SEO Questions You Were Too Afraid to Ask
By Leslie Radford
Key Takeaways
Learn what SEO is, factors that affect it, setting goals for SEO, and where to learn more
If you don’t know about SEO, it’s totally ok. Advent Trinity is here to answer all your questions about this complex and analytical side of digital marketing. Here are some common questions people are sometimes afraid to ask us because they don’t want to seem out of the loop. Don’t worry, we won’t judge you for not knowing everything there is to know about SEO — That’s why we are here!
What is SEO?
SEO stands for search engine optimization. It refers to techniques that help your website become more visible in organic search results for the people who are looking for your brand, product, or service via search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. Learn more about SEO here.
What’s the difference between organic vs. paid results?
Organic results are the results that appear in search engines, for free, based on an algorithm. Paid — or inorganic — search results appear at the top or side of a page. These are the links that advertisers pay to appear on different search engines.
What are meta descriptions and do they matter?
A meta description is the text that appears below your page in a search engine result that explains what the page is all about. In this example, the meta description is “Learn the elements needed to write a comprehensive blog post in just 9 easy steps.”
Meta descriptions still matter, just not in the same way they used to. They used to be a place to optimize for keywords so crawlers would know more about your page contents; now, it’s more important you write something compelling that makes readers want to click so you can improve conversion rates from SERP (search engine results page) results to your website.
How long does it take to see results from SEO?
There are a few different factors that will determine how quickly (or slowly) results will come. This list includes, but isn’t limited to:
- How much content you create
- The quality of the content
- How the content resonates with your audience
- If you’re a big or small site with strong or weak domain authority
A large site could possibly see results in a couple of days if a search engine is crawling its site regularly. Smaller sites will most likely take longer because they get crawled less frequently. Advent Trinity likes to wait 3 months to see results. If you do not get the return you desire, we will reassess our strategy.
What is Domain Authority and why is it important?
Domain Authority (DA) is a search engine ranking score that predicts how likely a website is to rank in search engine result pages. Domain Authority scores range from one to 100, with higher scores corresponding to a greater likelihood of ranking. Domain Authority is calculated by evaluating multiple factors, including linking root domains and the total number of links, into a single DA score. The best way to influence the Domain Authority metric is to improve your site’s overall SEO health, with a particular focus on the quality and quantity of external links pointing to your site. It can be difficult to influence directly and can fluctuate over time.
What is the difference between indexed and crawling?
When search engines look through the content on your website, they are “crawling” your site. As they crawl your site, they index content that will appear in the search engine. However, an important thing to remember is that not all content is indexed. Search engines pick what content they will and won’t index as they go through the crawling process.
Should I hire someone to do my SEO?
Hiring someone internally or externally to do your SEO can be helpful, but it can also be dangerous if that person doesn’t actually know the modern rules of SEO. At AdventTrinity, we have experts that keep up with the latest trends and algorithms. There are many intricate aspects to optimizing your website. If you do it yourself, you could be missing a few key components. When you hire us, we make sure to optimize everything we can so you see results.
What’s a good goal to set for your SEO?
When you think about your goal for SEO, don’t just think about the top of the funnel and how many more visits you’re getting to your website. Think about your full marketing funnel and how much quality traffic you’re getting to your website.
Are the people who are finding your website through SEO actually qualified prospects for your business? If not, does it really matter that the traffic to your website has increased?
As you create your goals, consider what general traffic vs. quality traffic means to you. Set goals not just based on traffic, but based on the entirety of your marketing funnel. Advent Trinity can help you set these goals and make sure they are met.
Learning More
SEO can be overwhelming and intimidating. Let’s schedule a chat about it!
