Having a beautiful website can go a long way for any small business, but only if the site is visible enough that potential customers will see it. That’s where search engine optimization (SEO) comes in.
SEO is all about helping your site rank higher in the organic search results for relevant keywords, and it’s a critical aspect of a business’s long-term success online.
SEO isn’t the only way to make your website more visible. You could (and should) increase your visibility through search advertising, social media marketing and management, and by getting listed on the applicable review sites and directories, but a focus on SEO is the key to affordable, long-term visibility.
Although SEO is incredibly important, it’s also one of those things that’s highly misunderstood. Part of the reason for this is that Google’s search algorithm is always changing in an effort to continually improve the experience for its users. That means what worked to get your website ranked a month ago may not fly today.
The other big reason why there’s so much about SEO that’s misunderstood is that Google’s algorithm isn’t exactly publicly accessible, and Google isn’t often straightforward about the ranking factors it takes into account.
This has led to a lot of confusion about SEO, and unfortunately, some businesses have given up on it altogether. Today, I hope to shed some light on some of the most common misconceptions about SEO.