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What is SEO in digital marketing? SEO means Search Engine Optimization and is the process used to optimize a website’s technical configuration, content relevance and link popularity so its pages can become easily findable, more relevant and popular towards user search queries, and as a consequence, search engines rank them better. Many SEO techniques, such as core web vitals improvements and high-quality relevant content, can help you build a strong presence and gain better search engine rankings. Search engines recommend SEO efforts that benefit both the user search experience and page’s ranking, by featuring content that fulfills user search needs. This includes the use of relevant keyword phrases in titles, meta descriptions, and headlines (H1), featuring descriptive URLs with key terms rather than strings of numbers, and schema markup to specify the page’s content meaning, among other SEO marketing best practices. Focusing on valuable content and avoiding black hat techniques like keyword stuffing ensures that your online presence remains credible and aligned with major search engines’ guidelines. Search engines help people find what they’re looking for online. Whether researching a product, looking for a restaurant, or booking a vacation, search engines are a common starting point when you need information. For business owners, they offer a valuable opportunity to direct relevant and qualified traffic to your website. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of orienting your website to rank higher on a search engine results page (SERP) so that you receive more traffic. The aim is typically to rank on the first page of Google results for search terms that mean the most to your target audience. So, SEO is as much about understanding the wants and needs of your audience as it is about the technical nature of how to configure your website. By researching each target keyword, you can produce SEO content that matches user intent, increasing search engine traffic.  Here are the basics. How do search engines work? Search engines provide results for any search query a user enters. To do so, they survey and “understand” the vast network of websites that make up the web. They run a sophisticated search engine algorithm that determines what results to display for each search query. Major search engines rely on search engine crawlers to index pages, measuring factors like page speed, structure, and content optimization to decide how high to display them in search rankings. Why SEO focuses on Google To many people, the term “search engine” is synonymous with Google, which has about 83% of the global search engine market share. Because Google is the dominant search engine, SEO typically revolves around what works best for Google. It’s useful to have a clear understanding of how Google works and why. Google uses artificial intelligence and other additional factors to help rank pages, making it critical to maintain relevant, helpful pages. What Google wants Google is designed to deliver the best search experience to its users, or searchers. That means providing the most relevant results, as quickly as possible. The 2 core elements of the search experience are the search term (the user input) and the search results (the output). Let’s say you search “Mailchimp guides and tutorials.” This is a clear, unambiguous search. Google understands what you’re asking for, and it delivers a useful page as the top organic result—Mailchimp’s own page. From Google’s perspective, this is a very good search result and a positive user experience, because it’s likely that the user will click the top result and be happy with the outcome. By producing high-quality content and addressing the search intent behind each query, you increase the likelihood of winning these prime spots in organic search traffic. How Google makes money Google profits from people trusting and valuing its search service. It achieves this by delivering useful search results. Google also provides businesses with the opportunity to pay for an advertorial placement at the top of search result pages. The word “Ad” indicates these listings. Google makes money when searchers click on these pay-per-click (PPC) advertisements, which you purchase through Google Ads. You’ll see these ads on more generic queries in particular. Other than the small label, these search results look almost indistinguishable from other search results. Of course, this is intentional, as lots of users click on these results without realizing that they’re ads. This is what Google counts on. Advertising revenues accounted for more than 76% of the $348 billion that Google generated in 2024. So while search functions remain its core product, it depends on its advertising business. The anatomy of search results SERPs consist of paid search results and “organic” search results, where the organic results don’t contribute to Google’s revenue. Instead, Google delivers organic results based on its assessment of a site’s relevance and quality. Depending on the type of search query, Google will also include different elements on the SERP, like maps, images, or videos. The volume of ads on a SERP depends on what users have searched. If you were to search the word “shoes,” for example, you’d likely find a substantial number of the top results are ads. In fact, you’ll probably have to scroll down the page to find the first organic result. A query like this usually generates so many ads because there’s a strong chance that the searcher is looking to buy shoes online, and there are lots of shoe companies willing to pay for a feature in the AdWords results for this query. On the other hand, if you search for something like “Atlanta Falcons,” your results will be different. Because this search is mostly tied to the professional American football team by that name, the top results relate to that. But it’s still a less clear query. You’ll find news stories, a knowledge graph, and their homepage. These 3 kinds of results at the top indicate that Google doesn’t know the precise intention of your search, but provides quick pathways to learn about the team, read their latest news, or go to their website. Since there appears to be

What is social media management? Social media management is the ongoing process of creating and scheduling content designed to grow and nurture an audience across social media platforms. This includes, but isn’t limited to: Social media content strategy Online reputation management Community management and programming Paid social media strategy and execution Team member management and development The benefits of social media management go far beyond raising brand awareness and staying current on the latest internet trends. The channel is key to building personal connections with target audiences at scale. The evolution of social media management Social media management is constantly evolving. Platforms and trends are continually changing, and so are the responsibilities of managing a brand account. We’re seeing the creator economy completely transform how we post on social. And the rise of social messaging has brought conversations from public to private, fostering more personal connections between people and the brands they love. This phenomenon has turned social into the number one source of insights for knowing who your audience is and what they want from brands. According to The 2025 Sprout Social Index ™, 90% of consumers use social media to keep up with brands and social trends. As a result, social media management has today become more than publishing and community management—it includes translating social data into actionable insights that impact your entire org. Similarly, social commerce has revolutionized how business leaders perceive the channel, taking it from awareness-focused to a full-funnel experience. Artificial intelligence (AI) marketing tools empower professionals to support content creation, customer personalization and data analytics. These developments prove one thing: Social is driving how consumers interact with businesses, making social media roles business-critical. The role of a social media manager Social media managers are responsible for developing strategies that maintain and grow a social presence, on top of administrative and team development tasks. A typical day might involve content creation, campaign strategies, career planning, reporting—the list goes on. Yet, a social media manager’s job doesn’t end there. Apart from having to manage social media accounts, they must also prove the ROI of social. This includes tracking engagement, conversions and brand sentiment to show decision-makers how social drives business growth. This also means translating likes and shares into tangible value, such as increased sales, lead generation or improved customer loyalty. Being successful in such a fluid role requires a unique set of skills, including but not limited to: Adaptability Organization Creativity Curiosity Critical thinking Combined, these talents help social media professionals manage the evolving needs of this business-critical channel. The best ways to manage social media accounts Here are some of the best ways to manage social media for your business. Diversify your networks It’s an art and a science to manage social media accounts. Your data can give you a good idea of how to spend your resources—in terms of both money and time—but social moves fast. The platform delivering results today might take a dip tomorrow. Diversifying your network strategy is a reliable way to make sure you’re ready for whatever challenges are thrown at you. An algorithm update on one network is less of a shock to the system if you have a well-maintained presence across the social landscape. A social media management tool makes managing multiple social media workflows significantly more efficient because posting natively (logging into each social network individually to post) across profiles is a huge time commitment. Factor in engagement and monitoring, and it becomes more than a full-time job. Tools like Sprout help businesses scale social operations sustainably. Publishing workflows support customization by the network while minimizing risk. After all, managing quality control is much harder when your team runs social natively. These publishing and scheduling features automate and complement existing processes so you can get out of the weeds and into the bigger picture.