Why Search Engine Optimization is important for Every Digital Marketing Campaign
Shalom Solomon
When I first began content writing, and I came across Search Engine Optimization in the course of a research, my first impression was "nuh-uh, this isn't for me".
Over time, I kept on bumping into the term over and over in digital marketing articles.
So, I finally got curious and decided to check it out. I discovered that SEO wasn't as complex and techie (like coding) as I envisioned it to be. More so, I realized that SEO was very important for content development and digital marketing for businesses.
Poor SEO could be the reason your digital marketing campaign isn't producing the desired results. When done properly though, it could be the secret ingredient your digital marketing campaign needs to boost your brand's identity and promote your business to the heights you've always dreamed of.
What is Search Engine Optimization?
Search Engine Optimization in simple terms according to Search Engine Land, is the process of improving your website's crawlability in order to increase it's ranking and visibility for relevant searches.
The visibility of your website is determined by it's ranking on the search engine. Which is basically how relevant a search engine considers your website's content is in answering a search query.
Confused? Don't panic, it will get clearer soon (wink).
Photo Credit: Pixabay
To properly understand and grasp the concept and workings of search engine optimization, we have to first of all understand the most important components of a search engine which are: crawlers, index, algorithms and ranking.
1. Crawlers
Web crawlers are bots or spiders of a search engine (btw, creepy)that go around the internet 24/7 and follow links on the web.
2. Index
An index (in search engines) is the database in which web crawlers save the HTML version of a page. It is updated whenever a crawler visits your site and finds a new or updated version of it. Thus, the more changes or activity you carry out on your website, the more web crawlers update your index and visit your website.
3. Algorithms
The major function of a search engine is to produce the best and most relevant answers to a search query. The way/procedure a search engine takes to achieve this is known as the algorithm.
Algorithms for SEO refers to the procedure a search engine takes to find, rank and return results.
4. Ranking
Search Engine Ranking in refers to a website's position in the search engine's result page. This position is influenced and determined by the search engine's ranking factors. Google, the number one search engine currently has 200 ranking factors.
When someone enters a search query, search engines run through their index to find the most relevant results based on the content of the website. The ordering of a search engine's results on its result page is known as ranking.
Thus, the higher your website's ranking is, the better visibility it has and of course the higher the chances of your website to attract prospective customers and retain existing customers to your business. Which is the aim of digital marketing.
Why is SEO Vital for Success in Digital Marketing?
Everyday, millions of people use search engines for a plethora of reasons like study, shopping for entertainment, to find people, etc. According to Statisca, an average human in the digital era conducts at least 3-4 searches using a search engine in a day.
Based on the glaring evidence of internet users reliability on search engines for different types of content, it is imperative for marketers, content developers, business owners and basically anyone who wants to stand out in the virtual would to include search engines as a part of their digital marketing strategy.
Search is one of the top sources of digital traffic for brands and businesses alike.
SEO is an integral part of digital marketing as it increases the visibility of your website and keeps your ahead of your competitors.
And when SEO is coupled with other strategies for digital marketing such as PPC advertising and Content marketing, the ROI would be massive.
I'll end with a qoute by Bhanu Garg, where he said, "Search Engine Optimization is the soul of digital marketing, without it, your digital marketing campaign would produce subpar results or even die".
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