Benefits Of SEO

Monday, April 5th, 2021

SEO Ideas In Notebooks At WorkplaceSearch engines are used widely for research before buying a product or service (Google says it’s over 50%), so this makes a compelling starting point on why SEO should be a priority. There’s little point in having a website if no one can find it, and search engines are usually the primary traffic source for successful websites. 

What Is SEO?

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is all about getting your website to the top of Search Engine Results Pages (SERP’s) with the view to increasing both the quantity and quality of organic traffic to your website. In other words, SEO ensures that search engines can easily find your website and, as a result, searchers too. The higher your website is ranking in the search results pages, the more traffic you’ll receive. According to a Search Engine Journal article posted in 2020, 75% of searchers never go past the first five search results on the first page.

There are numerous search engines used worldwide, but Google currently has over 90% of the market share in New Zealand. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, a handful of search engines were popular, and each required a slightly different SEO approach. These days we have one dominant search player in this country, so “Search Engine Optimisation” is synonymous with “Google Optimisation”.

Components Of SEO

The main components of SEO are typically divided into two areas:

  • On-Page SEO. Page speed, quality content, mobile-friendliness, keyword selection, schema, page layout, and structure contribute to the on-page SEO elements.
  • Off-Page SEO. There are variables Google includes in its ranking factors that are not necessarily exclusively in your control, as they happen off-site. Off-page SEO can consist of backlinks, social media references, reviews, brand strength, and the searcher’s personal history.

How Does SEO Work?

Google processes billions of search queries each day and aims to deliver the best website matches to keep people using their free search service. Simultaneously, Google is a hugely successful global corporation that is seeking to maximise profits. They prominently display ads and other elements on the search engine results page, so a certain amount of bias is inherent.
 
Underlying all that; is Google’s algorithm. Essentially, it’s a complex mix of rules and ranking factors that Google continually fine-tunes. SEO specialists work to become familiar with the Google algorithm to get better SEO results. 

Top 10 Google Ranking Factors For 2021

There are over 200+ factors that Google may consider, but these are the top areas that typically are focus points:
  1. Content quality
  2. Keyword use
  3. Quality backlinks
  4. User experience (UX)
  5. Page speed
  6. Mobile-friendliness
  7. Social signals
  8. Schema markup
  9. Bounce rates
  10. Website security (HTTPS)
The two fundamentals of successful SEO are; developing a website with high-quality content that engages website visitors and building a strong online brand.

Key Reasons For SEO

From our experience, businesses typically want to:
  1. Increase sales
  2. Increase leads
  3. Be visible when the target market is researching
  4. Build a strong online brand presence to get ahead of competitors
  5. Create a cost-effective and measurable online marketing campaign
 
Want to learn more about SEO and how it can benefit your business? Contact the team at Avatar; we’ve been in the SEO business since 1998.
 

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Mark is the managing director of Avatar, a Christchurch-based web design and marketing company, that has served a wide range of clients in different industries.

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