Search engine optimization, or what is sometimes called SEO search engine optimization, is something of an art and science that uses the technology behind the major search engines to drive traffic to your website and help to make your site more profitable over time.
Search engine optimization should not be approached as a hobby or simply child’s play. When approached professionally, it can drive great results for you and have you competing for searchers’ attention on the first page of search engine rankings on major search engines.
SEO search engine optimization generates traffic for your website because of the listing rankings your sites achieve when search results are displayed. Because the results are listed naturally and are not paid for, they are called organic results, as opposed to the results shown in pay-per-click advertising.
When people use one of the major search engines, they are presented with a mix of paid results and organic listings. Searchers are nine times more likely to click on unpaid search results, which is an excellent illustration of why search engine optimization is so important and powerful.
You can certainly start marketing efforts for your website by using paid search marketing methods as this will get you traffic quickly, but of course you are paying for every visitor to your site.
If you haven’t tested your site and know that you have a high conversion rate, or a high percentage of visitors who make a purchase when they visit your site, then pay per click can be a very expensive route.
However, if you focus your paid search efforts on long-tail keywords that are relevant to your site, you’ll have less competition for those terms and can get a high position on a paid listing for a much lower cost-per-click.
This can often be a good strategy to start testing your conversion rate, and once you’ve established a good conversion rate, it could still pay off to look for more competitive, higher-cost search terms.
One of the critical components of successful pay-per-click marketing strategies is good keyword research.
Taking the time to study related keyword terms and phrases will reveal keywords you can target that have less competition, or might even be more suitable and more relevant to your particular site.
Failing to do proper research on related keywords can end up costing you time and money and lead to frustration in your marketing efforts.
The information you get from paid search marketing can also be very beneficial in your SEO search engine optimization efforts. You can use your conversion rates for different keyword terms or keyword phrases to help you know which terms to optimize for so you can improve your organic search engine rankings for those terms.
The most beneficial long-term strategy is to employ a combination of paid search marketing and SEO search engine optimization. These two approaches working together will generate fast traffic and revenue and long-term growth in organic traffic from major search engines.