Why do websites need SEO? Won’t websites that have good content have good SEO?
“The majority of web traffic is driven by search engines, Google, Bing, and Yahoo!” according to Moz.
Although social media and other types of traffic can generate visits to your website, search engines are the primary method of searching for information from many customers. If a particular search engine, such as Google, cannot find your site or add your site to their databases, your business has missed out on a large opportunities to bring user traffic to your site. The search box in any web browser carries extraordinary value to users because it indexes information and also can determine your location and filter your results accordingly.
For example, when I type jalapenos in Google search while in Bellingham, WA instead of directing me to pages about the spicy pepper the first result that pops up is the Mexican food chain Jalapenos located in Bellingham. 
SEO is a combination of many different aspects such as location, but there’s both a technical and a design side to make sure your site achieves good SEO. Back to the original question, why won’t your site be found without using SEO? Though search engines are very smart and intuitive they still need assistance. Search engines are always trying to crawl the internet more thoroughly and increase their index. There is an ever-increasing amount of information a search engine has to access when a user performs a search. However studies show that if your website isn’t one of the top 3 results that pop up in Google, or your business’s site is below the fold, customers won’t look at your site because most likely they’ve gotten what they were looking for from the top 3 search results.
Here are some more tips from Moz on SEO:
A search engine provides relevant results to its users – by searching through crawling and indexing. What is crawling the internet? Crawling is a process where automated, software-based-robotic spiders search the web for documents, pages, files, news, videos and media through the use of links, and store them in hard drives in order for this information to be recalled when someone searches for it. In order to provide answers, search engines use algorithms to identify sites that are both relevant to the search and have popularity among users as well.
Ultimately, when marketing a site businesses should, “Build it for users, not for search engines.” according to Moz.
According to Moz, there are three types of search queries users will perform and you should cater your information and content to these needs.
- “Do” Transactional Queries: I want to do something, such as purchasing a plane ticket to Bali.
- “Know” Informational Queries: I need information, such as the best restaurant in New York City.
- “Go” Navigation Queries: I want to go to a particular place on the Internet, such as Facebook.
In order to have your website appear in search engine results, marketing is essential. As a business, you need to assess if the content you’re including is accessible. Also, make sure to include keywords and commonly Googled phrases in your website. For example, if you’re an ice cream shop in Bellingham, like Mallards, having certain keywords like homemade ice cream, downtown Bellingham, and other keywords commonly searched for is essential. There is a lot of marketing that occurs between the top 3 search engines and the bidding that goes on in order to get your site to appear in the top 3 results. For example, many people use Chrome, however since Bing and IE are installed on PC’s by default, many users who fall into an older demographic won’t change their search engine. Knowing these fine details is essential for placing your website in the appropriate outlet where your target market will have ample access to it. Another important factor in SEO is that it’s changing constantly and just because you were a top result a week ago in Google doesn’t guarantee that you’ll be a top result the next week.
When developing content for a business, make sure it’s search engine friendly in both its design and implementation. The content on a website should be indexable by search engines but it should still be appealing and answer a user’s question or search. There’s a careful balance between making a website that’s structured for search engines as well as people on the internet who may be converted into users or customers. It’s beneficial to err on the side of caution and add alt tags to photos so they can still be searched even if the images don’t load properly in browsers. It’s also beneficial to add transcripts for videos so the video’s content is searchable and users can follow along while watching the video. It is also essential that all pages link to each other through easy to use navigation. Many of these small features can drastically improve a site’s SEO and can also make a site more accessible to users as well.
Keywords searches are essential for a business’s website to be found and for their content to be viewed by users. A helpful tool to utilize is Google Adwords because it allows you to see which keywords are being searched for as well as purchase keywords that are used to find your site. Google also assesses content through penguin updates – updates based on links, and panda updates – updates based off of content. Sites can also use black hat links which are links were you pay for people to link to your site which will increase traffic to your site. Ultimately helping your business and increasing customers. Having a website that is designer for both users and search engines is essential.
Until next time,
Sophia
sophiapandey 