What is SEO & why you need it for your website

Simply put, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the process of setting up a website or page so that search engines can easily categorize the page properly and help any searcher find the proper match for their query at the top of the search results page.

Whenever you use a search engine you expect the top results to be relevant to your query and the websites that are linked to be the best solutions to your question. However, since the very first websites were created there have been two issues: Websites that do not have their information optimized to be crawled by the search engine spyders and website owners trying to “game” the system and appear higher in the rankings.

It is understandable that any business feels they should be ranked higher than their competitors, but this is not always helpful to the consumer.  Therefore we practice what is called “White Hat SEO” when we optimize a website to make sure that; first it is set up as well as possible to give the spyders an accurate depiction of the content and secondly that it will remain relevant regardless of any algorithm changes by the search engines.

What is white hat SEO you ask?

A quick answer would be setting up web pages and websites as a whole so that you are making sure that both search engines (spyders) and searchers can easily determine what a page or website is about and that it matches their query as closely as possible.

Why white hat?

Well, ever since the first websites were created there have always been content creators who want more people to go to their website which is natural. However, some will use deceptive means to gain more viewers (black hat). There is also a variation called “gray hat” which treads the line and while not fully deceptive engage in very questionable practices.

Why does it matter?

It matters because when you search for something you truly want the best match for your query and search engines have spent an amazing amount of time and money creating their search algorithm. This constantly changing code tries to make sure that the top results you receive match your query the closest. When somebody engages in black hat practices they try to “game the system” and use deceptive means to fool the search algorithm. Primarily this is done for financial gain and only has the website in question’s best interest in mind. You can easily identify black and gray hat SEO operators because they guarantee that you can be at the top of the search results for any given word and they are also the ones who get the angriest when the algorithm is updated.

What all is embodied in SEO?

Without going into too much detail the basic points of any SEO strategy are the following:

- Define the keyword / keywords that you feel describe each page
- Create a page title that makes sense and includes the keyword
- Write a page meta description that includes the keyword and a brief about the page in under 160 characters
- Make sure any images on the page are named and include alt attributes
- Create any links on the page include relevant anchor text and appropriate title tags
- Craft the text on the page itself to be as relevant to your keyword as possible and include the keyword at least once

Solutions

GPS Digital Marketing would be more than happy to look over your website and make suggestions. We could do anything from setting up a strategy to doing a full SEO update and ongoing program.