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SEO

What is SEO & Why it Matters


Origins – What Is SEO?

Since its launch in 1998, Google has brought unimaginable quantities of information to the fingertips of users around the world. Today, Google and its competitors are the go-to resources for acquiring information quickly. Many fields have shifted (at least in part) to online mediums of interaction with followers or customers. If you can find it offline, chances are reasonable that you can find it online with a quick Google search.

An entirely new dimension of competition has formed online, whether it be in pure information transfer or in for-profit business. Understanding how to optimize a website in a search engine has become a crucial aspect of good competition in this new online sector.

“What is SEO?” can no longer be a question you ask but rather an action you take.

Role – Why It Matters

In its basic form, search engine optimization (SEO) is the art of making a website or a web page rank well on major search engines. Successful SEO practices ensure that a website will be among the first links to appear on a search engine for a specific search query.

For example: let’s say I own a bed and breakfast in Asheville, North Carolina. It has four rooms, several of which accommodate families of two or more. Naturally, my website will contain information about the bed and breakfast that I think customers will find relevant and appealing. A website with helpful information is important, but it’s not enough.

I want to make sure that when a family of four in California types in “bed and breakfast family of four Asheville NC” on Google, my website is among the first items seen. Once the dad of that family visits my site, I do not want him to get bored or frustrated with my website. I want to convince him through my website that that my bed and breakfast is the best choice for his family. SEO can help me achieve my goals for my website. With well-executed SEO techniques, I can make sure the dad in California sees my website first (or close to first). Many factors that contribute to convincing the dad that my bed and breakfast is the right one will also be connected to good SEO practices.

As An Art

In a market environment where most customers and information-seekers want to find what they are looking for quickly and intuitively, search engines are the logical tool of choice. But how will customers or information-seekers discover that your website has exactly what they are looking for unless you make your website readily available when they search? Websites do not rank themselves – it takes real work! Thankfully, the art of SEO is designed to help accomplish that work.