What Exactly is SEO and Why Does My Business Need It?
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is optimizing your business’s digital presence (including its website and business listings) for search engine results. The goal of SEO, or search engine optimization, is to get new customers from search engines like Google or Bing by being discovered easily on an internet search. This is further complicated by the general term “SEO” when there are actually four types: On-Page, Off-Page, Local, and Technical SEO. Read on to learn what exactly is SEO so you know what your business needs to stand out from the crowd.
Why Isn’t My New Website at the Top of Internet Rankings?
With over 250,000 new websites being launched every day, this is no easy task. Every one of these businesses hopes to be discovered quickly by a targeted audience, so the competition is fierce. But only those who have a comprehensive understanding of search engine algorithms, user behavior, and content optimization techniques and maintain a robust online presence can increase in search rankings. It is an ongoing effort that requires continuous monitoring, analysis, and adjustments to ensure long-term success and gain a competitive edge in the digital landscape.
What Exactly is SEO and How Does It Work?
SEO improves a website's visibility and ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). Through the strategic use of targeted keywords, optimized content, and various on-page and off-page optimization techniques, SEO works by optimizing different elements of a website, including its content, structure, and HTML code, to make it more appealing to search engines. This includes keyword research and implementation, on-page optimization, link building, and technical optimization. By aligning a website with search engine algorithms and best practices, SEO helps search engines understand its relevance and value, ultimately leading to higher rankings and increased visibility. Through ongoing monitoring and optimizations, SEO ensures that a website remains optimized and competitive in the ever-evolving digital landscape.
On-Page (or On-Site) SEO
On-page SEO is the most common form of search optimization, including keywords, meta descriptions, and title tags.
Some primary features of on-page SEO are:
Header Tags: H1s, H2s, & H3s
Keyword Placement: Insertions of top keywords for plumbers within different page elements
Meta Descriptions: 158 characters (928 pixels) shown beneath search results
Title Tags: SEO titles shown on search results and the browser
URL Structure: URLs displayed in the web address
Off-Page (or Off-Site) SEO
Off-site SEO, or off-page SEO, refers to the strategies and tactics implemented outside of a website's structure to improve its search engine rankings and visibility. It involves activities performed off the website to enhance its online reputation and authority. Offsite SEO primarily focuses on acquiring high-quality backlinks from other reputable websites and social media signals, brand mentions, and influencer partnerships.
Google values trust and authority, mainly established away from your website through link building, citations, and review generation. These can include:
Brand mentions - references to your brand on external domains
Link building - inbound links to your website from external domains
NAP citations - business citations from directories like Angie’s List, BBB, & HomeAdvisor
Social media - business profiles on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, & YouTube
Important notes:
It is essential to use quality backlinks that are ranked highly. Otherwise, your website may be marked unfavorably.
Your business information must be exact and match every citation.
If using a citation processing company, ensure that any links being built are consistent and will remain in play, even if you leave that service. Some will delete those backlinks if you stop paying for a monthly service.
Local SEO
Local search engine optimization has become increasingly critical over the last decade, and plumbing services are one of the top industries that can benefit from local SEO. Components of local SEO include Google Maps and Google Business Profile (Google My Business).
As Google has integrated location data like geo-coordinates into their search algorithm, they can now display results dynamically based on the searcher’s current location.
The emergence of mobile devices and WiFi internet access has also encouraged more frequent search queries and more relevant search results.
Here are some of the primary components of local SEO:
Google maps - Verified business location on Google Maps
Google business profile - Verified business page on Google Business Profile
Online reputation - Branded and optimized profiles throughout the web, preferably with reviews
Online reviews - Customer reviews on Google, Facebook, and elsewhere
Technical SEO
This is the most misunderstood aspect of SEO since normally only those with an overall web design and programming background genuinely understand how it works. A website user will not see this part of the development, but this technical element is critical to helping all other SEO components work well.
