SEO is a complicated strategy, so you may have questions about how it really works.
Search engine optimization (SEO), to those of us in the industry, is a complicated yet manageable strategy—one we respect for its potential return, and one that challenges us in many forms. But to the outsider looking in, SEO is an impenetrable nightmare, and even if you understand the basics of it, you may be confused about how the strategy works or why it works that way. And because you’ve already written it off as complicated, you may not see the point in asking questions about it.
But we’ve found that many people have these common questions about SEO, which we’ll now take the opportunity to address:
- How do you know how search engines rank sites? The knowledge comes ambiguously from Google; they’ll give general details like “good content ranks higher” and describe, vaguely, the way Google ranks sites. From there, it’s all based on trial and error of SEO practitioners.
- How can you tell it’s effective? Most SEO campaigns’ effectiveness is gauged on return on investment (ROI). You can calculate this based on the amount of money you’re spending, how many new visitors you’ve earned through SEO, and what those visitors are worth.
- How did you learn to do this? Most information about SEO is available online, for free, on the blogs of various SEO authorities. Spend enough time there, and anybody can learn the strategy inside and out.
- What are the risks – really? Because penalties exist, SEO has gotten a reputation of being a “risky” strategy. However, these risks are overblown; if you follow best practices and avoid deceptive tactics, you should be fine.
- How much should I be paying? Cheap SEO can be risky, but you also don’t want to enlist the help of an overpriced agency. Ultimately, a few thousand dollars a month is a good median price, depending on the size of your organization.
SEO is complex, and there’s definitely a learning curve, but it is a comprehensible strategy, especially once you get past the initial conceptual hurdles. Remain open and dedicated to learning more, and you’ll be on a solid path toward total understanding eventually.
