Developing and implementing a strong SEO strategy for your business can generate a lot of questions.
Below are answers to many frequently asked questions.
These will help you gain a better understanding of how digital marketing and search engine optimization can help your business build a stronger presence on the Internet.
Frequently Asked Questions – SEO & Digital Marketing
1. What is meant by a “web presence”
The web presence of a business is the complete digital footprint of a business found on the Internet.
While the website and the written, video and graphical content it contains is the cornerstone of a company’s web presence, there are quite a few other digital locations where a business might have a presence.
These include, but are not limited to:
- Links to pages and content on the company’s website from other places on the Internet.
- Social media properties such as a Facebook Page, Twitter, LinkedIn (business and personal), and a company blog.
- Mentions of a business or website in social media – posts, links, tweets, +1’s, likes, etc.
- Video content created and posted on video sharing sites such as YouTube.
- Local business pages such as Google My Business.
- Listings in business directories like Bing, Yahoo, Yelp, Merchant Circle, YellowPages.com, Whitepages, CitySearch and others.
- Email communications with customers and prospects.
- Press Releases to news and media outlets.
- Content a business has created and shared on other websites.
2. What is SEO
Definitions of SEO can vary but the core concepts are consistent.
According to Wikipedia:
“Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of affecting the visibility of a website or a web page in a search engine’s “natural” or un-paid (“organic”) search results. In general, the earlier (or higher ranked on the search results page), and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine’s users. SEO may target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, video search, academic search, news search and industry-specific vertical search engines.”
“As an Internet marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engines work, what people search for, the actual search terms or keywords typed into search engines and which search engines are preferred by their targeted audience. Optimizing a website may involve editing its content, HTML and associated coding to both increase its relevance to specific keywords and to remove barriers to the indexing activities of search engines. Promoting a site to increase the number of backlinks, or inbound links, is another SEO tactic.”
In a somewhat shorter description Search Engine Land, a well-regarded search-focused website, explains:
“SEO stands for “ search engine optimization.” It is the process of getting traffic from the “free,” “organic,” “editorial” or “natural” listings on search engines. All major search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing have such results, where web pages and other content such as videos or local listings are shown and ranked based on what the search engine considers most relevant to users. Payment is not involved, as it is with paid search ads.”
3. Why Does My Business Need a Growing Web Presence
Building a growing web presence will help your business reach more new customers and prospects while increasing contact with existing customers. Your competitors are growing their web presence, so if you aren’t growing yours then you are falling behind.
People search the web for a business, product, or service in different ways. Some people use familiar search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo). Some people will utilize social media such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Other people may use business directory services like Yelp, CitySearch or FourSquare.
There are numerous additional ways Internet users find businesses and these methods continue to evolve at a rapid rate. The more places your business has a presence, the more likely your business will be found.
A growing web presence also helps develop trust and authority for customers and prospects. The more places people see you, the bigger and more familiar you are in their minds.
4. Why Do I Need SEO for My Business
Search engine optimization is an essential component of a business’s marketing and sales strategy.
With the rise and rapid growth of the Internet, having a web presence has become increasingly important.
- Develop and implement a clear SEO and web presence strategy to:
- Optimize your web presence and visibility to build better branding and positioning for your business, products, and services.
- Increase the online credibility and trust for your business.
- Identify a business’ most effective keywords.
- Rank higher in the search engines.
- Increase traffic to your website from potential customers.
- To increase the number of repeat visitors and customers.
- To Grow Your Business – $$$
The goals, project scope, and budget for search engine optimization and growing a web presence can vary significantly for different businesses.
5. What are Keywords
Keywords and keyword phrases are a central element of search engine optimization. In its most basic definition, a keyword or keyword phrase is the text a web user types into a search box to find relevant information or content.
Choosing the best keywords for your website and SEO optimization is very important for getting targeted traffic to your website with the greatest chance of converting them to customers and repeat visitors.
Effective use of keywords is essential for ranking well and being found on the Internet. Keyword research is focused on locating the optimal keyword phrases for drawing targeted traffic to a website.
6. What is a “SERP”
The acronym SERP stands for Search Engine Results Page. This is the page you see displayed after conducting a search.
The SERP lists the results that the search engine (Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo) return after a person enters a search phrase in the search box.
7. Why do Search Engine Rankings Change Frequently
The Web is a dynamic place and the search engine results pages (SERPs) can change on a frequent basis. This can be frustrating to website owners.
There are a number of factors that affect the rankings for a given web page and a given keyword on any given day. These can include:
- New sites, web pages, and content are discovered by the search engines on a daily basis and may jump ahead of existing pages in the rankings.
- Older sites, web pages, and content can be taken offline or decrease in relevancy due to unchanged content.
- Older sites and web pages are upgraded or enhanced to make their content more attractive.
- The search engines can change how they evaluate websites.
8. What is an SEO Audit
An SEO Audit examines and measures a wide range of factors that impact the performance of your website, its rankings in the search engines, and its ability to attract and retain visitors.
9. What is Technical SEO
Technical SEO refers to technical website optimizations that enhance the abilities of search engines to crawl, index, and display your site more effectively.
10. What is a Sitemap
A sitemap for a website is a file where you can list information about pages, videos, images, and other files on your website.
11. What is Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a free tool from Google for analyzing and measuring website performance.
12. What is Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a powerful, free collection of tools from Google for monitoring and improving your website health and performance.
13. What is Local Search
Local Search is the use of a geographic tag, such as a state, city, or zip code as part of the search phrase when performing a search.
14. I have a local business do I need a web presence
This is a very valid question for small businesses especially if budget dollars are tight.
15. How much do SEO and Web Presence services cost
The cost of services will depend upon the needs of a client. We work with a wide range of businesses and the needs, requirements, desired results, and budget can vary.