How does SEO work? For some it is a mystery, but it is really a science and there is help for you. Check out the following websites:

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You’ve heard the term “SEO” but you’re not sure what it’s all about or if you even need to care. This video provides an overview of how SEO works and why it matters.

SEO stands for search engine optimization. SEO’s goal is to get your website the best possible rank in organic – or non-paid – results on search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo!

Every day millions of people search online for products and services. Years of research proves that people rarely look beyond the first page or two of results, and they most often click the links at or near the top of the page.

Which is where you want to be when people search for your products and services.

Search engines use complex formulas and processes called algorithms to analyze, index, and rank the millions of sites on the web.

You can optimize your site to align with these algorithms by applying techniques that act as signals to search engines. Search engines evaluate these signals and use them to assess where your website should rank compared to other sites.

These signals include keywords, meta tags, and links to your site from other sites. An important thing to keep in mind is that search engines are sophisticated – they analyze for quality, not quantity in order to provide search results that are relevant and trustworthy.

The first step in optimizing your site is to think about your target audience. Who are they? What will they want to see and learn when they visit your site? What words and phrases are they likely to use to search for your products and services?

Use that knowledge to create compelling, well-written content that engages your audience and spurs them to action. Remember, flooding your website with keywords that degrade the readability and appeal of your content will hurt your rank, not help it.

Making your site easy for people to share on social media is another way to optimize. Adding buttons for Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and other social media sites is a great way to make your site more shareable.

Use of back links can also improve your website’s ranking. Back links are created when someone puts a link to your website on their site. Search engines take note of back links; however, having a bunch of random websites linking back to yours won’t boost your search engine ranking. Again, quality and relevance are key.

If this is all sounding complex and time consuming, well…it can be. The good news is that there are automated tools and expert services to help you, such as GoDaddy’s Search Engine Visibility tool and SEO Services.

Everyone with a website should care about SEO. So optimize!