The first time I heard the expression optimize your SEO, I had no idea what it meant. Was this something I need to be concerned about? Yes!
What is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. How I understand it, SEO helps make your website more visible when people are conducting searches on the Internet. For those of us of a certain age, it is like the old card catalog we went to at the library to find a book on a particular topic. We searched by subject, books were recommended, and coordinates of where to find the book were provided. You are presented in search results more often if your SEO is good, I am not technical enough to know how exactly it works. I imagine there are algorithms, formulas and secret knowledge known only to giants like Google. However, what I do know, is you can take some simple steps to improve your rankings.
Learn what you can
A couple of years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Alisha Morrissey of Rogue Penguin Creative and Chris Ringrose of Gavamedia. Using a funding program from TechNL, I had my website reviewed by these two professionals, and made some subsequent changes. One of the key points that Alisha showed me was about SEO. She installed a plug-in on my website that measures SEO for each page. It gives you a dashboard rating: red-orange-green and tips on how to optimize your SEO. Green is the desired level as it means your page will rank higher in search results.
Going green
Once I had a little learning, I became obsessed. My goal was to turn every page on my website green. It took me awhile; however, I eventually updated them all. Along with the SEO ranking, the plug-in also tells me the readability level of each page. And yes, every page is green on that score too!
SEO pays off
A few weeks ago, I received a random email from someone in British Columbia. I followed up, we had a phone call and within half an hour of her initial query, we had booked a Building Resilience workshop to be delivered to her staff virtually the following week. I asked her how she found me? She replied, “I Googled mental wellness workshops and your name came up.” I was pretty pumped.
Yesterday, I received another ‘cold call’ email query from someone in Halifax looking to discuss my services. We had a phone call this morning, discovered my services seem to fit what she is looking for. A few more details need to be worked out; however, it looks like I will be facilitating a strategic planning session for 25+ people, in-person, in Deer Lake in June. Again, I asked her how she found me? She replied, “I searched Deer Lake area facilitator, and you came up.”
It works. If you are not in a position to work on your website to optimize your SEO, I encourage you to find someone who can. Whether it means hiring a local provider to manage your digital presence, or taking some training to skill up yourself, it is worth it. I have my initial investment of time and money returned many times by now. ~ Carole