Technical SEO may include:
HTML / CSS coding - internal coding used for clean, responsive web display and navigation
Mobile display/optimization - optimal display and coding for mobile devices
Schema markup - microdata tags that help Google interpret website content
Site speed - minimized loading times for websites and their pages
Website design - the design itself, including aesthetics and navigation
Advanced SEO
The term “advanced SEO” may mean different things to different web designers but the general idea is, what will make my business website perform the best in a Google Search? Let’s break it down.
Content
In August 2022, Google released its “Helpful Content” guide, which states that website content should be robust and add value. Thin, low-quality content will be flagged unfavorably. With AI-generated content (such as ChatGPT) becoming more common, the good thing is that Google recognizes that this generated content is unable to meet its guidelines on demand. Good, quality content by humans is still recommended.
When creating individual pages on your website, it’s good to keep in mind:
Service Pages - If you have good, quality content, strive for individual pages for each service. This not only builds topical authority for each service but there are more opportunities to add attention-grabbing SEO.
Blog Posts - Blogs serve several purposes. They are an opportunity to add keyword-rich, authority-driven content, which causes Google to recrawl your website, but they are also a great way to draw in new readers to your website through social media.
City/State Pages - If your business works in several towns, cities, or even states, having a separate page with distinguishable content on each can capture the attention of those in separate towns. Just make sure the content is just not duplicated or “spammy” and there are blogs or pages that support each new page.
Client Location - Depending on the type of website you have, be sure to pinpoint the location of clients, especially if you are showing previous clients’ work. This is done differently with each website generator.
User Experience
Nothing is more off-putting than an unprofessional, confusing, or clunky website. Viewers will view a shoddy website as an extension of the care you put into your own business. Google recognizes this and if your website is not UX designed, it will penalize your ranking accordingly. Here are some aspects to keep in mind:
Site Speed - A site should load in less than 3 seconds, or the viewer will probably leave. This threshold becomes less and less every year so ensure yours is speedy.
Navigation - Is your navigation clean and easy to maneuver, or do you make users wade through layers in order to find what they need? Again, frustration is one of the biggest turnoffs to any viewer, and they will quickly turn to an easier-to-navigate website.
Usability - With ADA compliance, websites are held to a higher standard, ensuring that disabled users can use each website. Text size, alt text, and voice recognition must be considered in order to meet the needs of all possible users.
Link Building
Link building is sometimes a controversial subject for SEO, but Google openly admits to using links as a ranking factor. The problem is that earning links naturally is rare, as most websites don’t want to link to a blog post and certainly not a service page.
Your best chance of earning natural links is through your homepage, as other companies might list your business as a recommendation. Still, the link-building process is far more complex than anyone would like to admit.
Here are the main types of links:
No-follow links are hyperlinks from your website to other websites (or vice versa) that have no direct influence on your search engine results. Google doesn’t even crawl no follow links, and, as such, they pose a minimal threat of penalization.
Do-follow links hold the most ranking influence for SEO. When an authoritative website links to a page or posts on another website, there receiving site gains authority. In 2023, the algorithm is better at ignoring spam links; those that slip through the cracks may result in a manual penalty to the website. The best way to get white-hat DoFollow links is to create long-form blog posts.
Internal links refer to links built from one page of your website to another. Too often, web designers ignore the value of internal link equity and focus only on external links.
Reputation Management
Citations - One of the faster ways to build credibility is to list your business on local directories using a reputable citation builder service. Most directories include a NoFollow link to your website, strengthening your link profile. A consistent stream of NAP citations (name, address, phone number) proliferates your contact information through the web.
Reviews - Most viewers trust reviews on platforms like Google, Facebook, Yelp, etc. These reviews can be critical to your online reputation, so keep an eye on them, ask for reviews from clients as appropriate, and respond immediately to both good and bad reviews.
Social Proof - A digital badge, accreditation stickers, license numbers, testimonials, etc. are all proof that that you are an authority in your field. Be sure to include locations and service details whenever possible.
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