If there’s one thing that you absolutely have to know about digital marketing, it’s that SEO is a big deal. A really big deal. The biggest deal. It could not be a bigger deal. And this is for one reason, if you customers can’t find you online, then they can’t use your services or buy from you. Good SEO makes sure that you’re visible online. As one of the best SEO consultant companies in all of Utah (dare we say, all the country?), we can help you figure out what you need in the way of SEO. But perhaps it would be best if backed up a bit and gave you some definitions. 

High–definition (of SEO) 

Let’s start simple, explaining what SEO stands for. It is Search Engine Optimization. When first faced with that term, it may not seem any less confusing than when you were first faced with SEO. But when you put it context, it’s actually quite simple. 

You probably already know what a search engine is. But in case you don’t: a search engine is what you use to search for things on the internet when you don’t have an exact web address. The most famous search engine is Google, but others like Yahoo and Bing also exist (I guess). So, SEO is trying to optimize how you appear on a search engine. But we need some explanation as to what exactly “optimized” looks like in this context. 

How often do you move past the first page of a Google search? How often have you clicked on the next button or the little 2 and the bottom of the screen? If you’re like most people, probably not very often. Having good SEO means that you’ll be on the first page of that search. Having incredible SEO means that you are within the first few entries on that first page. 

It’s pretty easy to see why we say that SEO is such a big deal. Now we want to talk to you about how SEO works. 

How to work SEO to your advantage 

SEO is based mainly on one thing: keywords. These are terms that people search when looking for sites. For example, if you wanted to find a sporting goods store near you, you would search “sporting goods store,” or something like that. So, if you owned a sporting goods store, you would want to make sure that you ranked high for “sporting goods store” or any related terms. The way you rank for terms is by having the right amount of those terms within your website.  

Now that we have covered some of this, let’s talk about how you can boost that SEO. There are a few ways, and you can come up with a mix of methods that works for you. But there is one thing that you absolutely have to do to start with. You need to come up with some keywords that you want to rank for. They should be things that get right to the heart of who you are as a company. For example, we at Avant8 work to rank for a few different terms, one is “Utah SEO consultant” (doesn’t that sound kind of familiar). But if you are a restaurant, you may work on terms that have to do with the particular kind of food you specialize in. 

Once you’ve chosen your keyword focuses, you can get started on the actual SEO work. As mentioned, there are a few methods for boosting SEO. You can do all or one, but we would recommend (if you’re going to be doing this on your own), to find a few that work for you. Here’s a list: 

• SEO content on your site. You should double check the copy on your website and see if it has any mention of your keywords. If it doesn’t, go in and fix that. Of course, only add it where it makes sense and in moderation. 
• Blogs are beneficial. For a few reasons, too. When you write a blog about one of your keywords that is at least 500 words, search engine will pick up on that and boost you up the list. Another reason is that your customers will find the blogs informative, which is always a good thing. 
• SEO on the social side. This is a pretty easy one, since you probably already have social media accounts that link to your website. If you make posts that use your keywords or include hashtags of the keywords, search engines will pick up on that too. While it won’t boost your website’s SEO, it will boost your social account’s SEO, which should have a link to your site anyway. 

Hopefully, you noted that we keep mentioning that there’s only so many times that you should use your keywords. You can’t just go nuts and fill every part of your site with your keywords for a few reasons. One of these reasons is that search engines will see that and mark it off as spam. The goal of search engines is to give their users the most useful information possible. Just having the phrase “sporting goods store” over and over again on your site isn’t going to be very useful to people looking to buy sporting goods. The other reason is exactly that. Have you ever tried to read a spam site? It’s not possible. There’s no actual information available for you to read. If you site looks like that, your potential customers won’t be able to actually use your site (if they can find it). 

If you find all of this more than a little overwhelming, don’t worry. You’re not alone. As mentioned, we at Avant8 are some of the best SEO consultants around. We can help you figure out a plan or even run your SEO for you. No matter what you chose, we hope these tips will give you at least a little boost in your site’s traffic. We don’t just offer SEO services though. We also offer web design in Salt Lake City and all over!