Organic SEO refers to all of the search engine optimization techniques used to help a website rank well in the results pages of search engines without paying the search engines for placement. Organic SEO techniques include the following:

• Optimized website design
• Keyword research
• SEO writing
• Content marketing

Optimized Website Design

Optimized website design falls under technical organic SEO. The primary focus is designing the website so it is as easy as possible for search engine bots to crawl. “Crawl” is the industry term for how search engines consume the information on a given web page. It’s completed by automated bots whose purpose is to index the web page for the search engine’s database. Every design decision has to be made with organic SEO in mind.

Keyword Research

Keywords are how search engines organize the content they index. If you search for what is organic seo, for example, you will get results that have been indexed as an answer to this question. The keyword research process is where a white hat SEO company proves their worth. They use expert keyword research tools to discover which keywords are being searched most by people in the target audience of the client. This includes identifying long-tail keywords that have less competition than shorter keywords, yet still attract valuable traffic. These long-tail keywords are phrases or sentences with 6 or more words. They usually take the form of a question.

SEO Writing

SEO writing is how Organic SEO experts create content that answers the questions identified in the research phase. The idea is to create educational content around a primary keyword and a handful of related secondary keywords. It answers the searcher’s question while also signaling strongly to search engines that the content is valuable for this query. They create well-researched content on a consistent basis, targeting both high and low-competition keywords.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is very closely related to the SEO writing aspect of Organic SEO. It also encompasses images, infographics, audio, and video. Its primary objective is to create content and get it noticed by the right people.

Off-page organic SEO techniques like link building and influencer outreach fall under content marketing. As we’ll discuss below, sites in your niche linking back to your site is one of the primary organic SEO ranking factors. Getting a quality website to link to your website in their content or let you publish content on their website requires strong relationship building skills. These relationship skills are also crucial when it comes to social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

These platforms are where you build relationships with members of your audience as well as well-known influencers in your niche. Make sure to be a part of the community before you think of asking these people to share their content. Empowering them to want to share your content on their own is much more valuable.

Understanding organic SEO is much easier if you have a basic idea of how organic search ranking works.

What is Organic Ranking?

Organic ranking refers to the links on a search results page that were not boosted by direct payment to the search engine. While all search engines have slightly different ranking factors, Google’s are both the most relevant and most complex. The lion’s share of web searches happen on Google, so we’ll be talking about their organic ranking factors from here on out.

When Google’s site crawlers index a piece of content, they look at four main factors:

• Relevance
• Quality
• Length
• Authority

As mentioned above, every piece of content is indexed and organized by the presence and volume of keywords. Think of it as a filing cabinet with infinite drawers. When a query is made, all of the filing cabinets containing the keywords in the query are opened and ranked on a master list. This master list is the collection of search engine results pages you see after a query.

Content quality is still a tough thing for Google’s bots to judge directly, but they are getting better. Length is one thing used to judge the quality of written work. A piece of content with 200 words on a topic will be seen as much less relevant than a piece of content with 1000 words on the same topic.

Links from high-quality, relevant sites are how Google judges the quality and authority of a piece of content. The authority of the website where the link comes from is weighted heavily. A link from a well-known site is a strong indicator that the content can be trusted. The authority of the site hosting the content also matters.

3 Key Benefits of Organic SEO

There are several benefits of organic SEO, but the following three benefits should be enough for you to decide if organic search marketing is right for your business.

Organic SEO is More Cost-Effective Than PPC Advertising

Search engines often price their advertising space by the click. The higher the search volume for a keyword, the higher the cost-per-click. This type of advertising gets costly quick, and people are increasingly wise to the reasoning for these links being at the top of the results pages.

The paid placements get way less clicks than the organic results on the first page. Now, organic SEO isn’t free. Getting a piece of content to rank organically takes a consistent investment of time and effort. You either pay with that time and effort yourself, or you pay an SEO company to do it for you. The difference here is the ROI you’ll see from organic SEO is higher than PPC advertising.

Organic SEO Lasts Longer Than PPC Advertising

A piece of content that ranks well keeps working for you long after you paid to have the content created. Even better – organic SEO content actually improves over time if you make regular updates to keep the content fresh. PPC advertising lasts only so long as you have money in your AdWords account.

Organic SEO forces you to think long-term when you create marketing content. It allows you to help your target audience, rather than pushing your brand on them through paid advertising.

Organic SEO Allows You to Target Long-Tail Keywords

We briefly mentioned long-tail keywords before. These phrases have less competition because they are more direct. Searchers who are asking specific questions are beyond the casual browsing stage. They are using a search engine to get specific information.

Ranking on the first page for long-tail keywords is much easier than two or three-word phrases. “What is organic SEO?” is easier to rank for than organic SEO. A long-tail keyword done right, though, includes the more popular keyword as well. Ranking on the first page for long-tail keywords is how you initially get the search engine’s attention for your more popular keywords.

Now let’s look at how to find a qualified Orangic SEO expert to help your business reap the benefits of organic SEO.

How to Hire the Right Organic SEO Expert

If you searched organic SEO expert right now, you’d get tens of thousands of results. You need to know how to separate the successful from the shams before you invest in an organic SEO strategy.

Check for Proof of Results

Look for client testimonials that show they’ve gotten results for clients. The more specific the testimonial, the better. Hard statistics are a good indicator the organic SEO expert is legit.

Evaluate Their Content

If you’re going to hire an SEO company to create content for your business, you want to make sure they are using their own strategy for themselves. Check out their blog content to make sure they are providing their audience with relevant content on a consistent basis.

Schedule a Consultation to See if You Connect

A quick phone call, skype session, or in-person meeting with an Organic SEO expert allows you to give them an interview. Now that you’re more informed, you can ask them questions about what they do and how they do it. Schedule a consultation with Titanium Marketing today to see if we’re a good fit for your SEO needs.