The question that is on everybody's mind. Such a simple question right? Yes, but the answer is more complicated than you think.
Here is an example of a typical conversation between a client and a web designer.
Client: "Can you do SEO for my website, and how much will it cost?"
Designer: "Yes I can, and around $100."
Simple conversation but do you actually know the meaning behind it. Ask yourself this, what is the designer actually going to do for the customer for $100?...........Create SEO? Yes, but what is the designer ACTUALLY GOING TO DO?
SEO MEANS......SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
Search Engine Optimization----Optimizing your website so that search engines will present it to people looking for the information/services you offer.
This is a very important thing to know because it is the first step in understanding HOW to optimize your website for search engines.
GOOGLE AND SEO
SEO is great because it means that search engines treat everyone equally....meaning you cannot buy your way to the first page of google or any other search engine. You can buy ad space, but not SEO space. This is good news because it means that anyone with a computer and access to the internet can get themselves on the first page of google for almost any topic without money.
What Does Being On Google's First Page Mean?
Let me start off by saying that for the remainder of this topic I will refer to search engines as Google because Google is the main search engine used on the web and the most important.
Being on Google's first page means that when you go to Google and type in a certain keyword, Google will present a few relevant websites on their first page to you. This is important because although there are website on Google's other pages, most people never look past the first page.
This is what search engine optimization really means. It means that Google will put your website on it's first page for relevant topics (aka: keywords).
"SEO is basically free marketing. That is why it is so important for your web site."
HOW DO SEARCH ENGINES CHOOSE WHICH SITES TO PUT ON THEIR FIRST PAGE?
Finally! How to have great SEO.
Google decides which websites to present on their first page based on who they think has the most relevant information pertaining to the keyword that is being searched. That is it.
Google decides which website is by seeing who has the keyword in question the most times on their site. They also use other factors but this is the most important. Backlinks are another important factor. This is when a website has a link that refers back to your website.
If you had a physical store that sells leggings, the keywords would be the amount of leggings you have to sell in the store and the backlinks would be the stores that know about you and post your flyer on their wall.
SEO CREATION
Now that you know what SEO is you probably have a good idea of what a web designer is going to do for you when they tell you they are going to help you with SEO. Below is a list of a few things they will do.
Choose A Keyword or Phrase to Add To Your Site
Add The Keyword Many Times In Different Locations Throughout Your Site
Add the keyword as Header Tags. This means they will make that word or phrase larger than other words in order to show it's importance.
Add keyword to image descriptions and other things that are on the backend of your website.
Create backlinks
There are ways to improve your SEO as well. I suggest checking googling How To Improve Your SEO.
HOW MUCH DOES GOOD SEO COST?
If you do SEO yourself it will cost you nothing. If you hire someone to do it for you, the price will range based on the popularity of your keyword or phrase you want to rank for. SEO can start at $100 and go into the thousands.
How Is The SEO Price Determined?
If you want to rank for a keyword that is not popular at all then SEO will be cheaper because the person does not have to add the keywords many times to your site. This also means not that many people are searching for that keyword. If it is a popular word the person will have to add the keywords many times and do a lot of other things so that you will rank highly. This means a lot of time therefore a lot of money.
How To Know How Much Work To Put In For a Particular Keyword?
A good way to know how much energy you have to put into SEO for a particular word is to find out who is currently rank highly on google for that word and then see how many times they have that word or phrase on their site. That is the number to beat.
There is an amazing video created by an SEO master that helps explain how to get do great SEO. Click here for Nerds World SEO video on youtube.com .
Congrats! You've made it to the end, now you know what SEO means and how to get started. You can always contact me if you want someone to do SEO for you? AY Web Design