Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an integral part of any digital marketing strategy. It is the process of optimizing websites for search engines and enhancing their search engine rankings. Search engines such as Google use algorithms to scan websites and allocate a higher ranking to websites that contain informative content and relevant keywords.

SEO marketing is crucial in today’s competitive business environment. Search engine users are more prone to click on the first page links on a Google results page – SEO helps a person to be on this list. SEO boosts website visibility and sales as people who locate a website through a Google search tend to promote it on social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter. SEO integrates keywords into the content in such a way that people searching for specific products and services can find a business with ease.

The first step in SEO strategy is to define the target audience. “There is only one winning strategy. It is to carefully define the target market and direct a superior offering to that target market,” so said the marketing guru, Philip Kotler. A target audience is a specific group of people who may be interested in the products and services on offer, and is usually defined on the basis of gender, age, location, profession and income.

Keyword research is about getting the right kind of visitors to a website. The keywords should be relevant to the website’s content and help users to find what they are looking for. The SEO marketers should zero in on at least 5-10 topics and create an equal number of keywords for each topic.

It is next to impossible to create a webpage for all keywords or even a handful of keywords. What is definitely possible is to develop a web page for each topic and provide content that is relevant to the target audience.  

Blogging is an incredible means of engaging the website users. Every blog post is a new web page that throws up an opportunity to establish a high ranking in search engines by providing a link to the website.

The mobile devices market has exploded in the past few years, with the ubiquitous smart phone overtaking the desktops as a device of choice for internet use. If you want to rank well in search engine results, optimizing websites for mobile browsers is of immense importance.

Social media has metamorphosed from a basic communication tool to a marketing communication platform. Many users start their searches on social media and subsequently make their way to a business site. Engaging and personalized content is therefore a sure means of attracting people to a social profile and website.

Website ranking is only one part of the story; what is more important is the traffic and website conversions generated by SEO.