What is SEO and why does my brand need it?

SEO stands for search engine optimization. It’s the practice of optimizing your site so that Google can easily find it and place it as a top search result. Your visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs) is a worthwhile payoff. There are many other available search engines, but 90% of searches are done on Google – that’s 2.2 million searches in a day.

SEO is the process of getting a website or piece of content to rank higher on Google. To make it a bit simpler, search engine optimization means taking a piece of online content and optimizing it, so search engines like Google show it towards the top of the page when someone searches for something. SEO targets unpaid traffic (known as “natural” or “organic” results) rather than direct traffic or paid traffic.

If your brand is new to SEO, it’s a good idea to link your URL with Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools. From here, you can get your feet wet and familiarize yourself with SEO data related to your website. These programs help you learn which specific keywords and phrases people type or speak into a search engine to find your brand’s website.

Google has one goal. To provide the best answers to people with questions. Google does this by connecting their searches to the highest quality piece of content available, and to do that, Google uses complex algorithms which have established rules and preferences. If you follow these rules and meet Google’s preferences, Google will reward you with a slot on their front page. Here are a few practical steps to gain traction on search engines:

1. List your website on Google, Bing and any other engines you might want.

2. Conduct simple beginner keyword research.

3. Add a “press” page on your website.

4. Sync all of your social media to your website so it’s in one place.

5. Add meta tags.

Implementing SEO into your brand’s marketing is fairly simple. To do the basics, you don’t need to be an expert. Any marketing professional can learn from scratch and gain some knowledge even in a short amount of time by putting free training and resources to use.

However, keep in mind that since search engines are constantly changing their algorithms, marketing teams need to be frequently monitoring the latest trends, tips, tricks, data and more as it relates to SEO. Brands without the capacity to take on SEO marketing internally should consider partnering with an experienced SEO firm to do so on their behalf. In the meantime, get optimizing.