53.3% of all website traffic comes from organic search. (BrightEdge)
68% of online experiences begin with a search engine. (BrightEdge)
With such statistics pushing businesses to implement SEO strategies, I seriously wonder if the people making the decisions to invest in “SEO” actually understand that their approach begins with them.
SEO Builds Trust
Trust in the 21st Century is elusive at best. 24-hour opinion cycles, intrusive digital ads, bots, and Russian hackers all add up to a society that profoundly lacks trust in the system we rely on for our daily lives to operate. The key, however, is a good SEO plan of action. It’s very structure and purpose force businesses to look within and extend a helping hand to consumers. What do I mean by that? Let’s start with Google.
There is no doubt that Google is by far the largest and most trusted source of Internet Search. Its business structure is extensive and far-reaching, but that is not what makes it our go-to search bar. Google understands “search.”
The Search
When your cursor sits upon the search box, blinking as if thinking, it is already awaiting your needs. Once manned by humans, the algorithm behind Google’s current search has a remarkable history of understanding the human psyche.
According to Google:
Every time you search, there are thousands, sometimes millions, of webpages with helpful information. How Google figures out which results to show starts long before you even type and is guided by a commitment to providing the best information.
Many doubt that Google provides ‘the best information” for various reasons, mainly their lucrative advertising program. But if you dive deeper into the SEO process, you will see that Google (and all other search engines) have to have the consumer’s best interests at heart because at the very core of the “search” is a business built on purpose.
Google’s job is simple:
- Organize all the information on the web.
- Instantly match your need for the right information.
That is where your SEO comes into play!
Five Fundamental Steps to SEO Success
The most important job of your SEO strategy and plan must start with what your customers are searching for when they turn to the Internet. If you remove the tags, keywords, and optimization principles from SEO, what you have left is your solution to customers’ problems.
- Are you a CBD company or a provider of pain relief?
- Are you a nutritional wellness consultant or a provider of a healthier lifestyle?
- Are you a fitness coach or a provider of a more muscular body?
What SEO does is break down all the sales talk and discounts that your team has put together and reveals the true intentions behind your business: the problems you solve.
Websites are for Humans and Search Engines
If every business remembered that both human customers and search engine bots were eventually going to land on your website, how would you change the content? Humans are distracted and get bored quickly, so a 17-second website page load speed might just have them already onto the next thing. Yes, I wrote “17 seconds”!
Speed is just one of many criteria that a business can address when building and revamping its website. What about logical structure? Bots are logical. Your menu, headings, subheadings all have a purpose when streamlining the process of search engine algorithms. But according to Google’s SEO Guide,
“Search Engine Optimization is about helping search engines understand and present content.”
It is all about the content your business is offering to consumers. High-quality, helpful, relevant written information that helps customers solve their problems! The real question you should be asking yourself is are you providing the information that consumers need and that Google can share? SEO Basics are the foundational elements of any business success. It’s not optional. It’s imperative.
SEO Success Training Options:
- On Wednesday, October 28th, the CBD Training Academy will have a one-hour free webinar to introduce SEO Basics for your Business Success. Register here.
- Then, on Friday, October 30th, they will continue with a two-hour deep-dive workshop on all five SEO steps plus a list of common (and avoidable) mistakes that most businesses make with their website SEO. Learn more.
These two online training courses will not be for tech nerds, but it will make every business owner rethink their website purpose with hands-on principles that can be implemented right away.
Be sure to come with your questions.
