What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and why do I need it?

When you go to a search engine, such as Google or Bing, have you ever wondered how that search engine determines the order of websites that it shows you? It is done by something called search engine optimization. The search engine takes in a number of factors to give you, the user, the most relevant websites possible, because, let’s face it, if you type in “bacteria growth in Petri dishes” and the top search results come back with websites for cheese making, you are likely going to stop using that search engine.

How do websites determine what is relevant for my searches?

Well, the short and most accurate answer to that question is that search engines are constantly changing their standards to determine relevant searches for its users. Learning how to optimize a website is a constant process requiring months of researching which is why there aren’t that many professional SEO firms out there. One other struggle SEO firms face is that only big companies that make money off their website spend money on SEO. Let’s face it, SEO is expensive. It’s hard for small and even medium size businesses to justify spending their tight advertising budget on a service that won’t have a good return on investment (ROI) for the better part of a year or longer.

Why does your small, medium, or large business need SEO?

The answer is simple: if you don’t want to optimize your website for search results that are relevant to your site and business, why invest in a website to begin with? Without conscious uses of search engine optimization, your website is doomed live on the ninth page, the tenth page, or even further down in the search results. Can you think of the last time you went to the second or third page of the search results to find a website to solve the problem of your search? Most people don’t get off the first page.

So here is the million-dollar question, are you ready for your website to be found?

If your business is considering changes to your website, let us help.

We would love to chat with you about your website project. Please fill out our contact form and we can talk about it in whatever method works best whether it is a phone call, email, virtual meeting, or in person if it is in the Mankato, MN area.

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