If your website doesn’t show up on the first page of related search results, you’re probably missing out on new business—potentially a LOT of business. Search engine optimization (SEO) can help. But what exactly is SEO? And how does it work? Read on to learn what SEO is, what the reasons are behind it, and how you can use it to drive more traffic (and potential sales) to your website.

Every day, people worldwide conduct over an estimated 8.5 billion Google searches for products, services, information, advice—pretty much anything they need. In many Google searches, the first results you see are ads (labeled as “Sponsored”). Sometimes those ads are for national brands. But more often, they’re for local businesses. How does this happen? What determines the ranking order? And how much does it cost? We’ll explain it all.