A Beginner’s Guide to SEO

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the practice of improving your website’s visibility on search engines like Google. This is a crucial part of online marketing, and it’s something that every website owner should be familiar with. If you’re just starting out with SEO, this beginner’s guide will help you get up to speed!

Understand the Basics of SEO

Before you dive into the more technical aspects of SEO, it’s important to understand the basics. Search engines like Google use algorithms to rank websites based on various factors. Some of the most important factors include the relevance and quality of your content, the number and quality of backlinks to your site (don’t worry we’ll explain further), and the overall user experience.

Ensure Your Content is Relevant

How do you do this? Conduct keyword research. Keyword research is the process of finding the keywords and phrases that people use to search for information related to your brand or product. By identifying the keywords that are most relevant to your business, you can optimize your content to include those keywords and improve your search engine rankings.

There are a number of tools that you can use to conduct keyword research, including Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, and Ahrefs. These tools may help you identify the most popular keywords in your industry, as well as the keywords that your competitors are targeting.

Optimize Your Website for On-Page SEO

On-page SEO refers to the elements of your website that you can control directly, such as your content, meta tags, and URLs. By optimizing these elements for your target keywords, you may improve your chances of ranking higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).

Some Key On-Page SEO Elements to Focus On Include:

Title tags: Your title tags should be relevant to your content and include your target keywords.

Meta descriptions: Your meta descriptions should be a brief summary of your content and also include your target keywords.

Headers: Use headers (H1, H2, H3) to break up your content and make it easier for readers to scan.

Content: Your content should be high-quality, relevant, and informative. Use your target keywords naturally throughout your content, but avoid overusing them.

URL structure: Use descriptive URLs that include your target keywords.

Build Quality Backlinks

Backlinks are links from other websites to your website (so not as technical as it sounds). Search engines view backlinks as a sign of credibility and authority, so building high-quality backlinks is an important part of SEO.

Some ways to build backlinks include:

Create high-quality content that other websites will want to link to.
Reach out to other websites and ask them to link to your content.
Participate in online communities and forums related to your industry, and include links to your content where appropriate.
Guest post on other websites and include links back to your own site.

Monitor Your Analytics

Finally, it’s important to monitor your website’s analytics to see how your SEO efforts are paying off. Google Analytics is a free tool that allows you to track website traffic, including where your traffic is coming from, which pages are the most popular, and how long visitors are spending on your site.

By monitoring your analytics, you will identify areas where your SEO strategy may need improvement and make adjustments as needed.

ON Advertising Knows SEO

SEO is a complex and ever-changing field, but by focusing on the basics you can lay a solid foundation for your website’s search engine rankings. At ON Advertising we are experts in SEO and can help you take your website to the next level. Our team of creatives and web developers blend their talents together to develop websites that are above the rest. Whether you are seeking help with your current website or looking to build one that fits your brand, we can make it happen!

A man is holding his iphone with the Google Search Engine up to highlight PPC and SEO

How Do PPC and SEO Work Together?

PPC and SEO are the Batman and Robin of the digital marketing world. Why? Because the two go hand-and-hand in attracting additional website visitors, increasing your leads, and boosting your overall revenue. But, how exactly do the two work together and how can you measure their success?

As one of the top digital marketing agencies in Arizona, ON Advertising is committed to the success of our clients. When you work with us, you’re not just receiving our creative minds and collective experience, you’re gaining a valuable partnership to increase ROI. Read our article below on why PPC and SEO are needed in your digital marketing strategy.

What is SEO?

SEO, or search engine optimization, is a digital marketing practice we use to boost the visibility of your website in relevant searches on sites like Google or Bing. It is the process by which a website is improved to rank better in searches for targeted keywords and phrases.

For example, a company that wants to improve its search engine ranking for “sustainable packaging” might use this phrase in its website components like product description, page titles, meta descriptions, and more. Additionally, website design plays a huge role in boosting the SEO score. You can get a better idea of what SEO is all about in our article here.

What is PPC?

PPC, or pay-per-click advertising, refers to the advertising you see on the top and along the sides of searches on Google, Bing, and Yahoo!. It’s called pay-per-click because the companies that place them only pay for the ads when they are clicked.

PPC ads are a fairly affordable way to acquire new customers and generate leads.

However, the cost to bid on specific words and phrases, also known as keywords, varies. Some words are just more affordable than others, while the more costly ones can cost hundreds of dollars, simply because there is so much competition for this specific word. We’ll explain in the next section how that works.

Do PPC and SEO Affect One Another?

To put it simply, no. Having PPC ads does not directly affect your site’s ranking, and your ranking doesn’t affect your ads. While there are no SEO benefits to having PPC ads, there are other benefits that can affect how well your website performs when using both PPC and SEO.

How Do PPC and SEO Work Together?

If you’re looking to improve your website, increase your leads, and boost your revenue, launching a digital marketing strategy that incorporates PPC and SEO is key. Here is why:

SEO + PPC = Better Search Engine Presence: As you know, improving your website with SEO gives you a better chance at ranking on the first page for one or more keywords that you are targeting. Purchasing PPC ads for that keyword allows your ad to appear near the top of the page when someone searches for that keyword. When you do both of these things for that particular keyword, you are ensuring your brand dominates the search results resulting in more valuable clicks.
Remarketing Campaigns Allow You to Reach Previous Visitors: So, your website ranks fairly well thanks to SEO activities. You’re drawing in a good amount of visitors but shoppers are taking a while to make up their mind on doing business with you. You can use PPC and SEO to create a remarketing campaign to bring visitors back to your site to complete their purchase at a later time.

For example, say someone wants to buy those sustainable packaging materials but wants some time to think about it. You can purchase ad space from a website in Google’s network to show them ads for those same materials at a later time. This will remind them to come back to your site and complete the purchase.

PPC Lets You Test New Keywords for SEO: Building up your SEO takes a lot of time and research. There are times where you want to target a specific keyword but aren’t sure if it will be worth it in the end. One way you can test its success is by using the keyword in a PPC ad. This way you can see how popular it is and how successful it is in generating leads.

ON Advertising Can Help Build Your Digital Marketing

To attract prospective customers, having an online presence is essential in today’s business world. By employing strategic SEO activities and creating PPC ads, you can effectively reach your target audience and generate more leads.

As one of Arizona’s top digital marketing agencies, ON Advertising specializes in all things digital. By enlisting in our digital services, your brand will get on the first page of your favorite search engine and maximize your conversions and revenue. Sounds promising? Contact us today to get started.