If you have a business, you need people to know about it, and with the internet that’s easier to do now more than ever! Social media and e-mail marketing are amazing tools at your disposal, but one of your number one goals should be getting listed on search engines. Before you hire an SEO company or attempt to do some SEOing on your own, be sure you know the different options available to you. You might not have to work as hard as you think to help people find your business!
1) Organic SEO Results
These results are the varsity team of the search results, so you know they are popular! Organic results are the results most people will click on; partially because they are the most prominent, but also because they are the most trusted. And if you remember your high-school years, you know that being popular isn’t always easy! You can’t pay to get on the organic results, there is no quick trick. Google takes hundreds of factors into account to determine what sites show up organically. It would takes a lot of blog posts to describe all the factors that should be considered, so let me simplify it to the most important one: QUALITY CONTENT. If you write high-quality, interesting, key-word rich content on your site, then you are well on your way to rising to the top of the organic results.
2) Local SEO Results
Depending on what you’re looking for, local results are just as important as organic results. After all, if I’m searching for sandwich shop, chances are I am looking for a place to go and get a sandwich! Local results have a cute little map that correlates with each listings toward the top of the search results. If you have a local business and are looking for local customers, then you need to get listed here! Step one to getting your business listed here making sure your business has an account with the search engine. Check out this post where I tell you more about that.
3) Pay-Per-Click Results
These results show up at the very top and (sometimes) right hand side of the results section. You will know it’s a Pay-Per-Click result because the listing will say something like “AD” or “Sponsored”. PPC ads are powerful because they will get you on the search engines NOW, it’s like paying money to jump to the front of the line! But you have to remember, each and every time someone clicks on one of the ads, you will have to pay. The amount you pay is based on how competitive the keyword is. I’ve had clients willing to pay a few cents per click, and others that are willing to fork over forty dollars a click.
So remember, organic results are the most powerful but require the most work, local results are essential if you are looking for people to come to your local business, and PPC results can deliver traffic you need NOW, but at a cost. Isn’t it great that we have all of these big companies giving us so many options to let customers know about us?