Since the first human traded a polished rock for an apple, sellers have known the first steps to attracting clients: go where they are, and let them know you exist.

Now it’s the Information Age, and we’ve never had access to so many potential customers. But the question remains: how do we get their attention?

Today, businesses online try to build their websites so they’ll show up on search engines, specifically Google. This work is called search-engine optimization, or SEO for short. (SEO also applies to Bing, Yahoo, and other search engines, but Google is the leader here.)

What is SEO?

Larry Page, Google’s founder, “once described the perfect search engine as understanding exactly what you mean and giving you back exactly what you want,” per Google itself.

From the perspective of a B2C formulation-driven business, such as a cosmetics company, the perfect search engine would steer as many customers as possible to the company website. For suppliers, it would show the company’s goods and services prominently to all the brand owners who might be able to use them.

That means it’s up to the business to offer what customers want, then tell the truth about what they offer. The search engine is the matchmaker.

Search engines catalog the web and apply really sophisticated analysis programs (called algorithms) to match content with queries. Over 3.5 billion Google searches are done every day. Worldwide, Google is used for a majority of all web searches; the companies that rank highest on Google are often most successful.

You can pay for ads at the top of Google results pages, but the most effective strategy is to get your site included near the top of what are called organic search results—links that come up because Google thinks they’re the best match for the search phrase, not because they’ve been paid for.

That’s what a search algorithm does. It matches questions with pages that have answers. This gets very complex. SEO is the art of making sure the search engine decides your page is the best answer to a particular question.

First, a search engine analyzes the query that the user has typed. Behind the scenes, a very sophisticated program figures out the subject of the search phrase, including figuring out which of several meanings a word is trying to express.

Then, algorithms analyze the text of billions of webpages to match keywords with the search phrase. Years ago, SEO writers would “stuff” pages with keywords to boost Google rankings, but the algorithms have become more sophisticated, so just repeating keywords is no substitute for taking the time to write informative text.

The most important groundwork for SEO: figure out what questions your customers are asking, and answer them clearly and helpfully. Write fresh, useful content; add relevant links to your website; promote your business online. And above all, have patience: SEO is not an overnight thing. Like many things in business, it takes time to grow.

What do search engines consider when ranking my site?

There are over 200 factors that Google’s algorithm considers when ranking pages. One important factor is the length and in-depth writing of a page; a well-written post that’s up to 2,000 words long may rank high, as longer articles can cover more ground than shorter, superficial posts. The post ought to be well organized, with important, relevant keywords in the title, in the first hundred words of the body text, and in section headings. Content should be original, you should update content regularly, and your site should load quickly.

Beyond writing and design, there are also more technical considerations. Many companies employ technical SEO experts whose whole job is to make sure a website’s code is organized in such a way that Google can read it well.

And there’s a lot more that may go into good SEO rankings. We say “may”: Google doesn’t say exactly what the magic formula is. We have to guess based on trial and error.

Fortunately, for small companies, there is help. Many companies run their websites using WordPress or similar content-management systems. These backend systems have handy plugins that, when used correctly, provide a great start to SEO. Two popular ones are Yoast and All-In-One SEO.

SEO consultants are also available to help boost your business’s search rankings, and a proven SEO consultant may be worth the investment, particularly on the technical side. (There are also a lot of scammers who will send suspicious-looking emails; ignore these, go with a trustworthy consultant whom you find yourself.)

A marathon, not a sprint

It’s a cliché, but it’s absolutely true: you don’t win at SEO overnight. You have to put consistent work in over a long period of time. You have to continually make sure your website is organized, thorough, informative, and well designed and coded. You should try your hardest to get links from other trustworthy, prominent sites (called “backlinks”). You’re not going to complete an SEO plugin wizard and suddenly see sales explode.

It will take time. It will take patience. If you do it right, it will grow your website’s traffic, and it will be worth it.

More reputable site = better SEO

Another thing Google takes into account is how established and reputable a site is. It can take time and consistent work to get the Google algorithm to trust your site, but once you’ve accomplished that, the momentum can help your growth pick up speed.

Goldn, for example, is aiming to be the place to go to create formulation-driven products online, in the long term. We have our eyes fixed on the horizon, not the ground right in front of us. We plan to be here for the long haul.

As we keep providing a place for creators and providers to collaborate, as our reputation grows, our members and partners will see their traffic improve via Goldn. We expect that members with complete, well-organized, up-to-date profiles will enjoy impressive visibility and get great results. More clients will find them, and they’ll have more opportunities to grow.

We’d like to invite you to be part of this first group of innovators using Goldn to grow their businesses.

Visit our signup page and join our mission to make collaboration the future of cosmetics creation!