There are over 3.5 billion searches daily on Google and each of those searches can have millions of results. Unfortunately, only a handful of results are visible to the user and the rest are virtually non-existent because they’re on the second page of the result’s page. The odds of a user to click on the site at the bottom of the first page is 100 to one and that increases exponentially for those sites that are in the subsequent pages. The job of the search engine is to show to the user the most relevant, useful, and well-recognized contents among the multitude of websites on the internet. This is where SEO comes in, it helps you make your website and its contents rise above the myriad and place it at the top of the result’s first page.

SEO is composed of a number of elements and uses them strategically to make your website more visible. Once you understand how these work you will begin to appreciate why SEO is important. It is common for businesses to promote their site locally and gain more traffic from a specific location. Once you have a target location you can begin to create a strategy around that and raise awareness for your brand. There are also those businesses that seek to gain international recognition which requires other strands of SEO like International SEO that are harder to master as it requires having had exposure to working in large international web projects. There are great guides out there like this one by David Carralon. It considers geographical locations and languages along with your business goals, agility, infrastructure, resources, and many more. This type of SEO addresses the question of how to make your website and brand recognizable in different countries.

1. Visibility

This is one and the primary objectives of an SEO strategy – increased visibility. This means that your website will be easy to find for prospects looking for something related to what you’re offering. Having a good ranking directly affects your visibility. This accounts for your rate on a results page or Search Engine Result Page (SERP) in which the higher you are in the rankings the more likely prospects will click and go to your website. This is a result of an effective SEO strategy, which gives you better exposure and when you realize that less than a quarter of users go past the first page the more you’ll appreciate the importance of your SEO.

2. Traffic

Having great visibility correlates with increased traffic to your website, which is the goal of having strong recognition in the online platform. I mentioned above that for every search the search engine can churn out a million websites that may have what the user is looking for. But less than a quarter goes past the first page and 80% only clicks the top five listings of the first page. This leaves you in a “do or die” scenario when you’re looking to up your traffic. So if you want to get more people visiting your site, then you need to start working your ranking, to get you on the top listing of relevant searches users key in.

3. Helps Convert Leads to Sales

Efficiently ranking your site will help with prospects with specific queries just as you talk with clients that are looking for something. This will then make you appear to be with them as they address their questions, which will make your brand imprinted on their minds.

4. Authority

Authority in SEO is a novel concept that is making search engines consider when trying to rank the results for a query and in turn becomes an important aspect for you. It refers to the site’s content quality, trustworthiness, importance, and a little bit of value. The more you gain authority the higher you’ll find yourself in the SERP. This will also help you gain the confidence of your prospects as they’ll trust in the value of your content.

5. Enhanced Visitor Experience

One part of improving your SEO, aside from generating valuable content, is optimizing how your site is structured with on-page optimization. This will consequently improve your site’s usability by creating a seamless and friendly environment for your user. A good environment and a well-structured site will have an impact on the user’s experience which will make your site attractive and appealing.

One example is making your site responsive – that is making it accessible and easy across different devices from computers to mobile devices. Developing a sound site will increase your loading speed and reduce the bounce speed. This will promote your site into attracting more users. More than half of all consumers expect the page to load in under 2 seconds and each lag time after that will diminish your conversion rate.

6. Stay Competitive

It’s important to understand that all businesses in your niche are aiming to be on top of a Google SERP, so if it’s not you that’s there then it’s somebody else offering similar products or services. This leaves you at a disadvantage in terms of generating leads and conversions. Being competitive includes your site’s visibility for people searching for things related to you. And as mentioned above having the right visibility is the key to generating more leads and conversion which basically is a building block for growth and sustainability.

7. Growth

Ultimately, all businesses, be it an online store or a blog, are expected to grow and get to the next level. SEO is an essential part of that directive as it will help you develop stronger relationships with your users, improve user experience, drive more traffic, gain a competitive edge over competitors, increase your sales with conversions and nurture the trust of repeat customers. All this begins when your prospects gain awareness of your brand and start to trust you.

SEO consists of complex activities and strategic planning that utilizes different techniques and practices. These practices are continuously evolving along with the consumer’s behavior and preferences. Together with advancing technologies that come out into the market, the algorithm for search engines also copes with the changes. There is no way around it, SEO is still the biggest factor when it comes to improving your rankings.

Businesses benefit from SEO in a number of ways this includes awareness, increased traffic, customer experience, and conversions. This is the reason why digital marketers must have a strong understanding of what SEO is. This knowledge will help them achieve their goals and objectives using the most innovative and ground-breaking practices out there.

