Why does seo work

Make sense? The Internet has really put the world at our fingertips. We are usually not more than a few clicks away from almost any information we could be looking for. When people are looking for information, services, products, and so on, they go online.

Odds are you clicked on one of the first few results, at least initially. Odds are, they are loving you for not putting up a fight. So now you know why search engines work so hard to provide you with great results and why you should care, we can talk about how SEO works in a little more detail. Search engines have spiders — not the creepy kind, but the automated robot kind.

These spiders collect all kinds of information about your website and the pages that make up your site. This allows them to easily determine when to serve a searcher a page on your site. They collect things like page speed , title tags , social signals , internal linking , backlinks , and so on. With over ranking factors used by Google in their algorithm, there are a lot of things to consider, and actions that can be taken to try to optimize a website.

There are both on-page and off-page ranking factors that determine how well your site is optimized, and therefore how well it ranks. The on-page factors are exactly what they sound like: Things that are actually on the page. This includes title tags, content, site speed, page URLs, image alt tags, internal linking, and more.

The better quality content you produce, the better your chances are of ranking highly on search pages. If you get on the first SERP of a highly-searched term, your website could get a lot of organic traffic. SEO helps you nurture relationships with new and existing customers because it helps them find you and your content faster. SEO can also help you attract and convert new audiences.

The more keywords you rank for, the more opportunities there are for people to find you. Here are some common SEO mistakes to avoid and why. When you create content, you want to target relevant keywords.

But establishing that authority will do more for a brand than most, if not all, other digital optimizations. Authority is earned and built over time. Establishing a brand as an authority takes patience, effort, and commitment and relies on offering a valuable, quality product or service that allows customers to trust a brand.

From understanding macro market shifts to understanding consumer intent in granular detail, SEO tells us what customers want and need. SEO data and formats — spoken or word — gives us clear signals of intent and user behavior.

Everyone wants better organic rankings and maximum visibility. However, few realize that optimal user experience is a big part of getting there. Customers know what they want. And performance will suffer. A clear example of building a solid user experience is how Google has become more and more of an answer engine offering the sought-after data directly on the SERPs search engine results pages.

The intention is to offer users the information they are looking for in fewer clicks, quickly and easily. Local SEO aims at optimizing your digital properties for a specific vicinity , so people can find you quickly and easily, putting them one step closer to a transaction. Research is becoming a critical element of SEO, and the importance of real-time research is growing. Using SEO tactics to relay your messaging for good deals, ground-breaking products and services, and the importance and dependability of what you offer customers will be a game-changer.

Paying for just a few months of SEO is, in many cases, no better than throwing your money away. However, if you make the proper investment, and plan on being in it for the long haul, SEO is a marketing tactic with one of the best ROIs out there.

Infographic courtesy of Search Engine Land. This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here. More From Forbes. May 13, , pm EDT. Feb 5, , pm EST.