SEO & SEM Questions You Want To Know

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It can also be referred to the person (or people) optimizing the website (search engine optimizers). SEO is the collection of tactics used to rank at the top of Google, Bing and Yahoo SERPs (Search Engine Results Page). SEO can be classified as a long term investment, since results are typically not actualized for a few weeks, if not months.

There are PROS and CONS to both SEO and PPC and it really comes down to what your marketing strategy is. Most times it require a healthy mix of both SEO and PPC to really boost your website.  One of the biggest positives of SEO is long lasting residual ranking effects for time and effort put in up front. One negative aspect of SEO is results aren’t instantly realized. SEO takes time, and some clients don’t want to wait. This is where PPC shines. The largest benefit of PPC is instant results. You can be at the top of Google with the snap of a finger. One negative aspect of PPC advertising is once your marketing budget is exhausted, the ads dry up, whereas SEO doesn’t require an “ongoing” price to maintain rank positions., just diligent competitor and keyword research & analysis.

Both SEO and SEM strategies start with keyword & competitor research along with performing a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis. After the in depth analysis, direction and strategy will become much easier. Avoid the mistakes of millions of other graveyard sites that didn’t do their proper research before building a strategic SEO plan. There are many keywords you would normally believe should be targeted, give your website’s products & services, but in the end they could become a waste of time and money chasing after. Keyword volume, competition density and keyword difficulty should all be taken into consideration.

There are a number of free and paid keyword research tools on the market, from SEMrush, Ahrefs, and spyfu, (all paid) to Google Keyword Planners, Keyword Sheeter, Keyword Surfer (all free). Keyword data varies slightly from site to site, so while you’re conducting keyword research, we highly recommend using a combination of free and paid planners in order to verify results, and gain keyword insight. Additionally, if there is a relevant keyword that isn’t showing up on keyword research sites, trust your gut. Just because it doesn’t have enough qualitative data to gain impressions on planner sites, doesn’t mean users aren’t searching for that specific term, especially if your site is niche. It may be too early to be indexed appropriately and gaining traction.

Focusing on keywords and competition is the most common. Identifying keyword opportunities, and outlining which competitors are showing up for the terms you choose are key. How many times the term is mentioned on page is also important, but not critical. Reviewing competitor backlinks is a common practice as well, but be careful. Google’s Search Algorithm is constantly changing and you may not be able to determine how your competitor obtained their backlinks. Organic, natural link placements over time by following Google’s best practices are sure to get you results. Ranking factors have changed, and user experience holds more weight than backlinks and even keywords mentions in some cases, so the best SEO technique is focusing on improving your customer’s site experience. This includes speeding up your site, ranking for relevant keywords, reducing bounce rates and creating rich content users will read and share.