You know you’ve heard about SEO and that it is important to the growth of your company. However, that doesn’t mean you fully understand it, or its true value.
To really understand SEO requires a deeper assessment into how search engines work. I know it sounds tedious, but trust me, your business will thank you for taking the time to learn more about this marketing approach.
How Search Engines Work
Google is unquestionably the king of search engines currently. They average 5.6 billion searches daily worldwide, so we are going to use them as our exemplar search engine. For our discussion, we are going to pretend to live in Chicago, IL. Finally, we’re going to pretend we have an accounting business.
Your future customer goes to Google and enters “accountant” and gets 1,090,000,000 nationwide results. They probably then will begin to use different terms. Maybe they try “Accountant in Chicago”. Great, now they are down to 307,000,000 options. Why? There aren’t 307,000,000 accountants in Chicago. Google searches for any combination of the words “accountants in Chicago” – not just local accountants.
Looking at all those choices, we know that most users seldom look past page 1, so that’s where we want to be. At the top are a couple of pay-per-click (i.e. advertising) listings. Though effective, this form of marketing is VERY expensive as you have to bid against your competitors to get them.
Below that, there is a map that shows other accountants and their locations. This is a good area to be in.
Below the map-based listings, you begin to find the unpaid/organic listings. How are those ranked? By algorithms (a math term meaning formulas) Google has written. This is where SEO begins to come in.
Search Engine Algorithms
All search engines, including Google, use an algorithm, which is a fancy term for formula, to determine what sites rank in what order. That algorithm takes the words in the search “accountants in Chicago” and looks for sites with those same words. The more times those words turn up, the higher the ranking.
So why not make a site and just write “Accountants in Chicago” over and over? Good logic, but it doesn’t work that way. The algorithms are able to “read” the content. If it doesn’t make sense, the site is considered to be in violation of search engine rules and may be penalized.
Instead, those terms must be found within the website content in a way that sounds normal and conversant.
Additionally, who knows what exact terms that future client may choose? Maybe they will go with “Accountant in IL” or “Tax Account in Chicago” or something completely different. Each word is individually considered, so “Accountant in Chicago” will rank different than “Tax Accountant in IL”.
The best way to rank higher in Google and other search engines is through an approach called SEO (which is short for Search Engine Optimization).
Getting Higher Search Rankings
SEO is a way of optimizing your site to grab the attention of the algorithm and encourage it to rank you higher in a natural and organic fashion. It includes not only the words used in your site content, but the design of the site itself and the addition of ongoing content (in the form of blogs) to increase the number of times the focused words can be used naturally. This is just the way Google likes it.
SEO is NOT quick. To avoid being flagged and potentially blacklisted, it takes time to build the necessary content to increase rankings. However, it can be done and for significantly less cost than paying for placement.
SEO not only takes time to work and improve your ranking; it also takes time to accomplish. Writing blogs, ensuring the proper use and placement of key terms and phrases, posting blogs in a regular, scheduled manner, and sharing with your social media platforms (which is a whole other ball of worms) is time-consuming and tedious. You are running business…who has the time?
We do. And it’s a huge part of our business. We’ve gotten very good at it. Contact Top Jump Marketing to discuss where your website currently ranks on Google or other search engines. Let us show you how to improve that ranking and increase your online business visibility. Call us today at (800) 795-2187 or complete the contact form and we’ll be in touch.
