SEO Basics: A Crash Course in Optimizing for Search Engines

Did you know that when people search for your business on Google or another search engine, nearly 90% of the click throughs come from the very first search page? That means if you don’t show up on the first page, you have a great chance of NOT being found.

And did you know nearly 60% of click throughs come from “above the fold”…or in that area you first see without having to scroll down? That means that even if you rank in the top ten, you still have a difficult time being found, unless you are #1 or #2 (42% of all click through traffic goes to the top-ranked result on that first page).

Additionally, according to Hubspot, about 75% of the traffic goes to “organic” or natural listings, while 25% of the clicks to to paid results (pay per click ads).

This is why Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is important. In a highly competitive business culture, it is important to do everything you can to get found on the Internet. This means creating and optimizing your websites and other online properties to make sure you rank as highly as possible.

Here are a few of the key elements that you need to take in to consideration if you want to rank higher:

Your content is reachable by search engines
New content is added regularly
Your content is organized logically
Important keywords are used
Good inbound links from high quality sites
Constant monitoring and tweaking

This is why blogging and Social Media are so important.

A blog is the one area on your website that features new and relevant content that draws people in, particularly if it features your key words. Additionally, your Facebook business page, Twitter page, and LinkedIn profile are all indexable by Google. If you optimize all of these elements, you might find that two or more of your online properties show up on the first page of search engine results. And the more of your properties that show up, the fewer of your competitors’ properties are able to be found.

Depending on your scope and your business category, ranking high on a SERP (Search Engine Results Page) isn’t necessarily easy. But it can be done. And I believe that well-done, organic SEO is far better than some of the artificial means that others use in terms of buying inbound links or stuffing your page with keywords. You can try to trick Google, but I think Google is smarter than that. So called “black hat” SEO is a good way of getting your site banned.

To learn more, check out this seminar: SEO Crash Course to Get Found featuring Lee Odden of Top Rank Online Marketing. This course is from Hubspot‘s Inbound Marketing University. You can watch it below, or even visit our free Educational Resources page and attend all of IMU’s seminars in order to become an Inbound Marketing Certified Professional. The courses are free and will help prepare you to become better at helping others find your business online.