How Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Helps Grow Businesses
What is SEO?
The term SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It determines how your website ranks for different terms and searches on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) of engines like Google. Every day, users turn to search engines looking for answers to their questions and searching for products and services that will improve their lives.
Your website’s SEO will determine whether or not you appear on the first page for the particular search term. Since people will rarely make it past the first page during their search, your business must develop an SEO strategy that keeps your website ranking towards the top.
How Can It Benefit My Business?
Potential customers are more likely to trust the sites on the first page of the search engine results. Even if they’re unfamiliar with how SEO works or why those pages rank first, they assume that Google has put them there for a reason and that these are reputable sites that can help them with a solution to their problem. Your ranking determines your business’s credibility in the eyes of your prospective clients.
If your website is optimized for searches and terms related to your products and services, you’ll increase the amount of traffic you’re driving to your site. This increases your number of qualified leads that you can capture and potentially turn into paying customers. Paid advertising and marketing can get expensive, so focusing on your inbound marketing strategy or getting help from an SEO marketing agency can save you money on your outbound marketing efforts.
Importance of Long Tail Keywords and Short Tail Keywords
There is a difference between the two, and it’s essential to have a strategy for both to ensure that you rank based on the different ways a user searches for answers.
Short tail keywords, also referred to as head terms, are typically 3 words or less.
Examples: “women’s clothing”, “Chinese food”, “cellphones”. Since they’re so broad, they’re very competitive when it comes to ranking because they generate such high search volumes.
Long-tail keywords are more specific and are generally an entire sentence. Since they’re more targeted, they’ll drive less traffic. Still, the user is further along in the decision-making process and knows what they’re looking for.
Examples: “plus size women’s athleisure,” “best wide foot running shoes,” “cellphones with the best quality camera.” These are all much more specific, and the user is eager to find the solution to their search. As a marketer, think like your customers and develop your keywords based on questions that could lead them to your product.
It’s important to rank for both short-tail and long-tail keywords so you can diversify your traffic and meet your customer in their different stages of the buyer journey. Short tail keywords are likely to find your buyer in the awareness stage, where long-tail keywords bring them closer to making a decision. An SEO marketing company can work with you to create a list of keywords that make sense for your business. They can also assist in creating content and copy that will optimize your website for those keywords.
Thought Media Can Help
Thought Media is an SEO marketing company serving the Toronto region. Search Engine Optimization is one of the many digital marketing services we offer. We would be delighted to help you develop your SEO strategy today.