The ABCs of SEO: ThinkFlame’s Essential Guide to SEO Basics

Today, there are over 1.5 billion websites online. About 200 million of these are active.

As a business owner, whether you’re a coach, real estate agent, or HVAC professional, you’ll want to know how to stand out from the crowd and competition. Have you heard of SEO before? 

This article will take a look at SEO basics to ensure that you get free traffic through the search engines. Read on to explore more about the ABCs of SEO and take your business to new heights and higher traffic!

What Is SEO? 

SEO stands for search engine optimization. It’s about increasing both the quality and quantity of traffic to your website. When you’re looking to increase clients, SEO can be broken down into organic results, quality, and quantity of traffic. 

Organic traffic is the traffic that you don’t pay for. While the quantity of traffic is important, you want to make sure that it’s traffic that’ll be interested in what you’re offering. 

How SEO Works

First, Google has crawlers that go out and gather information from the content on the web. They bring that information back to the search engine in order to build an index. 

The information from the index goes through an algorithm that tries to have data match what someone types into the search engine. In order for your HVAC system to stand out from the competitors, you’ll need to have an SEO-friendly site. 

Picking Keywords

First, come up with keywords for local SEO that describe your services. If you’re not sure which keywords are best, you can work with an SEO marketing professional that works with HVAC and plumbing companies. 

When coming up with keywords, you’ll want to think about the research and buying your prospective customers will be doing. Researching means that the customer isn’t currently looking for an HVAC professional, but is shopping around for when they do. 

Buyers will need services right now. Keywords to attract them need to take precedent. They might be searching for HVAC services in Florida. 

Check the Difficulty

When you choose keywords, pay attention to the volume and difficulty. Even if the ranking for a keyword is high, if the difficulty is high as well, it’ll be difficult to rank for that keyword. 

Google My Business

Google My Business is a great opportunity to expand your local SEO and present your business to others in the area. It allows you to show your business and your presence online, ranking options, and an overview of your company. 

You’ll want to fill out all of the information about your company including the description. Google My Business also gives you the option to list your hours whether you’re 9-5, have emergency hours, etc. 

Include images on your profile. This can include your team, office, etc. Ensure that all of the information is accurate including your phone number, name, and address.

Under categories, you can list your business and narrow it down to the type of work you perform. It allows you to have multiple categories. 

Make Your Site Easy To Use

In order for SEO to be successful, you’ll need to make sure that your site is easy to navigate for both search engines and visitors. This includes a top bar that has the home, contact us, and services options. 

Use Plugins

There are different plugins you can install such as Yoast SEO. When you’re typing out your blog articles, it’ll give you a score for your SEO. 

Use Links

When you have what’s called backlinks to your site, it’s a way for Google to build trust with you. Your content marketing strategy can include a case study or original story to attract this. 

Have an article with an interesting amount of data from an original study that’s done by your company. Others might want to mention your company’s post which will attract their traffic to your site. 

Have Strong Content

Before you start writing, figure out the goal of the content. Writing blog posts and having content on your site is vital for SEO. Google likes when companies consistently update their blogs. 

Content is the way to keep people on your site. It’s also a way to include keywords in content and attract more visitors. 

The length of your content matters as well. If you head over to Google and type in anything, it’ll normally pull up blog posts that are about 2,000 words. This is because longer content means more information for your visitors. 

Meta Description

Your headline and meta description will show up on Google. In order to attract potential visitors, you’ll want it to be attention-grabbing.

This means inviting them to read the content in the description. Consider using numbers in the headers as well. 

Use Video

Switch up the type of content you have, or have both. This means that for your blog posts, have a video as well. This is a great way to provide information or tutorials to your audience. 

Consider making your headline longer in order to stand out. You’ll also want to include keywords into your headline and description as well. 

Exploring the Essential Guide to SEO Basics

Now that you’ve explored this guide on SEO basics, you should have a better idea of what to expect. Are you ready to make your company stand out from the crowd but aren’t sure what to do next? 

Or, maybe you don’t have the time to worry about marketing and want to focus more on your business. We can help. Contact us today, and we’ll come up with a plan that meets your needs and helps you increase your traffic.