"Does this new website come with SEO?"
Working with business owners, the topic of search engine optimization (SEO) comes up a lot, as it should. How well your website is optimized will determine how easily and often your website will be found, meaning the easier it is to find, the more online business you'll get.
As simple as the concept is, SEO is complicated and constantly changing. One area of confusion is the difference between SEO and a search-friendly website.
With the help of Mavidea's SEO expert Jason Lerblance, we pieced together what you need to know when it comes to the difference between the two and what you need to do to make sure you're getting the most out of your website.
What is a "Search-Friendly" Website?
Before going into what a search-friendly website is, it's important to know what a search engine is and how it functions. Jason explains a search engine as a bot. "A bot comes to your site, crawls through, assesses what it sees, and puts it in its index based on what it thinks your site is about. Each page is crawled individually, and the code of the site is what needs to be search engine friendly. Your site could be based on old code or messed up behind the scenes, which will have a negative impact on your search results," Jason says.
We've all heard of the internet compared to a highway. To have a search-friendly website, your website needs to follow the road signs and laws created by the search engines. These rules can change, but having an expert design and develop your site, as long as they understand what's important to allow the search engine bots to crawl your site efficiently and effectively, should result in having a search-friendly website.
SEO
SEO includes ongoing efforts to help your website appear at the top of search engine results. While there are things within your website you can do to increase your search results (blogging, updating and improving web content, etc.), SEO is in large part external – things you do outside of your website like paying for search advertising and getting links to your website on other websites.
Going back to the highway example, imagine your website is a car trying to navigate to the top of the highway (search results). To get to the top, you will need to plan your route, make the right maneuvers, refuel, and avoid any obstacle that comes your way – this is the role that SEO plays in your mission to reach and stay at the top of search results.
The Difference and Why You Need Both
Your website must be search-friendly in order to rank highly in search engines, but what makes your website rank high for your desired keywords and stay near the top is your SEO efforts. You can't have one without the other if you're concerned about being on the first page of Google or outranking your competitors, which you should be.
Having a search-friendly website is a good first step, but if your competitors are working harder on their site's SEO than your team is, just having a well-designed website won't be enough.
To discuss if and how your website is SEO-friendly, call me at 888-898-8960 x809 or email michael.guarienti@mavidea.com. To see how your website is doing when it comes to SEO, call Jason Lerblance at 888-898-8960 x815 or email him at jason.lerblance@mavidea.com.
