Search Engine Optimization at Western
What is search engine optimization and why does it matter?
Search engine optimization, otherwise referred to as SEO, is the practice of optimizing your web pages to make them rank higher in the results of search engines, like Google, Yahoo or Bing. When a page is search optimized, this means that more people will be more likely to come across your website when they are searching online. SEO focuses on improving your website rankings in the organic (that is, non-paid) search results.
SEO strategy consists of a variety of elements that, if done well, result in the page consistently appearing in search results and enticing a user to click through to the website. Some elements include adding metatags, using keywords, monitoring your site's technical health and creating high-quality content.
How Does SEO Work?
Search results are presented in an ordered list. The closer to the top of that list a site can get, the more traffic the site will tend to receive.
An example of this is when you search for anything on the internet, the number one result often receives 40-60% of the total traffic for that query. The number two and three results receive significantly less traffic. And less than 5% of searchers look beyond the first page of search results to find what they are looking for. What that means is even minor improvements in search engine rankings can result in a website receiving exponentially more traffic.
The goal of SEO is to increase search results so that your website shows up higher on the search engine results page (SERP) than your competitor's website.