Our series on How To Make a Website has come to an end, so it’s time for our next topic. Being that it’s February, it seems only appropriate that we take some time to talk about those three little words…

No, not those three little words. We’re talking about Search Engine Optimization, people. To help you navigate this important and tricky topic, we have guest blogger and Webs’ resident search marketing expert, Collin Tate.

An Introduction to SEO

There are few topics that have caused as much confusion, frustration and curiosity as Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Whether you’re a professional writer, passionate blogger, seed-stage startup or established business, SEO is critical to your online success.

This introductory article aims to break down what people mean when they say SEO, why SEO is important to you and your business and the benefits of optimizing your website.

What do you mean by SEO?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the method used to improve the ranked placement of a website or increase the number of times a website shows up in the search results of search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo.

A search for any given word or phrase typically returns hundreds of thousands or even millions of results to choose from. The purpose of SEO is to help your website listing stand out among the millions and drive visitors (a.k.a. traffic) to your website. This is why SEO is easily one of the most important factors of online marketing.

Why SEO is important for me and my business?
Imagine you’ve signed your company up for its first industry expo. You plan and work for months, taking care to have colorful displays, detailed brochures, business cards, a company intro and the perfect sales pitch.

What would happen if you spent all of that time creating the perfect booth, but failed to pay attention to your booth’s location? You could end up at the farthest reaches of the room while your competition is smack in the middle of the most trafficked part of the expo.

A nice expo booth, like a nice looking website, is just one part of the equation. If you properly execute SEO, it can improve your websites’ search engine visibility and increase the likelihood of your online marketing efforts succeeding. No SEO – or poorly-executed SEO – could leave your website deep in the weeds of search results.

Now that you have a general idea about what SEO is and why it’s important, on Monday we’ll dive into the 5 key benefits of SEO for your small business.

- Collin