There are a lot of questions regarding SEO or Search Engine Optimization. Some of the most asked questions that we receive on SEO are listed below.
What the heck is SEO? SEO stands for search engine optimization. It is the process of getting your website to rank higher in the search engine results. To get natural or organic ranking in Google takes some time and a lot of work. We really focus our attention on Google since it is the most popular search engine.
Is SEO Worth it for my Business? For most businesses, SEO works great and the answer is YES. Nevertheless, it needs to be done with the knowing that results will come over an extended period of time. If you need short term results then you should look at PPC – like Google Adwords. SEO will generally last regardless of Google updates because it will focus on useful content.
Should I optimize the site myself or have some company do my SEO? Unless you are familiar with SEO and all of the different criteria involved to rank your site I would stick to what you do best. Your time would probably be spent better working on other parts of your business, than trying to learn Google algorithms. This is generally one of those areas that is best left to someone else, so you can use your time more wisely on other things.
What is an organic search and what is paid or inorganic result? This is pretty easy to distinguish. Organic results are the results that appear for “free” in search engines. You are not directly paying for each click. These results are based on the search engines ranking criteria and how well you match the criteria versus the competition. Paid or inorganic results appear at the top or side of a page. They are only displayed if you pay each time a user clicks the link. (Thus ….pay per click.) How much you pay for each click depends on the competition of the keyword. Obviously with pay per click you can rank high quickly, but it can get very expensive.
Should I create a blog just for SEO purposes? Blogs on their own will not get you better rankings. However a blog will help you keep your content current. Search engines generally like updated content and will come around to index your site more often. You can also use press releases and content from newsletters as well.
What are meta descriptions? A meta description is text that appears below your page (hidden from the user but visible to Google) and basically explains what the page is about. Yes … meta descriptions are still used but are not as important as they were before.
Is there a correct number of keywords per page? There’s no keyword density that is right or wrong. We think you should reference the keyword in your content but it is not going to help rankings to keep mentioning your keyword over and over again. The actual content is more important.
What’s the difference between links? There are 2 types of links – internal links and outbound links. Internal links simply link to other pages on your site. Inbound links go to other websites that link to your content. In general this is not as important to SEO as it was in years past.
What is the sitemap.xml file? This file is an index of all the pages on your site. It is a quick reference for Google and other search engines to get an idea quickly of the content on your site.
What is robots.txt? This is a page that is set up for the search engines. It tells search engines areas not to go on your site and alos what areas of your site that you want indexed.
What is the difference between your site being indexed by Google and Google crawling your site? When search engines look through your site and look for content they are crawling your site. Google as spiders that automatically crawl around and look for content and updated content. As the search engines crawl your site, they index content that will appear in the search engine rankings. Not all content is indexed and Google pick what content it finds relevant to index on their search engines.
SShould I add alt text on my images? Yes you should still label your images. Search engines still cannot read images and can can only read text. The “alt text” labels the image for the search engines and lets the engines gather more information about your page.
How long does it take to see results from SEO? Usually it takes at least 2-3 months to see results with organic SEO. There are many factors that determine results specifically related to how competitive
If you still have questions please contact us and we would be more than happy to help.
