The internet has enhanced many different sectors, improving their outcomes. One sector that has hugely benefited from this technology is global commerce. In this day and age, many businesses make significant numbers of their sales through it. That explains why many e-commerce websites pop up every day. Apart from e-commerce, the Web allows online entrepreneurs to make money through many other ways, including blogging and freelancing (working independently for an entity without being necessarily employed). Besides the above, online surveys, digital marketing, and tuition are also popular ways to make money through the internet.
Though the internet can be seen as a powerful tool for making money, its success is mostly determined by the entrepreneur’s SEO efforts. What Is SEO? The word SEO is an acronym for “Search engine optimization.” In layman’s language, it refers to the essential practices to improve the visibility of a website. Remember that there are 1,197,982,359 websites in the world, making competition in the online realm extremely stiff. Every niche is flooded with thousands of websites, making things favorable only for websites that enjoy high visibility.
How SEO Works
For example, a website that sells smartphones online will face competition from thousands or more of other similar websites selling the same products. If a search engine user who is shopping for a smartphone searches for a relevant keyword or key phrase like “buy a smartphone online,” their search engine will find many websites that offer what they are looking for.
Obviously, these websites will be too many to be displayed all on one page. Consequently, the search engine will ensure that it displays only the websites that have perfectly adhered to the best SEO standards and guidelines on the first page. Listing them hierarchically. Your attention will be drawn to the first few websites appearing at the top of your search engine results page 1 because these are the most visible websites.
By properly following all the standards and guidelines set by search engine companies like Google for SEO, search engines will rank your website higher. Doing so will likely mean that it will appear in the top results for your target keyword, giving it greater visibility. With greater visibility comes more website traffic, which means buyers and hence more money.
History Of Search Engine Optimization
Before Google came along in 1998, the then-existing search engines Lycos and Yahoo ranked websites according to age. The older a website was, the higher it ranked, regardless of its quality. This offered unfair competition as many high-quality websites would be overshadowed by low-quality websites that launched earlier. Not only was this web ranking criteria unfair for some websites, but it was also agonizing for search engine users who had to contend with terrible user experience at times.
When Google came in 1998, it saw an opportunity to do something that other search engines weren’t doing. Subsequently, the company started working on a special algorithm that would rank websites according to quality as opposed to age. When it launched the algorithm a few months later, search engine users begun to appreciate the incredible user experience that this provided. As a result, Google became popular among them, overtaking the initial search engines, all of which had to go back to the drawing board. Similarly, Google’s algorithm and tremendous success would compel many websites to start paying attention to quality over anything else, marking the beginning of search engine optimization.
What’s The Significance Of Search Engine Optimization?
1. Creates a Level Playing Field for Online Businesses
Search engine optimization has totally done away with the practice of ranking websites according to how long they have been around, which was the case a few years ago. Here, it doesn’t matter how old a website may be. Whether it’s been around for only a few months or several decades, quality is what the bots will focus on in ranking the website. Without this, it wouldn’t be a level playing field as only long-standing websites would rank top at the expense of many recent websites that are far better.
2. Provides Great User Experience for Search Engine Users
One of the biggest benefits of search engine optimization is that it provides a great user experience for internet users. It does so by ensuring that search engines rank websites according to certain user-oriented criteria. An important part of this criteria is the quality of the website. For example, search engines will rank highly websites that are;
- Well designed and functional.
- Characterized by fresh and purposeful content.
- Optimized for mobile browsing.
- Easy to navigate.
- Optimized for social media search.
On the other hand, search engines will poorly rank websites that do not meet the above among other criteria, all of which promote great user experience.
3. Contributes To The Economy
Search engine optimization has created a whole niche with profitable opportunities, creating business and employment prospects. Many companies offer SEO solutions that target businesses that want to improve their search engine rankings as an effective strategy to boost sales. Also, Search Engine Optimization entities serve as an important source of employment for many individuals, thereby directly contributing to the economy.
