SEO stands for search engine optimization. It’s a method of improving your website to make it more scannable by search engines.

When someone types a query into a search engine, the search engine scans all catalogued websites for the answer and displays a list of the best matching results. With SEO, you can optimize your website to be more scannable, allowing search engines to find information easily and, hopefully, put your website at the top of the search engine results.

Some of the aspects search engines look for in a website include the copy, keywords, internal and external links, images, layout, and formatting. When they all work together, search engines can quickly scan your content, and the better it matches the user’s search query, the higher it’ll rank on the search engine results page (SERP).

Billions of people use search engines every day. And with every query, the search engine creates a list of results. As you might imagine, the first result gets the most clicks, the second gets the second most, and so on. The higher on the list your website appears, the more people who will visit your website.

The main benefit of search engine optimization (SEO) is that it helps your website show up at the top of the search engine results page (SERP) and, therefore, get the most clicks. It gives your website more organic inbound traffic.

Not only does SEO get your website more visitors, but it can also help you edge out the competition. If your website appears higher in the search results compared to one of your competitors, more people will visit your website over theirs.

Search engine optimization (SEO) takes time and experience to implement. There are dozens of elements search engines look for in a website, and without previous knowledge or experience, it’s difficult to identify and optimize them all. And even once you do implement an SEO strategy, it’s essential to keep track of how it’s working, view key performance indicators (KPI), and make constant improvements.

Most website owners don’t have the time or experience to implement and monitor a winning SEO strategy. Working with an SEO expert in Chicago ensures your website is properly optimized for search engines, allowing you to rise to the top of the search engine results page (SERP) without taking time out of your busy schedule.

SEO is the process of optimizing your website to rank higher on the search engines. But how does SEO work?

Google uses over 200 ranking factors, and these allow the search engine’s algorithms to rank websites based upon the relevancy and authority of their pages. As Jason Barnard comments:

To succeed at SEO, you need to ensure that your content is the most relevant result for a specific search query and that your website is seen as a trustworthy source.

Search engine optimization (SEO) can be confusing, and there are plenty of companies out there who say they’ll help with SEO but don’t provide any proof their services work. That’s why it’s important to know how to choose the best SEO company for your needs:

Ask for case studies and examples of previous successful campaigns. An SEO company is almost like a vehicle mechanic: They might say they fixed or replaced something, but the average person wouldn’t notice if they did or didn’t make any changes. When looking for an SEO company, be sure to ask for case studies and examples of past campaigns to prove they can actually get results.

Do they offer ongoing reports? Before choosing an SEO company, make sure they provide reports throughout the campaign. That way, you can see exactly how their efforts translate to online visibility and conversions.

Avoid SEO guarantees. Nothing about SEO is guaranteed. If a company “promises” specific results, it could be a red flag. True SEO professionals know better than to promise something that can never be guaranteed.

You get what you pay for. If you choose the cheapest SEO company, you’re going to get cheap results. Realize there are risks of going with a low-cost SEO company. Not only might you not see any results, but they could damage your website’s long-term SEO.

The short answer is search engine optimization (SEO) takes somewhere between four and twelve months to show results.

The long answer is it depends on several factors including your SEO strategy, targeted keywords, and the amount of time and energy you put into it. If you choose low-competition keywords, you might see results in as few as four months. For high-competition keywords, expect not to see measurable results until up to a year after strategy implementation.

The best way to get results quickly is to work with an experienced SEO company. They’ll be able to implement a winning strategy and keep up with key metrics to continuously optimize your website’s content, so you can see results faster.