SEO: 5-Minute Guide

So you’re thinking of taking on SEO.

Great!

With over 4.6 billion people on the internet and 3.8 million Google searches a minute, you’re taking a BIG step in the right direction.

However, SEO might sound like a giant and scary word if you’re unfamiliar with online marketing.

Or it might sound like just another buzzword.

But trust us, it’s neither!

And by the end of this quick 5-minute guide, you’ll see why.

You’ll know all the whats, whys, and hows of SEO.

Let’s get started!

What is SEO?

Why You Should Work on SEO

How SEO Drives in Traffic

What SEO is Not

What is SEO?

SEO stands for search engine optimization.

It’s a mix of online marketing techniques that work together to achieve the same goals: raise the rank of a website higher in search engines for relevant search terms and bring in more traffic. Websites ranking in position 1 – 3 typically get the most click-through traffic.

If your website has good SEO, for example:

If you are selling an online appointment scheduler, whenever someone types “online appointment scheduler” in a search engine, your website will show up first.

But without good SEO, your website will be nowhere in sight.

Make sense?

SEO also differs from other marketing strategies since it isn’t a pay-to-play field.

Unlike ads, you don’t have to pay Google or other search engines to display your website on search results.

If your website has excellent SEO, it will make its way to the top of search results organically – without you giving Google a dime.

Because of this, SEO provides a tremendous opportunity for small and medium-sized businesses.

For the first time, large corporations can’t bully smaller businesses into submission. They can’t use their enormous coffers to outpay the competition.

Finally, SEO is also an evergreen strategy.

Done right, a high-ranking page on your website can bring in organic traffic for you on autopilot – even years after you put up the page!

Unlike ads, your SEO campaign won’t end once you stop spending on it.

It takes more time to bring results (typically 3-6 months), but once SEO results start kicking in, they don’t stop!

Why You Should Work on SEO

The fact that you can go toe-to-toe with the giants of your industry sure is exciting.

But what’s the point?

Why should you care about ranking above them in search engines in the first place?

Here’s why:

The two things every marketing campaign goes after are leads and sales.

But in the online world, it’s impossible for your website to get leads or sales without traffic.

And that’s what SEO provides. Traffic. SEO is the best strategy for bringing in high-quality traffic to your website – which can easily convert into leads and sales for your business.

Here are some studies showing the importance of SEO:

93% of online experiences begin with a search engine (Imforza)
90.63% of web pages get no organic traffic (Ahrefs)
49% of users say they use Google to discover or find a new item or product (Hubspot)
70-80% of users don’t click on ads in search results (Optinmonster)
Good SEO has a 14.6% conversion rate – traditional strategies get 1.7% (99Firms)
SEO drives 1000% more organic traffic than social media (Brightedge)

The list could go on and on.

The point is your audience is searching for answers online. If your website doesn’t show up in search results, you’re not only missing out on a flood of traffic and potential customers, but they’ll go over to your competitors instead!

Think about that second statistic for a minute. 90.63% of web pages get no organic traffic.

Without SEO, your website will be just another one of that 847,833,932 websites that no one (aside from your friends) visits.

Honestly? If you have a website but aren’t working on your SEO, your website is almost entirely useless.

But with good SEO, you can turn this around, draw in a flood of traffic, and (hopefully) make tons of leads and sales.

How SEO Drives in Traffic (And Leads and Sales!)

When was the last time you went to page 2 of your search result?

We can’t remember the last time we did either.

That’s because almost no one goes to page 2. Heck, hardly anyone scrolls past the first five results at all.

That’s why if your website isn’t showing up on the first page of search results, you can’t expect to get any traffic.

And that’s how SEO works.

With a combination of content marketing, on-page SEO, technical SEO, and link-building, your page will rank on the first page.

There, it’ll drive traffic to your site.

And if your site has an excellent lead magnet or product?

These visitors will convert into leads or become customers!

That’s why it pays to have your website at the top of high-traffic keywords. It’s why companies spend a combined $65 billion on SEO every year.

That’s how valuable it is.

What SEO Is NOT

Now that you know what SEO is, why you should work on yours, and how it works, let’s clear up some misconceptions.

SEO does NOT directly increase your leads and sales.

Too many SEO agencies promise a dramatic increase in leads and sales. But SEO on its own just can’t do that.

You can have the best SEO in the world but still get zero leads.

Why?

Because SEO is there to drive traffic to your site, not to generate leads or sales.

Yes, increase in leads and revenue is the end goal. But lead generation will always depend on the quality of your landing page conversion effectiveness.

On the same note, sales depend on how good your product and sales team are, not SEO.

SEO is simply a strategy to bring your website more traffic.

Yes, some agencies will also work on your lead generation. But that isn’t strictly SEO anymore. That’s an additional service.

Ready to Take on SEO?

There you have it!

That was your 5-minute SEO guide!

We hope that we answered any questions you may have had about SEO.

If you still have questions, shoot us an email on our contact page, and we’ll get right back to you.

Or, if you’re looking for more in-depth information, check out our other SEO education articles.

But if you’re ready to take on SEO, signing up for our free SEO audit is the best place to start!

and find out how we can work together to rock your online marketing!