Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is widely misunderstood and there are many misconceptions about SEO in the general business community. Businesses of all types and sizes know they need to rank as high as possible on Google, but the road to the first page is long, with many nuances, twists and turns. A handful of blogs and keywords won’t get you far.
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However, for all the talk and push of SEO, relatively few companies are realizing its search engine ranking potential. Given that less than less than 1% of searchers click on the second page of GoogleAccording to Backlinko (2023), a targeted and consistent strategy is essential for any business that depends on search engine traffic to fuel or support their business (which is most businesses these days).
What is “SEO” anyway?
SEO is a process of improving a website’s visibility in search engines. Since Google is the most popular site in the world, most SEO strategies are tailored to Google’s algorithms. SEO also includes “organic search” strategies, which means generating traffic for free from searches. Listings at the top of search engine pages marked as “sponsored” are not considered “SEO”. These listings are part of advertising campaigns. These two strategies can play off each other, but they are not the same.
Keyword confusion: Keywords alone do not yield optimal results
SEO is often assumed to be defined by having the right “keywords” or “keyphrases” on a web page. After all, these terms embedded in website content are meant to satisfy people’s search queries, based on how often they are searched for. Ex: “the best pizza near me”.
While keywords improve rankings, there are also additional elements that work together to get the most out of your searchability:
On the page: Broadly, this includes keywords, meta descriptions, meta titles, header hierarchy, images, alt tags, URLs, and overall content quality.
Off page: This includes backlinks (other sites linking to yours), guest posts, and exposure through social media and all other media channels. all tied into your larger PR strategy.
Technique: Critical items like yours website load timeaccessibility, mobile-friendliness and more could turn an interested searcher into a passer-by in seconds.
Metadata myths uncovered
Metadata (descriptive information about page content on the back end of a website) is sometimes considered a less important component of SEO, but a business looking to strategically increase rankings shouldn’t ignore it. Metadata incorporates both meta titles and meta descriptions, which will appear in Google searches.
Meta titles should be short and snappy headlines leveraging a main keyword; this doesn’t necessarily have to line up exactly with the blog title. Meta descriptions are a concise summary of your post or page, containing one or more main keywords.
These two components serve as a “preview” that visitors see before clicking a search link. In the early days of SEO, metadata dominated in determining rankings. Now, Google focuses more on page quality and how effectively it answers user questions. However, embedding metadata remains a best practice that should not be skipped.
Content clue: quality over quantity
Content length is one of the most discussed areas of SEO. Some say they are writing a book, others say otherwise. What is the truth? According to HubSpot’s “Definitive Guide to SEO in 2024,” while pages with more content tend to keep the reader on the page longer, which is optimal for SEO, quality content will always win.
The biggest misnomer of all: You can optimize a site once and you’re done!
So you’ve set up your site with all of the above. now what? It’s important to note that SEO results don’t happen overnight and frequent fresh content is crucial to improving rankings. Google’s algorithms, user behaviors, and competitive strategies are constantly evolving. It’s important to evaluate on-page, off-page, and technical SEO on an ongoing basis and adapt your approach based on ranking data. SEO is an ongoing process with no end date.
Author: Andrea Aker is CEO of Aker Ink PR and Marketinga full-service agency that helps businesses increase brand awareness, thought leadership, leads and revenue.
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