What Is SEO in Digital Marketing?
Let’s start with a common question, “What is the meaning of SEO in digital marketing?”
Maybe you’ve heard the acronym before but have no clue about its importance, let alone its definition. Or, perhaps you’ve had some exposure to SEO digital marketing and know a little bit about how SEO works for websites.
Whether you know how SEO marketing works or not, this blog is for you.
In this article, we’re taking a look at web marketing search engine optimization. As you read, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of:
What is SEO and how does it work
The SEO digital marketing meaning
The goals of SEO in digital marketing
How you can start implementing an SEO strategy in your business today
Ready to learn all about SEO and digital marketing?
Let’s jump on in!
SEO: Digital Marketing Meaning
What is SEO in digital marketing?
Well, first of all, it’s an acronym for Search Engine Optimization. But what in the world is that? It’s a digital marketing strategy that involves curating relevant keywords and phrases to implement on your website, so you show up organically in preferable positions on search engines.
One of the primary goals of SEO in digital marketing is to drive more traffic to your website so you can procure new leads that turn into more sales, generating a desirable ROI.
In short, search engine optimization aims to increase website traffic without paying for your search position.
However, when it comes to SEO digital marketing, some people can confuse it with paid search campaigns. So, what’s the difference?
What’s the Difference Between Paid and Organic Search?
Paid Search
Paid search includes strategies such as Google Ads, also known as pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.
When you pay Google to display your website for certain keywords, you rank almost immediately in one of the top search results. However, it can be costly depending on which keywords you’re trying to rank for—basically, you buy traffic from Google’s first page.
Organic Search
Organic search results show up under all of the paid ad results, and it takes time to rank on the first page.
A benefit of SEO is that it’s free, but it takes patience and a lot of research. In order to rank on the first page organically, you need to find low competition, highly relevant keywords and incorporate them into your web pages.
Neither strategy is better than the other, paid and organic search are simply two separate tools you can use to rank on Google and drive traffic to your website. But since most people have the question “What is SEO in digital marketing?”, we’ll focus on SEO for the rest of the article.
How Does Search Engine Optimization Work?
Now that you know the definition of SEO, you’re probably wondering how SEO works for websites.
Here’s how SEO marketing works and the four pillars Veivos uses to evaluate and improve a client’s website.
1. Identify Relevant Keywords
Step one is researching relevant keywords that you want to rank for in your industry.
To identify these keywords, you can use tools such as:
You want to look for words or phrases that have low competition, high relevance, and a healthy search volume.
Once you’ve identified these keywords, it’s time to implement them on your website.
Keywords are best used in your web pages’ headings, spanning from H1 to H6. Google reads those headings to learn what a particular web page is about to rank it properly for search queries. Don’t forget to use headings in sequence. You don’t want an H3 displaying before an H1, but we’ll get into more technical SEO later on.
2. Craft High-quality Content
Not all of the keywords you find will be able to fit on your website’s main pages—this is where blogging comes in.
To expand your keyword portfolio, you need to write high-quality content that incorporates new keywords you want to rank for. Remember, websites don’t rank on Google; web pages do. Therefore, one of the goals of SEO in digital marketing is to have as many pages as possible to rank on Google, whether it’s your homepage, blog, or service pages.
Now, service pages are particularly desirable because they produce leads. However, educating your ideal audience and positioning yourself as an expert through blog content is incredibly valuable, too. It communicates that you’re not just interested in people’s money, but you actually know what you’re talking about and are willing to share a wealth of information.
3. Link to Reputable Websites
Another piece of the SEO puzzle to consider is link building: the process of earning one-way hyperlinks from one website to another.
The links you should strive to attain must be authoritative, high-quality, and relevant to your website content. You don’t want a spammy website linking to yours because that can lead to a penalty from Google.
You can build links from other websites to yours by positioning yourself as a thought-leader. How do you do that? See point two. Write about what you’re an expert in via blogs and share them on your social networks, with your email list, etc. You never know who may find it informative and link to your site from theirs.
When you write a blog post, don’t forget to link to reputable websites to validate your claims and content.
4. On-page Optimization
Web marketing search engine optimization wouldn’t be complete without on-site SEO or on-page optimization (OPO)
On-site SEO or on-page optimization (OPO) includes cleaning up your website from errors. These can consist of:
Broken links
Improper header hierarchy
Not using alternative text (alt text)
Let me explain a bit more about these common errors, but keep in mind that they’re just the tip of the OPO iceberg.
Broken links: Broken links pop up when you link text to an internal page on your website that no longer exists or had its URL changed, sending users to a 404 error page. A broken link can also be a hyperlink to an external source that no longer exists.
Header tags: Header tags make your web page content easy to read. Imagine if a website was all paragraph text without any headings. It would be near impossible to skim! Search engines also read header tags to learn about a web page, so it’s important to use keywords in these headings. And don’t forget to list them in order from highest to lowest.
Page titles and meta descriptions: Each page of your website has a title and a description that search engines use to display on search engine result pages (SERPs). Page titles are the big blue headings on SERPs, which influence the likelihood of someone clicking on your listing. Meta descriptions are the content written below the title.
Alternative text: Alt text provides search engines with a description of an image. It’s an essential element of accessibility to those who are disabled, but it also helps search engines learn about the photos you have on your site.
When these errors appear on your site, it’s best to fix them immediately. Otherwise, they can affect your website’s ranking.
Reach Your Goals of SEO in Digital Marketing Today
So, in review, SEO digital marketing is the process of getting your website to rank organically on the first page of search engines. By ranking higher, your web pages will receive more traffic and you’ll connect with a larger number of potential clients/customers.
Four of the best practices to follow regarding SEO include:
Identifying relevant keywords
Crafting high-quality content
Linking to reputable websites
Fixing on-page errors
Now that you have answers to “What is the meaning of SEO in digital marketing?” and “How does SEO work?”, are you interested in investing in this vital marketing strategy for your business?
As we’ve discussed, one of the primary goals of SEO in digital marketing is increasing website traffic. And more traffic means more opportunities for lead generation.
Here at Veivos, we know how SEO marketing works and leverage it to generate more traffic and leads for companies. Using our proprietary SEO process, we can:
Identify high-quality keywords
Write articles that rank on the first page of Google
Increase your website traffic
If you want more traffic to your website, our proven SEO process is your solution. Learn more about Veivos’ web marketing search engine optimization services or schedule a short call today.
