If you have so much as dabbled in the realm of digital marketing, you have probably heard of the term SEO. After all, SEO (search engine optimization) has become an essential way of marketing your online business in 2019, and is quickly becoming necessary in order to make yourself known amongst your competitors. So, having said all of that, what are SEO services, what are conversions, and what on Earth does “organic” SEO mean? We’re here to answer some of your burning SEO questions, so you can be on your way to optimizing these techniques (or at least hiring someone that can do it for you).
What is SEO?
SEO stands for search engine optimization, and is a set of techniques and tactics used to help your website rank higher in search engine results. For example, say you type in the name of a product or service you’re looking for into Google. SEO is put in place so that your company’s listing for this product or service is right at the top of the charts, and will be one of the first to appear. Getting to this stage will require some strategic planning, as SEO is not as simple as buying some advertising space on Google – these strategic techniques will help you rank higher on search engines that so your business can get onto that crucial first page of search engine results.
What are SEO Services?
SEO services are generally offered by a digital marketing company that specializes in SEO, and have professionals that know firsthand how to make your company rank higher in search engine results. These services are generally offered in packages, and usually stick to a few key elements, which depend on your needs and your budget. At Content Refined, we offer a variety of packages for a variety of needs and budgets, but our Content Creation packages always offer the following: a project manager, keyword research and title creation, writing content for your website, SEO optimization, and publishing to your website. We also offer packages that are only meant to optimize your existing content, as well as keyword research packages (without all the other stuff).
What is Organic Vs. Non-Organic SEO?
These terms can sound a little daunting if you’re just starting to understand the concept of search engine optimization, but it is really quite simple. Organic SEO refers to obtaining natural SEO results that come from the use of algorithms, search engine keywords, backlinks, high quality content and other non-paid methods. Organic SEO is focused on long term results, that will benefit your business in the long term.
Non-organic, paid, or “black hat” SEO is a little different. It revolves around paid placements and results that are meant to give a quick turnaround and do not focus on a long-term goal. While black hat SEO techniques can initially win your website more traffic, it will not work out in the long term, or lead to a long term, growing customer base. Black hat techniques can actually get a company banned from search engines once they catch onto what you are doing. Some methods of non-organic or black hat SEO techniques are keyword stuffing, cloaking, paid links and ads, poor content quality and sneaky redirects. It also generally involves more off-site SEO (or off-page SEO) that doesn’t deal with your organic numbers. When you’re looking for SEO experts, look for people with white hat SEO techniques (like inbound links and content marketing).
What Are Conversions?
Conversions are not a method of SEO, but the result that you are hoping to achieve. When it comes to SEO, each company’s end goal is not going to be the same – it could be the purchasing of a product or service, the subscription to a newsletter, or just clicking through to the next page. Once your goal is defined, you can decide what a conversion means to you. However, the ultimate goal of a conversion should always involve informing the customer about your product or service, and making them feel good about your company. A conversion rate is the number of visitors that go on to that next desired step, versus the visitors who do not. For example, if one out of ten visitors purchase your product or service (assuming that’s what your end goal is), your conversion rate would be 10%.
What is CRO?
If you have already heard of SEO, you have likely heard of CRO – conversion rate optimization. CRO focuses on optimizing the number of conversions, versus the number of visitors. Sounds pretty much like SEO, right? Well, the end goals of both are a little different. Organic SEO is all about building a long-term relationship with potential customers. This involves leaving a lasting impression on them by using techniques that are all about optimizing your website for the best possible customer experience, as well as making sure that your website is being organically found by the customers that require your product or service. It doesn’t necessarily mean that these customers are buying your product or service right away, although that is a desired result. Therefore, SEO is more so about the number of visitors your website is receiving. CRO is making sure that these visitors are converting as you see fit, so it is unlikely that if you are focusing on CRO that you are using organic SEO strategies in order to get there. CRO is much more about paid product placements and pushing a product on a customer, rather than waiting for them to find it themselves through more organic methods.
Why Will Organic SEO Help My Company?
There are a number of reasons why organic SEO will help your company, but none more so than that it’s been proven to work. This is largely because customers do not appreciate feeling like a product, service or otherwise is being pushed on them. With the help of a digital marketing company, you can make your company as available as possible to the customer, without making them feeling like anything is being over advertised or forced on them. It comes down to the fact that you have a great product or service, and a company that is willing to put in the time and effort to let your visitors find that out for themselves – with a little behind the scenes help along the way.
We hope we were able to answer some of your burning SEO questions, and help you understand a little bit more just why expert services and SEO packages can benefit your company. Content Refined is passionate about the SEO-driven content services packages we have to offer – these methods have been proven time and time again to work, and will increase traffic to your website immediately. Reach out to us to talk more about on-page optimization efforts and an organic SEO strategy. If that’s not worth the time for your business, we don’t know what is!
