Online marketing involves many decisions.
There are seemingly infinite opportunities within the field of online marketing.
Search engines with their organic and paid listings. Social media with their millions and even billions of users. Email remains one of the most-used forms of online communication. Podcasting and video have become extremely popular.
It’s great to have so many opportunities, but it also provides a point of frustration. Choose one to focus on for awhile and it feels like you’re giving up on all the others. That can feel like an incredible loss.
It’s really not that life and death. Picking one or two and sticking with it for the long-term will likely provide a solid result. And you can always try out multiple at the same time to build a little data.
So that’s the first step when diving deeper into online marketing.
One of the questions in this area involves search engine optimization and website optimization. In a couple ways, they are very similar. In other ways, they’re different. Let’s look deeper at each and see what might be the right choice for your business.
What Is Search Engine Optimization?
Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is looking at why search engines like Google rank certain websites and pages higher than others. Obviously, as Google has matured, they have created more complex reasons for their rankings. They’ve continuously adjusted and updated their algorithms to produce the best results for their searchers.
Over the years, some have gotten into a little trouble by focusing too much on what they think Google wants and not necessarily on what the searchers want. This led to a lot of link building, which seemed to be a key factor in the algorithm. As Google matured, though, they got really good at understanding not just links, but all types of signals. These days, it’s pretty difficult to manipulate how Google’s views your website and even if you are able to do it, it likely won’t last forever.
SEO work best when you align your optimization strategy with Google’s. Google wants to show content that answers the questions searchers are asking. So that’s your goal with creating content. And in a way, that’s your goal with SEO.
But SEO is also about the design of your website. It’s about the technical aspects as well. Making sure that your site is easy to read, easy to understand, easy to load and more. It’s really no different than other forms of content. A book, for example, can have great information, but terrible design. People probably won’t read it.
But SEO is also not just about looking pretty. Craigslist, for example, has wonderful search engine optimization, but has pretty much the same look and feel as the day it launched. The same with Wikipedia.
Where SEO and Website Optimization cross is in the signals Google views as important factors in deciding your worthiness of rankings. Through Google Analytics, they can tell if your website is keeping visitors interested. They can see if your site is converting visitors into customers. They can likely see if visitors are getting what they want from your website and from your company.
But SEO is not just about your website. It’s about your brand and what you do in all areas of business. If you’re satisfying customers and getting good reviews, Google can see through a number of signals like social media mentions, online reviews, mentions in media and much more.
In a sense, SEO has gotten more complicated. But in another light, it’s also gotten easier. Instead of trying to manipulate things, you’re best off focusing on giving the best content, products and service to people and trusting that Google will recognize that over the long-term and reward your company with strong rankings.
What Is Website Optimization?
Website optimization is the continued improvement of a website to accomplish goals. Usually, it’s to accomplish business goals related to sales, support or satisfaction.
Website optimization is different, at least slightly, for every business.
The process usually starts with an understanding of the sales process. How prospects find you. How they work through the early stages of the sales cycle. How they ultimately become customers.
Your website is like your online salesperson. They take the prospect and work with them through the sales process until they become a satisfied customer. And in some cases, the website also helps foster the relationship so the customer becomes a satisfied customer and one that continues to buy for the long-term.
With all this in mind, website optimization can obviously take on many forms and functions. It can mean optimizing a website to attract new prospects. That’s where website optimization often crosses paths with search engine optimization. But that’s just one method for attracting prospective customers.
Landing pages are usually the first page a person visits on a website. Depending on the channel and where the person is in the sales cycle, websites usually have many landing pages. Everything from a blog post to the homepage to a product page can be a landing page.
Website optimization often includes design changes to the website. Not just once. Not just once in awhile, but a schedule of continuous changes, updates and testing to figure out what is working and what isn’t. Just as the best retail stores often test little design changes, a website usually functions best with little changes over time versus really big and sweeping changes all at once.
Conclusion
Search Engine Optimization and Website Optimization are large opportunities for most businesses. They can lead to increased sales and they can do it for the long-term. With both, there is almost always more involved in the process than initially realized. They are long-term strategies. They are ongoing strategies. They’re never “done”. That frustrates some business owners and marketers, but also presents and incredible opportunity.
What is better?
Well, you can’t go wrong with one or the other. And if you have the resources, it’s also certainly wise to go with both as part of your overall online marketing strategy. They are different, but they also work together.