Despite all the different ways internet-based companies have to get people to visit their sites these days, on average more than 40% of revenue generated by a website is thanks to organic traffic. Organic traffic is the traffic generated when people find your website instead of being sent there by a paid ad. Generating organic traffic can be a challenge, especially without a basic understanding of how search engines work. We’re going to break it down for you right now.
Despite the acronyms and technological terms, a search engine is a lot like a gossiping teenager. Teenager 1 says, “Hey, what do you know about X?” Teenager 2 says, “Oh, I know a LOT about X!!!!!” Teenager 1 replies with, “Oh yeah?” and then texts a few friends to see if Teenager 2 is legit.
Search engines are no different. They are a lot like Teenager 1, and websites they search are like Teenager 2. Any website that says it has information (Teenager 2) is given the question, “Oh, yeah, well which other websites can support your claim to be the source of information?” The search engine then checks this by looking to see which other sites have linked back to the site in question. If the right kinds of sites and enough sites have linked back to it, the site gets a good ranking. Keyword research can help figure out which words can get your website noticed. In addition, if the information on the target site relates to the search terms, that rating is even higher. Ascertaining this is another crucial element of keyword research. But getting other sites to “vouch” for your site in this way can be easier said than done.
The key is to produce great content that other sites actually want on their pages. Focusing on keywords is less important than making sure your content is fit for the target site. Think of quality content as the foundation of a website, and you want content that links back to your site to comprise a few bricks of that foundation.
Laying these bricks may be easier than you think. Once you know the website is desirous of new content, ask what kind. Then hire a company to do keyword research use to fulfill that need. The link back to your own site can be little more than an afterthought. The key is to get the link in the article and onto the site you want to link back to you. Although the overall concept is simple, the execution can be time-consuming. For that reason, many people choose to leave link building and keyword research to SEO services that specialize in web development.
In the process of trying to get backlinks, many people make the mistake of trying to cheat the system: they pay providers to create artificial links that they hope will increase page rankings. However, search engines have been hip to these tactics for a few years now and have re-written their algorithms accordingly. They favor organically created, high quality, informative content.
This is no different from you or me—or at least the teenage versions of ourselves. We want our information to be verified by multiple third parties, and we want it to make sense. It’s really that simple. If multiple entities can vouch for it, and the info seems comprehensive, we have a source of information we feel we can trust. At its core, search engine “thinking” is literally that straightforward.
Now that you have a view into the mind of a search engine, how can you use that knowledge? The best way is to choose an SEO company or content marketing agency that speaks the search engine language. Although understanding the gossip mentality of search engines can help you make your website the coolest kid in school, using that knowledge to generate revenue is even cooler. Content generation is the key. Getting a company that does this for a living is going to make the process easy. You say what you want and then get what you want: a more powerful internet presence.
