The term SEO is an acronym for “Search Engine Optimization” which is a process of making your website appears at the top of the natural, unpaid search results. Business owners need to get some understanding of how SEO works if they are interested in getting their website noticed by customers online. Otman Associates as Toronto SEO experts helps its clients achieve this goal.

Exactly how does SEO work?

Search Engine Optimization helps a particular website show up on search results ahead of similar websites. When a person is searching the Internet for something particular, they will type a search term into one of the major search engines; in this article we will use Google since it is the largest. The more specific your search term is, the narrower the search results that you will get. For example if you type shoes, you will get results that cover everything that has to do with shoes, including the history of shoes.

However a more specific search term, such as men’s shoes will most likely bring results of websites selling men’s shoes. And even more specific, such as “cheap men’s shoes in Toronto” will bring in stores that sell affordable shoes in Toronto.

A business that sells affordable men’s shoes in the Toronto area should get visitors to their website if that site is built to target that keyword. This is where search engine optimization becomes valuable for a business. When a person types in a long search term, commonly known as long tail keywords, that person is more likely a buyer than a browser.

Take for example someone who types “24 hour emergency plumber Mississauga, Ontario”. You can tell that the searcher is looking for a plumbing company in Mississauga to call immediately. That means a plumber that has a web page targeting that long tail keyword with clear instructions how to call them in cases of an emergency will not only rank higher on Google but most likely get the phone call.

The job of your SEO professional or website designer is to make sure that you target those people who go online looking to buy your product or service, and make sure your website shows up high on the listing for the terms they most likely will type to find you.

This is done in several ways, including changing your headlines and possibly some of the topics you cover on your website. Content is important for when your customer finds your site, but what is equally important is SEO richness, so that your website can actually be found in the millions of other sites out there and this is the job of a good SEO expert or consultant.

The Best Way to Select an SEO Company.

So how do you determine which SEO Company is worth your time and money? You probably have been called, emailed, or visited by several business and consultants saying they can get you on the first page of Google. How do you prove they can deliver what they promise?

The answer is really simple; RESULTS. Past results are good, but what’s more valuable is proof they can deliver for your business. So the best way is to select a simple and easy search term and ask your potential SEO Company to you rank for that simple search term to prove they can do it.

Why an easy search term? Ranking for your main search term usually will be more competitive and will take more time and resources to achieve, so it will be difficult to use that as proof. However, ranking for a minor related search term will be easier and will prove that the company you are working with knows what they are doing; this means you can invest more time and money into ranking for your more competitive “money” terms.

The right SEO Company will be able to get you ranked for that minor single term in a few weeks and do it for a nominal fee. After which, you are now in a position to investment more resources to go after your more lucrative search terms.

More competitive search terms usually take time to rank for because you may need to re-do some of the pages of your website, in some cases, totally re-do the entire website. You will need to build more high quality backlinks and add more social signals to your site, like Facebook, Google+ etc.  Although it takes more time, it also means that your website will rank higher longer as it becomes an authority site.

Otman Associates are Toronto SEO experts, give us a call to discuss a simple trial with us where we will rank a single simple term for a nominal fee and prove to you that it is worth your time and money to work with us.