If you have ever felt that your life needs a bit more excitement and that you cannot stand your regular nine to five job anymore, then you have probably given freelancing some thought. It is one of the most satisfying areas of work where you can find yourself. You just need to find your niche and start applying for jobs.

To get into the game, you’ll need an updated resume with all your relevant skills. However, when you are new to freelancing, you’ll want to find a regular flow of new customers. Here are a couple of ideas on how to keep your job flow steady.

Hit the job boards

When you are new to the game, you have to build a reputation and you will inevitably do work that is not necessarily your style. Everyone has to start somewhere, so you cannot expect to land big projects right off the bat.

People need to see that you are trustworthy and that you can deliver the goods. There are many job posting sites that you can join, like Fiverr, Freelancer and Upwork. Once you have your profile set up, you need to shoot for as many job posts as possible. You also need to be realistic about your fees.

As a new freelancer, you’ll have to do work for less money to build a reputation. If you do your job well, people will rate you higher and you’ll soon get to choose better jobs.
In addition to the blogs and articles, you can also try for research paper writing service or dissertation help on various academic writing portals that offer thesis, essays, term papers, homework and dissertation writing assistance to students.

Talk to other freelancers

Although freelancing is a relatively solo career path, you can still get valuable information form guys who have been in the business for a while. There are just so many hours in a day and if you start to connect with other freelancers, they could throw work your way.

As a freelancer, your reputation is everything and someone who has a good rep would rather pass on something that is not their style or that they don’t have time for. It better to pass on some work than to risk producing something that is not professional.

The more freelancers you meet, the bigger your circle of informants get and you’ll probably pass on some work their way in the future as well.

Create diverse content and showcase your talents

As a freelancer, you want to showcase all your talents and not just focus on one single line of work. You probably have more than one skillset and it would be a shame to let your talents go to waste if you focus on one thing only.

On the other hand, you could find that you have a knack for something else and expand on what you already do. The more diverse you market yourself, the better your chances are of getting more work.

That being said, you should also make an effort to expand your knowledge and skill base. This will allow you to approach new customers with confidence.

Do some free work

Although you want to make money, you first want to get your name out there and the best way to do that is to do some free work. This is not wasted time, but time well-spent on your future.

This is only something that you are more likely to do when freelancing is only temporary. Look for charities or companies that you agree with and offer your services in return for a good word. It’s a win-win situation and could lead to great things in the future.

Attend networking events

One of the perks of being a freelancer is that you can work alone and that you are your own boss. This also means that you need to network on your own.

If you want to land new clients, then you need to attend networking events and start to build contacts for future reference. You are not necessarily going to find new clients at these events, but you could use the event as an opportunity to spread the word of what you do.

Hang out where potential clients hang out

You are not in the stalking business, and you aren’t going to follow people around and find out where they stay. Rather, you need to frequent the cyberspace that your clients frequent. See which social media platforms they operate on and join wherever they join.

Look at the trends. Something that is in trend these days is the top resume writing services or the best assignment writing service UK that offer custom essay writing to college students.

Here you can offer free tips and writing samples and start a meaningful conversation. Sooner or later, someone will reach out to you with an offer or they could refer you to someone who needs your specific skillset and talents.

Referrals

When you have an existing client, don’t wait for them to refer you spontaneously. Ask them to refer you when they see an opportunity. If you don’t plant the seed, they might not think of you.

When you do get a referral, don’t stick to the same price as your current client, you can always up the price a bit and build towards the standard rate that will sustain you.

When you work for referrals, it motivates you to do your job even better than you would normally have. The best part about referral jobs is that they bring in high-quality clients, which means better rates for you.

Send cold emails

You should never underestimate the power of a cold email. That initial contact that you make is priceless and you could end up getting a pretty good deal.

The aim of the cold email is not to let it sound like an offer that is too good to be true, but rather something that is tailored and personal. The potential client will see that you did your homework and that you will do your part to get the job done.

Conclusion

The world is full of opportunities and as more and more people are opting to work from home and work online, the job opportunities are growing with it. If you put some effort in and start small, you could replace your current income in no time and set yourself up for the work-life that you have always dreamed of.

This guest article was written by Kurt Walker, a London based writer, proofreader and editor working for academic writing sites and providing essay help. His current assignment is with EssayNinja, Easy Essay, Edu Birdie and Best Dissertation.