic traffic from search engines. If you're ready to harness the power of SEO to boost your business, here are some tips on how to get started:

  • Set clear goals, define your business objectives and set clear goals.
  • Research relevant keywords that your future customers will likely use on search engines.
  • Optimize your on page elements, make your website easy for search engines to crawl it.
  • Create high quality content that makes your audience stay and reach out to a wider audience as well.
  • Build strong backlinks to build a powerful authority for your brand.
  • Monitor and analyze performance and identify areas where you can improve.
Keep in mind that only .63% of Google searchers have actually clicked on results on the second page. So why not use the full power of SEO to get your business's website up there to the first page of Google and other search engines (Bing, Yahoo). Stay committed and consistent so you can place your business in a position for long term success and capitalize on the vast opportunities that SEO offers.
Reach out to us at CRE8 Digital if you need guidance to start you SEO journey and we would be more than happy to help your business grow it's online presence.

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