SEO: Where to begin?

I’m going to be honest. I didn’t know much about SEO until my last year of college. I was a marketing major obsessed with the wonderful and complex world of e-commerce. You’d think I would know a bit more about it, right?

Fast forward to my last year of college and I had landed a marketing internship. This internship involved presentations, networking, and workshops. These workshops dove deeper into the world of e-commerce. Participating in these workshops meant expanding my knowledge of none other than…SEO.

The internship touched upon subjects such as PPC, email marketing, and SEO, yet I wanted more. Most of the internship involved presenting and networking across campus. I definitely enjoyed my work, yet it wasn’t what I craved. I was able to blog for this company, which was an awesome experience- and I enjoyed writing about digital marketing.

I was so obsessed with the world of ecommerce, that I wanted more of it. Since graduation, I searched for a job that fueled my interests ( that’s how I got here!)

I didn’t think I would find myself writing blogs for a company again. Plus, this time my entire role revolves around search engine optimization. Which is super exciting.

Being a newcomer to SEO, one thing for sure that I’ve learned is that if you are an online or physical business looking to grow, SEO is a must. It sounds so simple. What is SEO? SEO is the optimization of your meta content to rank well in search engines. If you have an online business, wouldn’t you want to be at the top of the SERP (search engine results page)? The best of the best? Let’s be honest, if you aren’t on the top of search rankings- you aren’t getting found by prospective customers. That is exactly what SEO is for.

If you find yourself interested in working in the world of SEO, I have listed a few attributes that you will get to know below. Keep your eyes peeled, as I’ll be digging into each of these topics in seperate blogs down the road!

• Keywords — I cannot stress this enough. Keywords might be the most important aspect when it comes to generating traffic. Know the keywords to use and you’re on your way to the top!
• Meta content — This will consist of your meta title, description, and keywords. This is the content that Google will use for the consumer on the SERP.
• Competition — Know who you are ranking against! Staying on top of your competition will give you the upper hand and insight on ranking higher.
• Ranking — Know where your site ranks within the SERP. Check on the statistics weekly to make any necessary adjustments to stay on top.
• Store speed — Wow is this important. I cannot tell you how many times I have visited a site that was so slow that I immediately said, “forget it” and closed out. The article featured on btownweb, “Why Page Speed Matters”, explains why page speed is crucial for both mobile and desktop. To see necessary changes, I recommend using Google’s Page Speed Insight, weekly. Do not be afraid to even reach out to your theme developer for further insight!

Learn what is right for your business, get to know your consumers, and be creative! SEO is here for you and once you understand it, it is as easy as ever.