Does SEO Work?

SEO or search engine optimization is the process where an SEO consultant helps businesses improve their rankings in search results. It is about "optimising" websites for search, not optimising the search engines themselves.

SEO is a process that takes time and a lot of effort. It is hard work involving every aspect of your website – the technical architecture, the content, backlinks, security and speed of your website.

To grow your rankings on Google and other search engines like MSN, Bing, Yahoo etc. you need to take a holistic approach to SEO and make sure the entire user experience is one that is involving, answers users questions and keeps readers intrigued.

Search engines like Google decides who ranks where in search results using a top-secret, continuously-updated automated ranking algorithm. Google says its ranking algorithm takes in.

What is needed for SEO?

Let’s first talk about search results, or SERPs, as the industry calls them. The search results themselves are where the magic happens: this is where a search engine user is going to type in a search term, and then click the result which they think is going to be most relevant.

The search engine itself wants to make life easy for its users, so it’s going to try to display the most relevant result first on the page. Search engines have gotten very good at doing this over recent years, so users now generally trust that the first search result is going to be the most relevant result.

Thus, users trust the results that search engines bring them more, and they have a higher propensity to click on the top results! This is hardly surprising, and indeed, the focus of a lot of SEO is "rank higher", but what is surprising is the extent to which users click on the very top results.

Why does SEO matter?

SEO is, of course, just one part of a marketing strategy but its importance is increasing due to the number of users who use Google. A strong SEO strategy can lead to:

Leads that are from your target audience

Improvement in overall traffic to your website

Improved conversion rates if done properly

Best approach to SEO

The goal of SEO is to ensure that all recommendations and strategies are designed to complement your existing digital strategy and business objectives. A professional SEO consultant can help your business go up in search engine rank.

Major factors contributing to SEO are:

Keyword choices

Website is easily searchable and able to be indexed by search engines

Website is secure

Website is fast

Website has content that is interesting and relevant to your target market

Layout and ease of use of website

Readability of content

Does SEO make a difference?

Many factors contribute to this answer, it can be a definitive yes if done right!

Factors that changes this answer to YES:

Choosing an SEO consultant that know his stuff

Finding the balance between a consultant with a good amount of experience that does not charge a truck loaf of money

A SEO consultant that is willing to put in loads of effort to see your business grow.

Is SEO worth it?

Yes, if done right – see above

No, if done wrong - see above

Bill writes is a student at UCLA, studying towards Media and arts. Bill is an avid listener of birds and enjoys watching planes go by.