As a small business owner we often need to explain what we do for a living. In my industry, internet marketing, it isn’t as easy as.. “I sell sports hats” or “take wedding portraits” but tends to lead to a lengthy conversation and educating potential consumers. It usually entails working on websites to make them more searchable by the search engines which in turn make the website reachable by the consumers. And still I’ll get asked later if I build websites because people don’t always get it.
It’s all about education
Not all of us are lucky enough to have a profession or product/service that easily explainable like a car mechanic or shoe salesman (no disrespect to those folks) but dern! I can’t really explain what I do in a 30-60 second elevator speech but that’s okay because with the right amount time and education about SEO, PPC, email marketing, website readability, social media marketing and the like, the more informed the consumer is to make a decision and that right there is the Best Value!
Be sure you are educating your consumers – that’s the best value you can provide! Click To TweetThe search functionality
So my point of this blog was to explain a little bit about SEO, or search engine optimization WITHOUT anyone glazing over or getting that deer in the headlights look! Lol
- A person types a search into the search engine (that’s Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask, etc) in order to help them find something.
- Those search engines then show the SERP, or search engine results page, that provides 10 organic (not paid) results with websites that best meet the needs of that search query
- The person searching hopefully finds what they are looking for within those first few, maybe 10 results. If not, they continue to page 2 or maybe 3 but that is likely as far as they will go before trying a more specific search phrase
How the search engines work
As you know, you type in a search phrase and quickly get what you want within a matter of seconds, so the information that the search engines provided must have previously been cached, stored. The search engines crawl every website and store that information until needed. If you are updated (or optimizing) your website on a regular, ideally monthly, basis, the search engines will see that it is being updated and crawl your website on a more regular basis.
Authority is given to websites which provide value to the consumers, update their website regularly and ones that have good functionality (for the lack of better words and simplification). Further, if your website is shown in the SERP and actually clicked through, search engines are happy, because they are providing their consumer, the searcher, with what they want to see.
Give the consumers what they are looking for and keep the search engines happy. Click To TweetSo what really IS SEO
Search engine optimization is basically optimizing your website for the search engines. While this is true,
times have changed and there are mean people in the world following unethical standards, black hat SEO. So, this has caused search engines to be more particular about how they rank websites. However, one thing really hasn’t and won’t change – providing value to your consumers.
Optimize your website with value:
- Provide keyword rich, not spammy, content that is easily understandable to your consumers
- Create meta titles that clearly explain what each specific page is about
- Create keyword rich descriptions that clearly explain what each specific page is about
- Utilize your alt tags (picture identifiers) using words that describe the picture and the benefit of it being near that accompanying text
- Add header tags to help break up the text for the consumer to make it more scannable
- Update your website on a regular basis – ideally monthly but every other would be suffice if you can’t manage. A blog is a great way to continue to add value and quality content to your website
There are various other tactics, such as website readability, navigation, page speed and the like that can make your website more user friendly for the consumer. Similarly, these things also make it more search engine friendly as well, but as long as the reader/consumer is happy, the search engines will likely be as well.
Bottom line:
Optimize your website to be seen by the search engines, in order to be seen by your consumers Click To TweetHopefully this has provided a little more basic insight into search engine optimization, how to utilize SEO and benefit the reader and how search engines work. Let me know in the comments below…. What is your biggest struggle with SEO?
Feel free to contact me with any questions on SEO or marketing your website.
~Kristen
this might be the best simplification of SEO I’ve ever read! I’ve been slowly implementing these strategies but I’ve just printed this out as a checklist to help me remember to do these things! Very useful!
YAY! Thanks Erin, keep an eye out.. there is lots more where that comes from! :0 Glad it was helpful
Great article to simplify a complicated subject. We are in the business of PPC also and the number of times PPC and SEO get confused as the same thing lol.
Yea, people don’t get PPC either, I usually don’t mention I do it when at networking for that reason. I can’t believe they confuse PPC and SEO though, Suzii
What would I do without you? Our web designer is an SEO person & handles ours, taught us, checks us but understand it from your explanations. What upsets me is that we do all the right things and still can’t show up in searches. Not giving up but it is hard to get organic search.
Hi Roslyn, make sure that your business is in as many local listings as you can. These add credibility to your website and boost your position in the search engines.
Awww, thanks Roz! I’m glad you have someone to help you and that you can still gain insight from me! 🙂
I just love your articles. But you already knew that. I think my biggest challenge on SEO came from my biggest talent — writing. I crafted all my text based on word usage and flow and grammar and all those other great things that you need to do to make your writing compelling (the best compliment anyone can give you is “I read your article all the way to the end.”). And while it’s important to have well-written information on your website, the web crawlers don’t give a crap about your elegant phrasing or immaculate punctuation. I had to make the hard transition from good writing to “what the hell are people searching for.” When the two met, it was a happy confluence of events. Otherwise, I had to stop, regroup and pay closer attention to searchable content.
