There are two main ways to Optimize your website for search engines and there are also two ways that you can be ranked. The two ways to optimize your site are: On-site SEO & Off-site SEO. The two ways to rank your website in search engines is Organic Search Rankings and Local Business Search Rankings. We will explore all of these below.
Two Forms of Optimization
On-site SEO
On-site SEO is the process of solely optimizing the content, code, & server within your website to perform optimally for the key-phrases you want search engines to rank you for. On-site SEO is a service that can help your rankings best by writing relevant unique content and optimizing it with keywords, meta information, & backend technical stuff.
Off-site SEO
Off-site SEO (or referred as off-page SEO) is the process of increasing the visibility of your website through means that are controlled outside your website. Off-site SEO is a service that is best utilized by three main things:
- Getting outside (preferably, high-ranking & high authority) websites to link back to your website, commonly referred to as ‘back-linking’.
- Increasing the reputation of your website through ratings
- Social media management
Types of Search Engine Rankings
Organic Search Rankings
Organic SEO is the natural (unpaid) process affecting how a website ranks in search engines for search terms. There are many factors that determine rankings, but organic rankings are affected by off-site and on-site SEO.
Local Business Search Rankings
Local business rankings is the process affecting how a website ranks in search engines for search terms within a geographic area. Local business SEO rankings are determined by three main things:
- Off-site & on-site SEO
- Ratings & reviews
- Utilizing online business directory listings (or referred as citations)
Advantages & Disadvantages of SEO
In comparison to the three major forms of online marketing – social media, pay-per-clicks, email marketing, & SEO each one has its advantages & disadvantages. Let’s review the pros v. cons for SEO.
Pros
- Once you’re at the top, it’s free exposure
- More credible than being found in advertising results
- Being at the top as a reliable resource will practically continue to do ongoing SEO for you.
Cons
- Takes a long time to get to the top
- Takes a lot of money to get to the top
- Search engines are constantly changing their algorithm. Ranking is not guaranteed
- Competition is constantly improving their SEO as well
- How to improve SEO can be somewhat vague with a lot of trial & error
- High rankings can be out of your hands to some extent
- Hiring somebody who really knows what they are doing can be tough
SEO might be best for your business if any of these apply…
- You are interested in long term results
- You have other forms of advertising to compensate the ups & downs of search engine algorithms
- You have time & money
- You don’t need additional sales right now