Back in 1990, the very first search engine was born. Christened Archie (Archive without the “V” ingenious, right!), it made digital history. It was the brainchild of a university student named Alan Emtage. As a systems administrator, Emtage was tasked with finding software for other students and faculty members. To save time searching across the internet, he wrote some code to do it for him. This code later became one of the most influential inventions of the digital revolution. Fast forward eight years, and Google was born. Now holding 91.8% of the global search engine market share, Google is very much the leader of the search engine pack. And, if you want your business website to rank where it matters (i.e., the number one spot on the search engine results page), then you need to get your SEO on point!
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. It is the art and science of matching your information, products and services with what people search for online. For example, if you type “best coffee machine” into Google, who comes up at the top of organic search results? How did they get there? Simple, they’ve created relevant, up-to-date content that addresses the search query. SEO is the process of optimising your website to rank higher in search engine results
pages, and don’t worry; your website doesn’t have to be the Mona Lisa of websites to do so! SEO also ensures that you are found when people are looking for something specific, such as “car valet near me”.
You might ask yourself, “but does it work for small businesses?”.
With SEO being the backbone of online visibility, small businesses should certainly invest in it. Unlike advertising, it doesn’t require large budgets or a big creative team. It’s aimed at sustainable long-term growth— just what the doctor ordered. Throughout this module, we will show you how to implement strategies to ensure your business or start-up remains relevant in search engine results. By focusing on specific techniques, you will work your way to the top faster than you can say, Search Engine Optimisation!
The foundation of a successful local SEO strategy starts with a Google My Business account. You know when you see suggested companies in the sidebar of search results pages or wonder how new businesses appear on Google Maps? It’s all thanks to Google My Business. Once you claim your business and create an account, give some love to the listing. The business description can influence SEO, so use this effectively. From here, you’ll want to include accurate business hours, photos to help first-time customers locate your business, and a relevant call to action, such as asking interested customers to check out the redirect link to the business website.
Still confused? Not to worry! By the end of this module, you will understand all about keyword implementation, blogging and writing the perfect article for SEO, copywriting, domain authority and backlinks and #REF! Plus, not only will you understand it, but you will also be using it like a pro! And while making your website understandable to Google is important, it’s only part of the story. It must be meaningful for real human users too. SEO goes hand in hand with website design. A good-looking website can’t function properly without SEO, and vice versa and our expert team are on hand to ensure you have the best of both! In fact, these two are fundamental for start-ups that want to boost revenue and make themselves known to the masses.
