This article is the second in a series of five posts on the basics of online marketing for small bus...

1. The Essentials of SEO for Small Business | Bianca
Rothschild
This article is the second in a series of five posts on the basics of online marketing for small
business. The series is designed to inform and empower small businesses about their online
marketing options and give them the confidence to explore the potential growth opportunities that
are available through online marketing.
This SEO video services week we will focus on SEO or search engine optimization, which can often
be a misunderstood topic for small business owners. With 93 percent of online experiences
beginning with a search engine, it is vital for small business owners to understand the fundamentals
of SEO and how it can increase traffic to your website.
What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of improving the ranking of your website in the
organic search engine results.
Getting placed in a high position in the rankings for particular search terms mainly depends on
having quality website content that is relevant to the search query. It also depends on how that
content is organised and presented, both on the page and within your website's overall structure.
Other factors also affect how well a page might rank, particularly the quality and quantity of 'back-
links' - links from other websites that are directed to yours. Back-links serve as signals to Google and
the other search engines, letting them know that a particular website has 'voted' for yours. Generally
speaking, the more back-links your website receives and the more influential a website the 'vote' has
come from, the more that Google and the search engines will take notice and push your website
higher in the organic search results.
Why you should do SEO
Consumers use search engines to navigate for products and services they are seeking. Like PPC (pay
per click) advertising, SEO will help your website to appear on these search results, allowing
potential customers to find your business. Furthermore, if you already have a PPC account up and
running or are planning to get started with PPC in the future, research shows that having your
website appear in both the paid (PPC) and organic (SEO) listings has a beneficial effect that is
greater than the sum of each combined. This can be explained by the increased respect and
authority given to your brand by searchers because your brand is more dominant in the search
results.
What to Expect
SEO can be a process of building your websites http://searchenginewatch.com/ credibility and
relevance over time. The results are not often immediate, thus SEO is seen as a long-term marketing
strategy. Whilst results may not be visible for 6-12 months, SEO is still a highly valuable channel to
focus on because once you do achieve the results it can be a very cost effective and sustainable
source of traffic to your website.

2. Bonus Tip
SEO professionals can tend to promise a lot. Being on page one of the search results for a single
search term doesn't really mean anything. It depends on what the key word is, how many people are
searching for it and if you're the first or the fifth result. However, being on the first page is vital as
75 percent of people won't venture onto the second page of results. Not only is being on
http://www.websitetrafficbuilders.com the first page important, but being at the top of the page is
critical, because 60 percent of all clicks go to the top three results. And what is even more important
is ranking well for search terms that have a lot of traffic and are of good commercial intent - this
means that people searching with that key word or phrase are actually looking to purchase the
products or services you offer.
SEO is vital for attracting traffic and qualified customers to your website. You need to ensure your
business is being found for all the right reasons. While an effective SEO strategy can be tricky to get
started, once you are established the initial investment will prove rewarding in the long term.
Online marketing is now an extremely important part of any website. So much so we have ranked it
number ten in our article, "The 11 Essentials of a Successful Web Design".
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