4. Helps Keep The Internet Safe
Search engine optimization promotes cybersecurity, contributing to the safeguarding of internet users against cybercriminals. For example, to encourage websites to implement HTTPS, Google bots now check for HTTPS as one of its key ranking considerations.
For starters, HTTPS is an acronym for “Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure,” which is a secure version of the traditional HTTP protocol that computers rely on to communicate over the Web. HTTPS encrypts the data being exchanged when computers are communicating over the Web, preventing hackers from intercepting internet users’ sensitive data like personal information or credit card numbers.
You probably recognize the “http://” or “https://” characters, any of which every website URL begins with. You can easily see that a site is using HTTPS by looking in your browser’s address bar or the characters with which your URL begins. Suppose you see a dark padlock icon located just before the beginning of your URL. In that case, you know that that particular website is using HTTPS. Similarly, if the URL starts with “https://” instead of “http://,” you know that the website has implemented HTTPS as recommended by Google.
Essential SEO Tools
To do search engine optimization effectively, you need specific tools. Having said that, here are some essential tools for the job;
1. Keyword Research Tools
Keywords are the words as well as phrases that search engine users type into their search engines to find what they’re looking for. These words and phrases are an extremely crucial element of SEO as they enable search engines to take users to relevant websites only.
Now every market has relevant keywords commonly used by search engine users. For example, the cellphone market has the following as some of the top-ranking keywords;
- How to track a cellphone.
- How to track a cellphone location without them knowing.
- Who invented the cellphone.
- Where my cellphone.
- Should cellphones be allowed in schools?
If your website deals in smartphones, making sure the pages include these keywords will see search engines rank it high. Keyword research tools help you find the top-ranking keywords in your market. Examples of these tools are; SEMrush, Google Keyword Planner, Google Search Console, Ubersuggest, and Soovle. Other tools are; SECockpit, KeywordTool.io, and Ahrefs Keywords Explorer,
2. Website Analytics Tools
The whole point of search engine optimization is to provide a better user experience for search engine users. Website analytics tools help users analyze the performance of their websites, identify areas of weakness that may exist in those websites, and fix them for a better user experience. Apart from that, these tools enable website owners to understand their visitors to improve the user experience for those visitors.
Google Analytics, WebPagetest, Kissmetrics, Clicktale, Mixpanel, and Piwik are some of the most commonly used website analytics tools. These tools will run a number of tests to determine the level of user experience a website offers, which include speed test, mobile-friendly test, readability test, usability test, ease of navigation test, and so much more.
3. Content Creation Tools
When it comes to SEO, content is king. There are basically four types of content; written content, video content, infographics, or a mixture of all. Written content is available in written form, whereas video content exists in video format. Meanwhile, infographics are a type of content characterized by a visual representation of the information or data. The final type of content is characterized by all the other content types.
Good quality content is well edited, well thought out, precise, insightful, and engaging. It is not long, boring, difficult to understand, and unhelpful. With that said, there are several nice tools that can be used to provide good quality content, including Grammarly, Ubbersugest, Google Docs, LeadFWD, Awario. Others are; Portent Content Idea Generator, Quora, and Reddit, and Slack.
Ubbersugest, Portent Content Idea Generator, LeadFWD, and Awario serve as topic generators, any of which will give you plenty of great topic ideas to write about. Meanwhile, Google Docs is a word processor that will help you type, edit, store, or publish your posts online. Nonetheless, Grammarly is a proofreading and plagiarism-checking software that will enable you to create readable and grammatically correct articles that are unique and original.
4. Social Media
Social media can be a great way to have your website discovered online. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other major social media platforms have billions of users. Facebook alone has 1.84 billion daily users, while Twitter has 192 million daily active users. Meanwhile, Instagram has 500 million daily active users. What that means is that posting your content to all these three social platforms gives your website the likelihood of being discovered by 2.532 billion people daily. Social media integration tools allow you to integrate your website with several social media platforms. These tools will make your social media strategy easier to implemnent, and more effective.
