An Introduction to Search Engine Optimization

I’d like to challenge you to go to Google right now, and search for “best pizza near me”. Don’t click anything just yet, we’re observing. What do you notice about the first result compared to the ones below it? 

How about a stronger question. Do you believe that these top listings got there by accident? Maybe it was luck? Could it have been something they did deliberately that got them there? 

What you’re looking at right now is the result of SEO (Search Engine Optimization). The goal of this article is to teach you exactly how it works. 

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The anatomy of a Google search result.

There are three parts to every search listing: The title tag which is the title of the page. You have the page address or the URL link. Finally you have the meta description, which is a brief description on what the page includes. Every single one of these can and should be written and optimized on purpose. 

What Is SEO, and why does it matter?

I’d like you to think of Google as a library, and your website is just one book in this library. Search engine optimization is how you can make sure your book is positioned exactly where the right readers can find it. In short, it means making your website show up when someone searches for something related to your business.

You might think, why is SEO so important, and why should I invest in it? Well let’s look at metrics presented by Google themselves. According to Google, the top search result will take at least 28% of all clicks. The second and third positions will take over two-thirds, or 66 percent of all clicks. By the time you get to page 2… less than 1% of people ever go there. 

With this in mind, it's important to note that SEO isn't something to ignore, it can be the reason you succeed or fail no matter how great your business is.

Organic results vs sponsored results:

Let’s open up Google and search for “running shoes”. You’ll notice a section at the top called “Sponsored Results”. Simply put, this means that a company paid to have their website placed at the top of search results. Beneath the sponsored results, you’ll see organic results which are completely free. 

The question now is why would you ever pay when you can rank organically for free? The answer is actually quite simple, and we’ve already mentioned it earlier. The data shows that the first three search results take 65% of consumer traffic. If you pay to have your website show up first then the odds are in your favor that potential customers will reach your website over your competitors.

Of course, you are paying for keywords in order to rank higher and that can be expensive especially if you choose the wrong keywords. What are keywords and how can you choose the most effective ones? We'll get into that in the next article so stay tuned!