The SEO Umbrella

A common misconception is that SEO is a service completely separate from other digital marketing offerings, such as blog writing, google review generation, website optimizations, business listing distributions, and more – when in fact all of these items are a part of SEO. I sometimes describe SEO as a large umbrella, with many specific services that live underneath it. Today we’ll list 7 items that fall underneath the SEO Umbrella, and in the coming weeks, look for individual posts and videos about each topic. If you’d rather watch the Video version of this post, click here to check it out on my YouTube Channel.

SEO Element #1: Online Reviews

The more Google Reviews you have – and the more positive they are – the better your website will show up in search results. This also helps you show up in what is called the “Map Pack,” and when people search for your specific services with the intent of getting directions.

SEO Element #2: Backlink Building

Somewhat related to number 3, backlink building is the practice of placing links to your website on other websites that contain content relevant to your business, and that are trusted and have what is called a high “Domain Authority.” The more quality backlinks your website has, the more traffic you’ll receive, and the better your business will appear in search results.

SEO Element #3: Business Distributions

These provide many quality backlinks to your website, which is a ranking factor google looks for when determining what websites to show as searches are accomplished, as well as making it easier for anyone online to find your business.

SEO Element #4: Website Content

The static written content on your website is a huge opportunity to tell google and other search engines what your business is all about. This content needs to communicate what your business is all about in an effective and efficient manner, AND it needs to be properly optimized with SEO in mind.

SEO Element #5: Website User Experience

This means that your website loads quickly, and that users can easily find the information they’re looking for, such as your companies services and products, telephone numbers, directions, contact forms, case studies, blog posts, imagery of past work, testimonials, and more. The longer a visitor stays on your site and navigates cleanly throughout, the more signals google receives that your visitors are enjoying their time and finding the info they need, which is a ranking factor google uses for search results.

Almost Done – Element #6: Consistent Blogging

Blogs are important for a number of reasons, and can greatly help with SEO. By writing blogs that are written and optimized with SEO in mind, you’re giving Google more “Virtual Real Estate” to latch onto, and helping you show up in search results when searches of a different nature are occurring, such as question-based searches. Google also looks for new content to be added to a website on a regular basis – you can’t just write 5 blogs posts in one week and move on.

And Lastly, Element #7: Website Code

This one has a lot of overlap with Website User Experience, and gets into the realm of on-site technical SEO, which includes things like implementing keywords, meta tags, meta descriptions, page structure, website speed, and more, but just know that what your website visitors see when they look at your website is the very tip of the iceberg – so much of SEO begins with the technical details of your website that requires an experienced web developer and SEO professional to assess. This is why when you receive a recommendation to build or rebuild a website from scratch, you should seriously consider it. Putting a fresh coat of paint on a website with poor fundamentals is a stopgap measure at best, and one that will result in a reduced return on your marketing investment.