A startup needs to work towards one thing at the beginning: making an impact. Professional SEO or search engine optimization helps you do that. Compared to other marketing strategies, optimization is a fast way to build traction with a small budget.
However, this does not mean that Google and other search engines tolerate mediocre but search-optimized copy. Shortcuts and cutting corners get penalized, so anyone who aims to use SEO must know how to write copy to engage both humans and the search algorithms.
What makes a relevant copy?
No matter your business’ size, your marketing plan, or your budget, your page will rank depending on Google’s criteria. A search engine ranks pages depending on how they provide content, engagement, and accessibility.
A page should load fast, contain useful information, and be laid out clearly for the reader. UX or user experience drives engagement, so a website that generates large amounts of traffic gets a high ranking.
How does a search engine measure relevance?
Different search engines have different ways of ranking pages. Google, in particular, uses keywords to match content to queries. Google’s algorithm also checks the search context and analyzes if the website’s copy responds to it adequately. This is true whether you’re talking about local SEO or searches encompassing larger areas.
Google also checks links from trusted sources. High-quality external links imply that the content on the website is trustworthy. Furthermore, UX signals like loading times, mobile-friendliness, content placement, and secure encryption also affect the score that Google assigns a website.
Bounce rates, people’s time on the page, and the number of pages visited per session also inform website owners of how engaging it is. If people spend a lot of time on a website, you might reasonably claim that they enjoy its content, and it is relevant to their interests.
Conversely, if a user browses a page and clicks to another one on the results pages, they did not find what they wanted.
Other factors that affect SEO
Although search engines do not see the visual design the way humans do, they can interpret the pages’ structure and layout. Marking these up allows search engines to index websites properly. UX signals like the ones discussed earlier also contribute to proper indexing.
Right now, UX is a direct ranking factor only for mobile pages. However, this does not mean engagement signals do not matter when people browse on desktop. High bounce rates and slow loading times will not help your website’s ranking, no matter where your customers access your pages.
Finally, content and on-page optimization are just as relevant. Content is the primary reason people visit websites, and producing thoughtfully written articles will ultimately dictate how often they come back to your site. On-page optimization, which makes up all the little things like meta descriptions, image alt texts, and keywords in the post, add up and become a significant reason why pages become more visible on search.
Conclusion
Search engine optimization allows companies of all sizes to make their page more visible online. Whether you’re a startup looking to create exposure for your business or an established name with a new campaign, SEO helps you generate traffic and engage audiences.
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