What is SEO?

Search Engine Optimization (or SEO) is all the stuff that happens in the background to make your web page ranks higher on search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo. The higher your search ranking, the more people who will click on your web page. SEO optimizes your webpage so the search engine finds it more easily.

Every day, millions of people fire up a device and search the internet. They want to look for information, buy stuff, watch movies, listen to music, take a class…the list goes on and on.

And so do the search results.

Research shows that most people do not look past the first page or two of results that pop up. So, for your page to get the traffic – and the buyers or subscribers or listeners – you want, agencies like Web Smart continually research, refine and update your website and content to make it more attractive to search engines, like Google.

This is an ongoing process because these search engines are continually changing their algorithms to make the search process better and easier for the world. Google, for example, averages over 500 changes every year! Our Web Smart wizards are always-on when it comes to implementing these changes and making sure your SEO is always industry leading.

Why do I need an SEO agency like Websmart?

Here’s an exercise: type ‘best coffee shop’ into Google (or whichever browser you are using). Look at the line above the first results. That is the number of competing pages your audience is looking at. In this example, at the time of writing, that number was About 2 540 000 000 results.

That is over 2.5 BILLION people trying to take business from you.

Web Smart’s experts use SEO best practice and all the tools in their extensive toolbox to keep your business top of page and top of mind.

What are SEO best practices?

The ins-and-outs of SEO, search engines and search algorithms are incredibly complex and ever-changing.

The basics of SEO, which guide our best practice ethos, are:

Keyword research and creation

Keywords are the words and phrases that a search engine looks for in order to bring you results. For example: If someone is looking for a coffee shop, they might type ‘nearest coffee shop’ into Google. Google then looks for all pages that contain the words ‘coffee’ and ‘shop’ to find results. These words are known as ‘keywords’ and, by using them tactically in your website, Websmart makes sure you get better search results for your business.

Links:

Every page you link to, and every page that links to yours, creates a path that the search engine can follow to determine whether your page is important and relevant enough to feature. Web Smart analyses and checks all these links, internal and external, to ensure they are from (or to) safe and trusted websites that build your online reputation.

Content:

Search engine algorithms are incredibly smart – and getting smarter. They are able to analyse the content of your website to determine whether it is good content and worth a visitor’s time. Our Web Smart experts help you to create content that is engaging and valuable to boost your search results.

Technical:

Remember the coffee shop example? Well, there is a very important technical aspect to successful web pages as well. In the coffee shop example, one of the search criteria would be ‘nearest’, and the search engine would use geographical data to find the best result. Our Webmaster Technical SEO also deals with things like site loading speeds, compatibility across devices and more.

How does marketing affect SEO?

SEO should always form part of your marketing practices. Whether you are sending out leaflets, taking out an ad in a magazine, putting yourself on TV, using radio or focusing on digital, SEO is there to boost and strengthen your reach. Websmart takes all your channels into consideration when designing and implementing your SEO strategy to truly make the web an effective and transparent business weapon.

Who benefits from SEO?

Everybody. You, as a business, benefit from having a team that is constantly monitoring and refining your digital presence to ensure you get the eyes – and clicks – your business needs. You, as a user, benefit from getting results that are verified by your search engine as accurate, useful and trustworthy.

How do I implement an SEO strategy?

It’s easy. Just speak to the Web Smart wizards and we will make sure the magic happens for you – in budget, on time and tailored to your every need.