SEO: three simple letters that hold the key to online success. You might know that search engine optimization (SEO) is important and has something to do with search engines. But what is SEO, and why does it matter?

This article is your primer on all things SEO and its potential impact on your business. If you’re ready to start honing your SEO knowledge without getting lost in the tech jargon, buckle up! We’ll explain SEO’s ins and outs, help you tap into its potential, and help your business shine online.

A Short Overview of SEO

SEO stands for search engine optimization, meaning optimizing your website content and technical setup so that Google (plus other search engines) can crawl, index, and understand your content to rank your web pages higher in search results. This digital marketing strategy will help you increase your site’s visibility and likely more organic search traffic.

If a potential customer or client searches for a topic relevant to your products or services, you want to be on the top of that search engine results page (SERP) alongside your competitors. If you aren’t, another business may have just gained a new customer—or you lost one.

SEO allows you to lead the customer through your buying process. In addition to visibility and increased website traffic, SEO contributes to your company’s authoritative voice in your industry. And that authority builds brand trust, which ultimately becomes brand loyalty.

Why Is SEO So Important for Your Business?

SEO is one of the most powerful digital marketing strategies you can deploy to improve sales, build credibility, increase brand awareness, and gain a leg up on your competitors.

A solid SEO foundation not only attracts new customers but also lets you deepen your business’s relationship with those customers because of the trust you establish with them.

How SEO Works

SEO is about both quality and quantity. Search engines want to provide the most relevant, high-quality results to searchers, so websites need substantive, helpful content and technical optimization to rank well.

A solid SEO strategy typically includes these elements:

· Keyword analysis

· Backlink building

· Content creation

· Technical maintenance