What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a term that is found just about everywhere these days—with good reason. Basically, it is the practices you implement on your website to encourage organic traffic, hopefully clients, to find you through a search engine like Google or Bing.
Let’s use Google as the main example. Google holds 86% of the market for search engine utilization on desktop and almost 95% on mobile. And we know that it is important to be on the first page because 75% of users never make it past the first page! Good SEO practices can help you rank higher organically, enabling you to reach more clients and improve user experience.
So, how does someone reach the first page in rankings?
It comes down to the algorithm search engines use to rank each site. In the past all it took was packing your site with keywords, but as the digital realm continues to grow, so does the complexity of these ranking algorithms.
Today, ranking higher takes more work. Google is looking for a positive user experience throughout your whole site. This includes building a strong technical SEO game on the backend of your website through:
A solid site structure
A sitemap to enable search engines to better crawl your site
Testing your load speed
Having the different elements on your site (such as images) properly labeled with well-balanced alt-tags
Having a strong URL structure as well as fixing the URL redirects
Mobile-friendliness is key
Website security (SSL and HTTPS) is essential
Why is SEO important?
So why is all of this important? Search engines send out automated spiders or crawlers to go through your website on the backend to map how easy it is for people to navigate. Picture a spider making its way delicately through its own, vast web. The spider can’t actually see all of what is on your site visually like we do, but rather it tracks it’s way through your site and the ease of it’s journey correlates to how well your website will rank.
Then, when the crawler finds something interesting, it will index that URL and archive the information for later retrieval, such as when someone searches your key terms. Based on these interactions, the search engine will build a ranking to present to your potential customers.
Now, what about the front facing part of your website, the pages that potential clients will actually see?
SEO Examples - The Bad and the Good
You’ll still want data rich and customer relevant content on your website to keep viewers engaged, hopefully keeping your bounce rate low. (Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors to your site that only view one page and then leave. Ideally, you want a very low bounce rate, but one between 40-55% is generally considered "average"). So for optimized content, this means keyword rich text that is also clean and efficient as well as engaging enough to keep your viewers interested.
Take these two examples:
The Bad
We could go on and on about how we at Skyline Video Productions are a video production company based out of Sublimity, Oregon serving the local communities in Salem, Keizer, and Albany through high quality video, web design, and digital marketing. We love to serve our neighbors throughout Oregon, specifically Salem, Keizer, and Albany, with our expert videography service, customized website design, and digital marketing that includes social media and search engine marketing (SEM). Our video production services also include drone footage, commercials, customer testimonials, and so much more!
That was keyword rich, but not the easiest to read through.
Instead, keep it clean and simple.
The Good
Skyline Video Productions is a creative crew focused on growing your business. We are videographers in Salem Oregon, specializing in interview and drone style video content. We are web designers and marketers taking on the heavy lifting of your project. Our clients are located in Salem, Keizer, and Albany communities and all the towns throughout Oregon.
Small clips of text like that peppered throughout your site can go a long way. This includes a mix of short and long tail keywords that are relevant to your desired target market as well as location. Partner this with a strong SEO game on the backside of your website as well as regular website maintenance. It is a process to improve your website rankings, and we are ready to help!
It should be noted that this is a long term strategy to bring organic traffic to your website and it is a worthwhile investment for your business. Knowing that, it is one of the most consistent methods for building brand recognition and drawing clients to your business online.
Let's talk about your website.
Contact us today!
Phone: 503-979-2141
Email: info@skylinevp.com