These days, people are relying more and more on the Internet for many of their daily needs, from communication to entertainment, from gathering information to finding products and services. It is important, therefore, that you, as a business owner, have a presence in the Web – that is, you need to have a website where people can find out more about what your company has to offer. But don’t put one up just for the heck of it – you need to make sure that your virtual office or store provides your online visitors with a satisfying experience. And just as important, it has to be one that they can actually find. Here is where an SEO specialist can help. But how?
The way people find most businesses online is through a search engine. If you observe what takes place when people use a search engine, you may notice the following things:
- First, they enter a query, a phrase, a question, or a name on the search box. Why? Because they want answers. They are looking for information. They want to find out more about what it is that interests them. If, for example, they type “What is a Labrador retriever? “, then you can safely assume that they want to know more about this particular breed of dog. And if they type “Labrador Retriever puppies for sale in Manila”, they are most likely looking for a breeder or pet shop that is selling Labs within their area.
- Once they enter their query in the search box, the search engine will produce results, sometimes up to hundreds of thousands of sites that are possible matches to the query.
- Of all the results produced, it is highly likely that the searcher will click on the first one (or at least, one of those on the top half of the page). There is a very slim chance, if any at all, that they will click on 1,000th site on the results.
- They will then scan the website for the answer to their query, and they will often just take a cursory glance before moving on. If the site interests them enough, they will stay and read, and may even follow links to find out more. If the user has a good experience, they might recommend it to other people, post a link in their blog or social networking account, and/or bookmark the page. They might also decide to purchase a product or procure the company’s services.
- If, on the other hand, the website doesn’t please them or it doesn’t meet their needs, they will go back to their search and click on another link. The process will repeat until they find a website that satisfies their desire for answers or information.
SEO consultants study what the market – your target market – is looking for. What searches do they make in relation to your product or service? What questions do they ask? What information do they want? After recognizing these, your SEO expert will then formulate strategies and technical solutions on how people can more easily find your website (and your business). They will then devise no-nonsense plans to satisfy your visitors and make them happy enough to want to stay for longer and more often in your website.
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