These days, every business owner seems to be talking about SEO. Talking about its importance, how it helped their business and why it was essential to their digital marketing efforts. And if you’re sitting there unsure about what they are talking about, it can make you feel out of place.

We get it; you don’t want to ask too many questions without sounding aloof. There’s a level of self-consciousness there that you don’t want to touch. That’s absolutely fine; it’s why we created this ultimate list of the commonly asked and in-demand questions about SEO. Here are the explanations to the 11 SEO questions that you’ve been dying to ask.

 

11 Questions About SEO

So, What’s the General Idea Behind SEO?

SEO stands for search engine optimization, which is the process of “optimizing” (another word for using techniques and tactics) to help boost your website’s organic rankings (SERP) on Google. The higher you rank, the more unpaid traffic and leads you’ll get for your business.

What are Some of these Techniques that You Mention?

Ohh, well, there are so many of them to keep count. It all depends on the current status and design of your website, its current rankings and your long-term goals. But to get you off to a positive start, there are two types of SEO to use: on-page and off-page.

What are the Differences Between the Two?

As their names suggest, one focuses on optimizing your website while the latter focuses on optimizing your status “off” your website.

Let’s look at an example below of on-page optimization:

• Placing keywords (what your audience uses to search for your service or goods online) throughout your website’s content
• Creating content that is engaging that keeps your audience on your website for longer and encourages them to take action
• Making your website easy to navigate for users
• Contain lots of images and videos to enhance its user experience
• Creating hyperlinks (known as crosslinks) between website pages to help build their authority

As for off-page optimization, this refers to work conducted outside the scope of your website. The more optimization you do off your website, the more Google picks up your intentions to spread your authority. Here are some examples of off-page SEO:

• Creating profiles about your business on directories, such as Yelp, the Better Business Bureau and BrightLocal, and linking back to your website
• Creating social media profiles and posting on them consistently
• Managing your Google My Business profile
• Guest blogging, where you write blogs for other websites and link back to your website

The essential idea behind off-page SEO is that it is about creating backlinks.

Yes, I’ve Heard About Backlinks Before. Give Me the Short Answer.

Backlinks represent a vote of confidence from one site to another and are known in the digital marketing world as a “link-building” strategy.

When Google searches for keyword queries, it starts by indexing their websites, using backlinks – when one website links to another – to help provide the best results.

The more backlinks you have from high-quality and authoritative websites (notice how all the examples we mentioned above are from top-tier, well-known sites?), the higher you’ll rank organically.

It Sounds Like a Lot is Needed for SEO. Do I Need All of it?

No, you do not! As we mentioned, it all depends on the current design and status of your website, your rankings and your goals.

You might only require new keywords and additional content. Or you might just need to spruce up your backlinks to give your site more power. SEO strategies vary from client to client.

What About as a Starting Point?

Three things are important then: keywords (choosing the right ones for your goods and services), content (you need a fair bit of it, and it has to be good; no content for the sake of content) and link-building (backlinks). These three should help you get off to a good start.

Do I Really Need SEO, though?

Well, you don’t have to do it, but you’ll be a fool not to.

While you can use the likes of Google Ads (known as pay-per-click) or social media marketing to boost your traffic and get leads, they’re costly options. And because they’re ads, they look like spammy marketing.

SEO might take more time to build your website’s authority and value slowly, but ranking on the first page of Google showcases your credibility in your industry. Businesses that rank higher tend to enjoy more leads and organic traffic than those that don’t.

The best bet would be a mixture of both Google Ads, social media marketing and SEO to get your business started, so you can generate leads before ranking on the first page of Google.

Can I do it Myself?

You can, and many people have done it successfully on their own. There is a lot of valuable information out there that can help you learn and improve your SEO.

But as with most things, if you find yourself out of depth or you notice that you aren’t getting results (or making things worse), it’s best to hire a professional SEO agency.

What are the Perks of an SEO Agency?

There are so many!

They do the work for you (saving you lots of time), they’ll manage your resources (saving you money), they’ll avoid penalties, and best of all, they know what your website needs to rank better.

They have tools and resources at their disposal to find out what’s working, what’s not and what needs to be done for you to rank better.

Sounds Like the Smarter Move. But You Mentioned Penalties?

Yes, so Google penalizes websites that break their Webmaster Guidelines.

Some examples could be keyword stuffing (excessively using the keyword repeatedly), having zero to minimal content, using poor backlinks (from unscrupulous sources) or paying other websites to link back to you. Do any of these, and you’ll notice your rankings will drop, or worse, being taken off Google completely.

Just another reason to hire an agency to save you from getting penalties.

 

Awesome – You’ve Convinced Me.

Great! Now, it’s time to start looking for an agency to help you with your SEO journey. Please ensure they are well-respected in the industry, have a positive track record, and don’t offer obscene or super cheap prices. Get quotes, assess your options and hire the best agency possible for your business!