The first time you heard the term “search engine optimization” (short: SEO), you probably asked yourself several questions, starting with basic ones, like: what is search engine optimization anyway? What are search engine optimized texts (SEO texts), and what advantages do they offer? These questions may seem simple, but the answers are generally much more involved. This is why we would like to answer a few of the most fundamental questions below.
So, what is search engine optimization anyway?
SEO is short for search engine optimization. This type of optimization is the most basic building block of any good website since all websites should of course be able to be found. In order to make this possible, websites need to have certain content so their target group can find them on search engines like Google, Yahoo or Bing. The meaning of this sentence is the absolute basis and quintessence of search engine optimization. But what is considered to be content?
Content is qualified information on websites that provides value to them. A target group decides for or against a certain service based on a website’s content, which can make a site stand out among the rest. Thus, the goal to is to offer potential customers real value through a product offered. Content consists not only of text but also images and videos that also represent the said product.
What occurs in a search engine when we search for a particular term?
When we search for a particular keyword on a search engine, various websites will be presented to us in the search results. A search engine algorithm decides for the visitors which results should be considered relevant. For website owners like us, it is then of course of great interest to appear in the first results, since visitors usually click on the first results on a page. Implementing SEO improves the quality and quantity of the content on your site and makes your search result more organic.
An Overview: Organic vs. Paid Search Results
There are two different ways to get a website to appear in the first positions of a search query.
On one hand, website owners can pay Google, Yahoo, Bing, and other search engines for these spots. Owners enter in so-called focus keywords for which the target group should be able to find the website. Let’s take for example a search for “shoe store in NYC”. If a potential customer is looking for a shoe store in NYC, this website owner’s site will most likely appear in the first few spots of the results. The downside of this paid system is that a higher-bidding competitor can easily take this advantageous spot away from you. In addition, users are shown which ads are paid in the search results.
On the other hand, search results can appear organically in the top spots for a search query. To get this organic search result, search engine optimization will need to be implemented.
A Summary of the Advantages of Organic SEO
At the end of the day, it always pays off to aim for organic results generated through search engine optimization. Of course, you should know that content creation and website design takes a lot of work, but the success and user numbers you will receive will speak for this and make it worth the effort. By optimizing your content, you will gain three very important advantages:
- Organic content is much less expensive than paid results. It may seem trivial but is actually pretty important since the position of organic results on search engines does not need to be paid for. This means that you do not need to pay for each user’s visit to your website.
- Optimizing your website ensures that the majority of users made aware of your site are actually interested in your products and services. Because of this, the chance of them making a purchase is much higher.
- More organic content also means a better ranking, since the number of clicks to a site is very relevant to the algorithm of a search engine. This means that the more often your website is visited, the more likely it is to maintain a good search engine ranking and thus also attract the attention of even more new customers.
The Boost That Pays Off
SEO-optimized content is indispensable for the creation and maintenance of websites. Sites that use content relevant for ranking (such as texts, images, or videos) smartly have basically already won the game. Why? Sites that appear in the first organic search results receive a high number of clicks from users, which drives more traffic to the site. More traffic means not only a high probability of a sale but also a positive impact on ranking on a search engine. This way, your site stays in one of the top spots or even moves up further. The effect that good content has is clearly exponential.
It can thus be stated that the goal of a website’s content is to present relevant information that is at best SEO-optimized to the appropriate target group. For this, however, interesting questions come up, such as how are SEO texts composed and which criteria play a role in a good ranking.
To be continued…
