A big misconception in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the confusion between web pages and entire websites. Search Engines look at web pages individually and not entire websites. Your entire website does not rank on Google but your web pages do. When SEO wizards claim that we can make your website rank on the first page of Google, it is wrong or at least one of the most misunderstood concepts in digital marketing.
[Note: This post was originally published on June 24, 2015. Thanks to the interest of our dear readers and numerous questions this post is updated January 13, 2021 with a video explanation and answers to Frequently asked Questions (FAQs).]
- What is a landing page? Landing page is where your customer lands after she/he clicks on a link. This link could be after searching on Google (the subject of the video below). Landing pages are also the destination from email campaigns, social media posts or ad campaigns. A good way to think about landing pages is what the customer sees first upon arriving at your website through whatever method.
- What are search terms? Search terms are what the customer puts into the search bar. The video and text covers a flower shopping example. For this post search terms refers to Google and its platforms like Google Analytics, Google Search Console and Google AdWords.
- What are keywords? Keywords are what the marketer uses in content, in ads and in messaging. The marketer is trying to predict what the customer (internet searcher) might search in terms of search intent.
- Is search intent more important than keywords? Yes! The marketer is trying to provide answers to the search intent of the customer. You want the customer to come to your store and preferably make a purchase. You do not want the customer to” bounce” or leave immediately. Because what you promised in your ad or Google Search results is different from what you say on your landing page.
- So what is SEO? Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is about trying to provide relevant content to web visitors when they arrive via Google Searches. It does not include Google Adwords, but benefits advertising a great deal.
In the video, we go through the Google Search experience from a customer’s perspective to illustrate different elements of a search. The product chosen is ” flower service delivery” as we are just one month from Valentines’ Day 2021. We start with “Flower delivery service Honolulu Hawaii” and we hope to cheer up our readers! We next compare the results by deleting the location and just searching for “flower service delivery”.
Your website does not rank on search engines- your web pages do-StratoServe
To summarize: try to think of questions customers will have answered on each page of your website. In doing so, your customers will be happy. Your organic ranking for a particular page will improve. If you advertise then your keyword quality scores will improve and advertising costs will come down.