5 Things To Know About Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Words And Phrases Are Key
- Google Is King
- Links Improve SEO
- The Home Page Comes First
- Meta Descriptions Matter, Even Though They Don’t
With a digital presence being so important to nearly every organization out there, it is helpful to know some key facts about SEO (search engine optimization). SEO is one of the most important elements of a digital marketing strategy no matter what shape that strategy takes. The following five facts about SEO will be useful to know for anyone who may need to understand SEO in their career.
Related resource: Top 10 Cheapest Online Associate’s in Web Design
1. Words And Phrases Are Key
Most people are already familiar with keywords and their importance in SEO. The role they play cannot be overstated. They are the core of the concept – Internet users typically type words or phrases into a search engine describing what they are looking for. The goal of SEO is largely to mirror potential search terms on a site so that the site shows up higher in the search result rankings. A higher ranking means greater traffic and the better potential for users to discover the site. This is most commonly used for businesses, especially as part of their digital marketing plan. However, SEO keyword optimization techniques are effective for any kind of site.
2. Google Is King
Google continues to be the most popular search engine in the world by a large margin. Because of this, it is paramount for anyone wanting to optimize SEO to stay updated with Google’s algorithms, which change on a somewhat regular basis. However, it’s important not to forget about the other major search engines, such as Bing and Yahoo. It’s simply prudent to focus more attention on Google due to its prevalence.
3. Links Improve SEO
Links play a major role in SEO just as keywords do. Various factors determine how effective certain links are as well. For example, links to more authoritative sources are given more weight by the search engines as Forbes explains. Internal and external links count differently too. A final key fact about links is that SEO improves as outside sites link back to a site’s content. This is because search engine algorithms see this as proof that a site has valuable content and should be seen by people searching for a particular answer or topic.
4. The Home Page Comes First
When finding websites, search engines look at the home page of a website first. While this may seem intuitive, it is important to remember when designing any site. Key information should be placed front and center, such as where the business is located, what services or products it provides, important staff names and more. There are additional things that can be done to boost the SEO of a site’s home page. Having a video on the home page, for example, has been shown to statistically increase SEO.
5. Meta Descriptions Matter, Even Though They Don’t
Meta descriptions are short, around 155-character descriptions of any given page on a website that are used to convince people a site is what they are searching for. They are not taken into account by the search engines when it comes to SEO, one of the lesser-known facts about SEO (search engine optimization), but they are still highly important for click-through rates. Getting a site to appear high in the search engine rankings doesn’t help much if surfers aren’t intrigued enough to actually visit the site in question.
Even people who are not professional marketers stand to benefit from learning the basics of SEO. For example, recent graduates can leverage SEO to attract the attention of employers to land a job. Solid facts about SEO (search engine optimization) are sure to be useful in the coming years.
