Search engine optimization (SEO) refers to increasing your site pages’ visibility in organic (unpaid) search results. While SEO may also be used for driving paid search traffic (pay-per-click or PPC ads), doing so requires different skillset and approach.
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, or simply “search engine optimization”, and involves optimizing content on web pages so search engines understand their purpose and meaning. To accomplish this goal, SEO utilizes various techniques such as keywords, title tags, meta descriptions, image alt text, internal link structure and other technical elements which all help inform search engines what your pages are all about and whether or not they could be important or relevant to a query.
Google and other major search engines offer people a way to locate information that might provide answers or solve their problems, from basic web pages and videos to product recommendations and product suggestions. Search engines exist specifically to assist people in this search by indexing billions of web pages that can then be quickly retrieved when someone performs a search query.
Everyone who has ever conducted a search knows that search results are determined by an intricate algorithm, taking many factors into consideration when selecting pages to return for any given query. This enables Google and other search engines to provide such high-quality, relevant results when someone conducts a search query.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is an ongoing effort to ensure that the pages on your website are optimized and structured in such a way as to make them accessible and rank well with search engines. Since it requires both time and resources to achieve success, it’s vital that you first grasp the fundamentals before delving deeper into practices and techniques.
If you’re curious about SEO and want to incorporate it into your marketing efforts, investing some of your time to become proficient will likely pay dividends. However, for business owners with other priorities or who need help running their company or working other areas of it simultaneously, outsourcing this work might be more suitable. For example, hiring someone experienced in growth marketing or web development might be more suitable as an employee could do the work themselves instead of delegating it themselves.