SEO

What is SEO?

To compete online, companies increasingly turn to Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques to improve their search rankings.

Why? Because the closer your pages appear to the top of the search results page, the better your results will be:

When you use a search engine to find information on the web, you enter “keywords” in a search box. When you hit the “Search” button, the search engine compares the keywords you entered to an index of web pages and displays the web pages that best match the keywords you enter.

Each search engine uses its own method of prioritizing the search results, but in general, these methods depend on several factors such as:

Why is SEO Important?

On the web, competition for attention is fierce. The most valuable positions in search results are on the first page, and value rapidly diminishes after the first four or five results. The revenue increase from achieving a high search position could be significant.

But even if you’re publishing technical content on a dedicated support portal, you want to respond to searches with the most relevant content.

Organizations that have optimized their support content for search have seen increases in readership of 100% while reducing support calls by 30%. Optimized content increases the odds that customers who search for support content actually find it, which leads to higher customer satisfaction.

With results like these, your technical documentation department can transform from being a cost center to having a strategic impact on your organization’s results.

Are You Doing SEO?

Many companies still don’t optimize their content for search engines and may not realize they’re falling behind. But many do optimize, and their techniques range from simple checking to working with agencies that specialize in SEO.

SEO agencies perform valuable services. They help you select your keywords, perform on-page optimization (such as inserting keywords), perform off-page optimization (such as building links), improve your content structure, and guide your social engagement strategies. But if you pay someone else to add keywords to your content, then you can only afford to optimize a small fraction of your entire website, and you have to pay again each time you update your content.

What’s Wrong with Traditional Approaches to Search Keywords?

Most companies that want to improve their search rankings hire SEO firms to help, and part of their service includes ensuring each page has appropriate keyword placement and density.

However, if you outsource keyword placement, then you will experience “SEO drift” as keywords slip away from subsequent revisions to your content.

How Does Acrolinx Support SEO?