You have taught me that also Jackie and it isn’t about “dumbing it down” but making it to where your followers can understand, doesn’t mean they are dumb, just that it’s not their specialty! You are so right, thank you!
So true, Kristen — not “dumbing down” at all. I used to tell my reporters, “Pretend you’re explaining it to your grandmother.”
Or just realize that not everyone does what you do, duh, so explain it to them so they CAN understand. Thanks Jackie!
Hi Kristen, I feel your pain when it comes to describing to others what I do.
Try this next time: “I make money on the Internet.”
It works for me because people either say, “oh”, if they’re not very interested. OR, they ask me how I do it.
Cheers!
Rob
Yea, true Rob, but I think so many people are also skeptical of the “make money” bit too since there are so many MLM’s out there saying they can help people make money. Don’t get me wrong, MLM’s are great, but it’s also work.
Great article! Ah SEO I feel like I have been the deer in headlights this week with it all so I appreciate you breaking it down for us 🙂
Awww, sorry Alissia that you have been the deer, hopefully this helped!
finally a place to get started that’s simle enough to really get my head around – thanks!
Glad this was simple enough for you Dana. A great starting place!
I’m always thankful for your input, Kristen, on my website and newsletter. My biggest struggle is not knowing if it’s paying off in terms of people searching. When I search for “god essential oils tucson,” I’m #5 for a tweet, but really #3 because #1 #2 don’t have “god.” My website is #7 (really #5). If I just search for “god essential oils,” I’m not on the first 3 pages.
It’s paying off Carol. You will never know how much now, but in a year, or two… everything that you are doing will pay off. It isn’t just about the website… but the website, the SEO, the social media, the email marketing and everything you are doing. It IS an impact.
As far as your searches, you are doing to drive yourself crazy in keyword terms, what order, adding geo tags and etc… but as long as you have the words on the page and providing value to your consumer, it will pay off
Thanks! I’d never searched for myself before and it was maddening.
Awesome, good to know where you stand though, right Carol?
Great easy-to-follow explanation of SEO. Even the non-techie types would be able to follow and understand what SEO is and why it’s important.
Learning how to write for the web as opposed to other writing is an important skill for a successful blogger or entrepreneur.
Awesome Marie, you nailed it. Thanks!
I love the way you break things down to the simplest of forms! You’re always a good read, thanks!
Thanks so much Cindy, I really appreciate you coming over here and even taking the time to comment! Awesome!
You have the ability to explain complex idea in simple terms. A natural teacher.
Think I’ve learned more from you and your blogs than reams of other educational materials.
Keep ’em coming, Kristen!
Awww, thanks so much Sharon, I appreciate the kind words. Glad you are finding them beneficial! Thank you so much!
This is a very helpful article and will be used for our clients when they need a simply put explanation.
This makes perfect sense especially for business owners who have always been on retail and are taking their business online. It’s important to learn how to brand you products and how to get it online without hassle.
Thanks Elizabeth – need to be where our consumers are and optimize our sites so they can find us
I hate that we’ll always have to fight against black hat tactics, but all we can do is the best we can, right?
You are right Liz.. there will ALWAYS be the black hats, the scammers, the spammers and the hackers.
I think the hardest thing for some people to understand is that SEO requires work. You can’t just put up a website, leave it and expect to do well in search engines! Great post.
YES Thank you Stacey.. it HAS to be monthly… forever!
Hi Kristen,
You’ve written such a nice post. I love it.
Always taught that SEO is a must have job for a blogger, but difficult to understand.
Thanks
Minuca
Thanks Minuca…. keep trucking along and it will begin to make more sense. 😉
I’m boggled by so much of SEO. One thing that drives me INSANE is that another local company used to do similar tours to us. They have absolutely not updated their website in years- I know because there was drama surrounding their web guy, etc and they couldn’t even update their info. So why they pop up on all of the searches I do but we don’t is making me insane. Then I get a lecture AGAIN from the boss about how important it is to show up in searches. I KNOW but dang, how do I DO it? How are THEY doing it, is my real question. They don’t even operate as a business anymore but they apparently are still paying for their website to be active.
I hear you Suzette, and so look forward to helping you out. Folks just don’t get it that if you do X today, that you will be on page 1 tomorrow. Folks have to remember that SEO isn’t a one and done thing, it is NEVER done, longevity helps, which is why that other guy is still showing up, blogs help, extra content, user experience, business industry listings elsewhere.. so many things that come into play. We’ll talk next week!