On the surface, Search Engine Optimization seems to focus on how search engine bots and algorithms rank your web pages. But in essence, this is a customer-focused process in which the goal is to understand what people are looking for online, the problems they are seeking to address, the content they want to access, and the words they are using.
In digital marketing strategies, SEO plays an important role that cannot be ignored. In a 2019 Bright Edge report, 68% of online experiences begin with a search engine, with Google holding the biggest chunk of the market share, followed by its subsidiary YouTube, Yahoo, and Bing.
Search Engine Optimization is essential to your digital marketing strategies that can boost your brand and online presence. Our SEO specialists use branded keywords (consumer queries that include your brand, competition, and industry) to achieve this goal.
To further boost your online visibility, our digital marketing experts also use an on-page SEO strategy to optimize your website. We will also employ off-page SEO tactics to improve traffic by placing links from other sites, sharing on social media platforms, and putting “citations” across the web.
Before we explain how SEO works, let’s look at how search engines like Google and Bing function.
Search engines use bots, also called as web crawlers, to index hundreds of billions of pages by collecting information from websites. These automatic robots use page speed, internal links, backlinks, title tags, social signals, keywords etc. to determine your ranking on search engine results pages or SERP.
As of this writing, Google uses more than 200 ranking factors in its algorithm to determine your rank on SERP. It’s the combination of all these factors working together that determines where you’ll fall in the search rankings.
Meanwhile, Search Engine Optimization is a set of strategies that ensure high ranking in search engines for relevant keywords and phrases.
To put this in perspective, imagine you have an article about “cheap travel destinations.”
Your goal is to make this content accessible and visible to anyone searching for “cheap travel destinations.” This is where your SEO campaign comes in handy.
A highly effective SEO publishes relevant content that is link-worthy, updated regularly, has appropriate alt tags and metadata, and contains the right keywords and phrases.
But a word of caution with excessive use of keywords and phrases is a black hat practice called keyword stuffing. Webpages that resort to this practice are penalized or even removed altogether by Google because they don’t give real value to the readers.
Search engines systematically browse the World Wide Web to index and rank websites. They scan not just the written content but also the images and their embedded information, the site’s code, and the inbound and outbound links, to name a few.
Your sitemap plays a critical role in your SEO campaign. In essence, it acts like a guide or directory that carries all the information about your web pages.
The web pages within the sitemap are listed in a hierarchical order in which the most relevant ones are at the top. In contrast, the less significant ones are at the bottom. For users, this “directory” can help them navigate easily across the website.
Aside from enhancing the navigation capabilities of your website, sitemap has another critical role. It allows search engine bots to crawl and index your web pages.
At LOJO, our digital marketing experts can optimize your sitemap to allow the bots to crawl, index, and, ultimately, rank your web pages at the top.
When someone types into the search box “cheap travel destinations,” Google will show all the relevant sites and rank them accordingly—from the highest quality sources to the least relevant web pages.
Your web pages must rank high, or they should stay within the first five listings on SERP. According to a study, more than 67% of all clicks go to the top five pages.
Another thing to keep in mind: About 90% of Google users don’t go past page one. For this reason, our SEO experts employ multiple strategies to ensure that our clients enjoy high rankings on relevant keywords and phrases.
The list below explains the main factors that affect your search engine ranking:
Aside from the factors stated above, Google uses other criteria (a total of 200) to determine your relevance and ranking. However, the three most important pillars are the following:
SEO strategies can be categorized into two main types. The first one is the on-page which optimizes the actual website, and the off-page. The latter increases its authority through backlinks and content creation from other sites.
Also referred to as the title tag, this is the main heading you see in SERP. Our SEO experts recommend keeping it under 65 characters and choosing your words wisely.
URLs are also commonly known as web addresses. They are located at the top of the browser window in the address bar.
At LOJO, we structure this so that the users and the search engine bots know what’s inside your page. Easy-to-understand URLs that contain relevant keywords are more likely to earn clicks, which can further boost your SEO campaign.
This is a short description that appears below the URL on a search results page or below the headline of a social post.
When writing meta descriptions, our content creators ensure that it contains the relevant keywords and describes the page’s content. They keep it under 155 characters, so the full description is visible in search results.
