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SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is one of the most popular business “buzzwords” these days as we all turn to our Google search bar to get through our everyday lives. But do you really know what the concept of SEO really means for your business?

An infinite amount of data is culled through every nanosecond of our existence by search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo – not to mention online review sites like Yelp and Trip Advisor and social media outlets Facebook and Twitter. And there sure is a lot of junk out there that these services have to wade through!

Let’s start with the concept of how you can get that search engine to “optimally” find your rock-star business venture in the best manner possible.  Basically, SEO is setting up your business, blog, or event to be crawled for data that will be noticed and ranked high by the search engines and directories. There are a ton of technical aspects to good SEO, but we won’t get into them here. Just remember to focus on content and keywords before worrying about meta tags, hashtags, and skin tags (oops, scrap that last one – wrong column).  Google rewards well-written content, so always prescribe to the principle that content is king, above all else.

The key to good SEO is to create a clean and least cumbersome way to put your best foot forward to have those resources recognize exactly what it is that you do and what you offer.  The goal is to be easily found on these sites is by setting up your digital presence using keywords and consistent information.  Like street signs or billboards do offline, digital presence ensures that customers who search online find their way to your businesses.

If you have old web addresses, have moved locations three times, or changed your phone number, those will need to be cleaned up – and fast. That bad or outdated info doesn’t just go away on its own. Most things on the net live forever – but it can be managed with time and effort. You may ask, “Why is so much information incorrect?” Simple – there’s no permanent record or single source of data online.

A strong digital presence is grounded in a number of basic building blocks starting with a website. Then you have other tools like a strong social media presence, customer reviews, and business directory citations. Most are free, but with the ginormous quantity out there, you might want to hire an expert to manage these for you.

It’s not easy to get that top listing in an online search unless you pay big $$$, but there are steps you can take to rank organically.  Note those green notations for ads you see – those are paid for and keep the Google stock price rising. Although those Google folks may make their money from paid ads – the listings just below are where the organic results populate.  Before you even think about throwing money at online advertising, make sure your digital house is in order and you are maximizing the benefits of organic (nonpaid and “naturally occurring”) search results.

In today’s digital world, all of us are living virtually in the digital space. The evidence needn’t go further than you reading this right now.  If you can’t be found online, chances are you’re not being found at all.

Depending on your type of business (especially service or home-based), not many peeps are seeing your storefront as they drive through Main Street USA. It’s much more likely that they are sitting on their couch looking at funny dog videos and then navigating off to their search bar to look for a product or service they just realized they need by tomorrow.  And guess what, if you aren’t popping up on that first page of results, you could be located around the block and it wouldn’t matter!  The chance for grabbing that client is over and done with.

Now that we understand the basic concept of SEO, we’ll follow up in future posts on some strategies for enhancing your digital presence.

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