Search engine optimization.  It is the dream of every digital marketer to score a top placement in search results. Analysts estimate that Google now processes 63,000 searches per second equating to 3.8 million per minute, 228 million per hour and more than 2 trillion searches per year.* Top spots can provide enormous traffic to websites resulting in customer engagement and revenue.  In desktop searches, only 2.8% of visitors click on paid results while 62.2% click on organic results (35% don’t click).  In mobile, 2% click on paid, while 40.9 p% click on organic (57.1% don’t click)**

But, how do you rank on page one of search?

The answer isn’t easy; rather it is an intricate process that falls somewhere between an art and a science.  Google doesn’t tell us much about how its complicated algorithm works, rather SEO experts deduce what factors are important to help score high on search results.

Organic traffic represents a significant opportunity for growth for most companies. For the past several years, search engine optimization has been my personal area of interest.  I’ve championed SEO strategies for ge.com/digital and implemented countless tactics to help our pages rank well in search. Using only paid marketing tactics to drive traffic to some of our key focus areas would decimate our budgets; integrating smart search optimization strategies combined with other inbound tactics maximizes our marketing spend while pushing ROI.  Organic traffic to our website grew by double digits in 2017 and now accounts for more than half of all website traffic. Keyword strategies I championed led to a 35% increase in keyword visibility and also helped page ranking. It follows that our engagement metrics are skewed toward organic visitors as well.

SEO and organic traffic drivers will continue to be a focus of marketing efforts moving forward.