The more advanced and precise marketing becomes, the more complex for understanding it becomes. There are really an abundance of information one needs to know in order to be able to create an effective marketing campaign which will actually bring in new customers and above all else – revenue. Analytics are the key when it comes to modern marketing, especially when we are talking about Web marketing. Web marketing is still very much a thing that is in flux and is still changing, which makes it difficult for newcomers to understand, especially if they are not very prone to using the Web as their everyday routine.
One of the things that Web marketing newcomers find particularly difficult to understand is Search Engine Optimization (SEO). In these few lines, I’m going to attempt to clear up some of the fog around this form of Web marketing and bring it closer to the average users.
Why is SEO important?
Outside of social networks, most navigation through online content is done through search engines. As we all know, users type in the key words they are interested in and their engine of choice spits out the most relevant list of results referred to as SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). Depending on the specificity of the search, that list can be very short (when it is very specific) or very long, counting in millions of search results (when the key words are vague). The thing that counts the most is the first page of the SERPs. Users very rarely go farther than the first page of the search results since they consider it the most relevant, and if they can’t find what they are looking for, they usually change the scope of their search.
Through SEO, you make sure that your Website meets the standards proposed by popular search engines and this allows you to get better rankings for your optimal keywords. This directly influences the amount of traffic you get since more people who actually have interest into what you have to offer, be it information, products, services or something else entirely, will visit your website. This is called natural traffic because you are not tricking people nor chasing possible customers, you have merely enabled people to find you through their searches.
Why is SEO so problematic?
While the benefits of SEO may seem obvious, factors that influence the rankings are all but straightforward. Search engine algorithms are quite complex and they need to be in order to provide users with most relevant results. The problem with disclosing the precise list of factors that these algorithms take into account when ranking websites is that it could destroy the search engines’ credibility through allowing the unnatural manipulation of search engine results. This is why the official guidelines search engine experts release are quite vague and why you will run into very different interpretations of quality SEO efforts since different experts will put stress on different things. They base their approach on their own analytics and draw conclusions based on the effects they achieve. The algorithms tend to change a lot and you need to keep checking your analytics and official news so you can remain relevant.
This is why there are so many SEO “experts” who offer substandard services. In some cases, their analytics are bad, in others, they haven’t been keeping up to date with the latest changes. This is why you need to be cautious when you choose who does this work for you.
Tools of the trade
Even if you are outsourcing your SEO and relying on freelancers to do it for you, you might still want to follow the progress they are making, and Googling yourself isn’t enough. There are tons of tools that can help you do this while also providing you with an insight into what you are doing right and what you are doing wrong. On top of that, you can learn a lot by using the right software and the premium ones are regularly updated to keep in line with the latest trends.
SEO can bring a lot of things to the table if done right, but it can also drain your funds s with no results rendered if you are not careful. Furthermore, it takes time for these results to show their face, so it becomes problematic to assess if your SEO expert is competent or not.