5. Link Checker Tools
Just like keywords, backlinks are an important element of SEO. For starters, a backlink, also known as “incoming link” or “inbound link,” refers to a link created when one website links to another.
Two websites may decide to link to one another for mutual benefit. For example, suppose a blog that focuses on sports shoes-related topics links to an e-commerce website that sells sports shoes. In that case, both websites are going to benefit in one way or another. The former may earn attractive commissions simply by sending leads to the latter, which may record increased sales. Readers who are also looking to buy sports shoes besides learn something about the shoes will also benefit from this sort of partnership. That’s because they will be pointed to the right marketplace for what they are looking for.
In as much as backlinks can have a significant positive impact on SEO, implementing them without the right strategy can lead to poor results. One poor strategy for backlinks, which is very common with beginners, is to pick links without checking on their qualities. Poor quality links aren’t so useful as they will not bring high-quality leads.
Fortunately, many tools can be very helpful for your backlink strategy. These tools include Link Explorer, Rank Signals, Backlink Watch, and Open Link Profiler. Each link checker will help you get better backlinks by checking out your competition and seeing where they are getting their links. What’s more, each tool will effectively locate incoming, outgoing, and broken links on your website and give you a report so you can make the necessary changes.
Doing SEO On Your Own Vs. Hiring a Professional Company To Do The Job
Between doing search engine optimization on your own and hiring a professional company to get the job done, which is more rewarding? Well, there’s no definitive answer to this question as different factors can necessitate one option or the other. In other words, for one individual, the DIY option may be ideal rather than engaging a professional, whereas for another person, hiring an expert may be a better option.
Factors To Consider In Determining Whether To Do SEO On Your Own Or Hire An Expert To Help You
Can You Afford A Professional SEO Service?
SEO firms provide search engine optimization solutions at a fee, which is usually charged on an hourly basis. For example, many firms operating in the US will charge between $100 and $250 per hour. On the other hand, firms that operate outside of the states will charge between $10 and $50 per hour on average. Therefore, before deciding to hire an SEO firm, determine whether you can afford one or not first.
Do You Have Basic Knowledge and Skills Necessary for SEO?
Do you have the basic knowledge and skills essential for search engine optimization? If yes, you don’t essentially need to hire an SEO agency as you can get the job done on your own. However, if you don’t know anything about this field, you’ll definitely need to hire the services of an agency.
The Availability Of SEO Experts In Your Area
Most companies that provide search engine optimization solutions are located in urban areas. For those who don’t live in towns and cities, finding a company can be a major challenge, which may even be impossible. With that in mind, find out first if there are SEO companies in your area before deciding to look for one.
Common Misconceptions About SEO
1. SEO Was Introduced for Punitive Purposes
Many people mistakenly think of search engine optimization as a system that Google brought to punish websites. The reality is that SEO was introduced to provide a level playing field for online business and to provide a great user experience for internet users.
2. SEO Is Constant
Search engine optimization is a highly dynamic phenomenon that keeps on changing as time goes by. As such, what worked yesterday may not work today as far as it goes. For example, keyword stuffing, which became very popular as a powerful SEO strategy a few years ago, has now become obsolete. Back then, search engine bots would rank your website according to loaded it was with keywords. That’s no longer the case today.
3. SEO Is All About Search Engines
Contrary to what people think, search engine optimization is not about impressing search engine bots. It’s about pleasing internet users by making sure your website offers a great user experience. The bots know how to identify websites that are enjoyable to access for internet users. Nevertheless, these robots will reward such websites accordingly.
Final Thoughts
Search engine optimization is an important component of e-commerce. If you can get SEO right, you can be very wealthy. Unfortunately, many internet entrepreneurs can’t seem to get this elusive e-commerce phenomenon right. The best way to find success online today is to master SEO first. You’ll want to learn and know all the guidelines set forth by Google before launching your website. I hope that this post perfectly introduced search engine optimization to you and helped you understand its basics. If that’s right, you are now good to proceed to intermediate and later advanced levels of SEO. Once you complete these levels, you can be sure to find success when you launch your online business in the future.
