You often hear the term SEO, but what does this acronum stand for? What does it really mean? And why is it important to your marketing plan? We're here to explain!

First things first: SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It's the process of affecting the online visibility of a website in a search engine's unpaid results. The higher a web page is ranked in a search result, the more likely it is to be clicked on by a user. When interpreting SEO data, think of it like a golf score card -- the lower the number the better. 

Example: If a page on your site ranks 3 on a certain keyword, that means it was the third-highest organic listing in the search query. 

So now you know what SEO is -- now why is it an important part of your marketing strategy? Here are our top five reasons. 

1. Increases brand awareness. Having your organic listings show up on page 1 of a search result means more eyes on your name. It's not often that people continue to scroll through pages of search engine results. 

2. Drives qualified traffic to your website. Higher rankings mean that not only will more people see your listing -- it increases the odds of someone clicking on the page link and going through to your website. The traffic will be classified as "organic search" in your analytics system.

3. Consumers trust organic results. By showing up in organic search results, you are inadvertently building credibility in the mind of the consumer. Listings that include positive testimonials or reviews that rank high show that you are a trustworthy source for the product or service that you provide. 

4. Effective mobile marketing requires it. Having an effective SEO strategy ensures that you will show up in search results on smartphones as well. This is required in today's society, with most people searching on their phones and tablets. 

5. Long-term results. Search engines such as Google give preference to pages that rank well, so pages that have great search results tend to stay within a few rankings for a long time -- years, even, as long as the strategy is maintained.

Every business can benefit from a top-notch SEO strategy. We'd love to help you out! Give us a call at (804) 864-9190 to chat about it.