Linking related pages on your website allows search engine bots and users to see everything. It can also help them navigate the content easily. On the other hand, externally linking your site to other websites can boost your SEO.
Our content creators and SEO writers make sure that each article and blog post is unique, valuable, engaging, and easy to read.
Slow-loading sites mean a bad user experience. That’s why Google has started using page load speed as one of the ranking factors, especially for mobile searches.
Your site should have a responsive design that adjusts to the content when viewed from a smartphone or any mobile device. It encourages users to stay on your website longer and rank higher on search engines.
Off-page search engine optimization is an invaluable component of search engine optimization that has the potential to multiply your traffic. And because Google accounts for the vast majority of search results, let’s focus on how it treats backlinks.
Note: On-page and off-page strategies complement each other in that they often overlap. And when these two are combined with technical SEO (which relates to the site speed, mobile-friendliness, security, etc.), you can compete with more established companies with a bigger budget.
Content marketing involves creating and sharing valuable materials, such as blogs, social media posts, videos, infographics, etc., to generate interest and engage with the target audience.
Here at LOJO, we make sure that our content marketing adheres to the principle of inbound marketing—wherein the customer is the king. With our customer-focused marketing strategies, we create valuable content and experiences tailored specifically to the target audience.
This marketing approach makes the recipient more receptive to the “subtle” marketing message and the more upfront sales pitch. The list below shows some of the most commonly used content marketing end-products:
People love free stuff. That’s why giving valuable, free content to your target customers is one of the most effective SEO strategies.
Technical Search Engine Optimization focuses on improving your ranking by making it “friendlier” to the search engine bots or crawlers that index your website. It’s about tech-heavy processes to boost your search visibility further.
Off-page SEO focuses on promoting your site through backlinks. Conversely, on-page SEO focuses mostly on content people see when they visit your site.
In a nutshell, technical Search Engine Optimization deals with the following:
Our SEO specialists conduct regular technical SEO audits to make sure that the search engine bots can easily index and rank your web pages.
While social media has no direct impact on SEO, it remains a powerful platform to help you boost your SEO campaigns. That’s because social media content can be a powerful link-building tool—crucial to improving your ranking on Google.
The list below explains the indirect impact of social media on your SEO strategies:
Social media and SEO are two sides of the same coin. As such, social media and SEO strategies go hand in hand as part of a solid inbound marketing campaign.
For more info, check out our different SEO packages that meet your unique business needs and budget. (Note: Further below, you can also check our SEO add-on section and Premium Social Media Activities.)
If you are getting started and want to show up on map (Google Maps – Google My Business), this is the plan for you!
This plan is all about attracting the right kind of customers with targeted content. Give them what they want!
Bring the visitors in and give them a content feast! That is what this plan is all about.
Key Word Audit & Optimization
Local SEO
(Tasks include items such as Google My Business and directory listing optimization.)
On-Page Optimization
(Tasks include, meta tag, title tag, and internal linking optimization.)
Off-Page Optimization
(Tasks such as link building and content syndication are performed.)
Technical SEO
Website Audit
Content Development
(Each article is fully keyword optimized and contains citations and internal links as applicable. Each article is run through a software to check for spelling and grammar.)
Social Media Content Posting
Reporting
Monthly planned activities/performance reports.
Content offers are a prominent lead generation tool that helps your users solve a problem.
Offers Include:
(1 Blog post – The article is fully keyword optimized and contains citations and internal links as applicable. It is run through a software to check for spelling and grammar.)
Many times, new visitors will find you through blogs. Blogs ensure SEO juice is constantly being added to your website through indexed pages and keywords.
Blogging Activities Include:
(Each article is fully keyword optimized and contains citations and internal links as applicable. Each article is run through a software to check for spelling and grammar.)
Premium service are available on request and would be an additional cost.
Premium Social Media Management Includes:
Available on request and would be an additional cost.
Premium Content Offers Include:
At LOJO, we can help you propel your site to the top through quality content creation, SEO techniques, on-page and off-page optimization, and social media management.
We are a team of SEO space cadets who have mastered the art of propelling websites to the top using data and technology. We’ve got some serious chops in our field, and we’re ready to help you get your site off the ground—and into orbit!
Get in touch with us now, and let’s discuss how our SEO services can help your business. You may call us at (916) 303-4080 to learn more about our services.
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