What is SEO?

When you search a query in your preferred search engine you are shown a list of results. The ones at the top say Ad on them – businesses have paid for these to be there – underneath you will find a list of organic results that are thereby merit of their SEO. In short, SEO is the way that businesses organize their websites so that search engines can find their content on the Web and rank according to relevance. 

How SEO works 

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization which refers to the process search engines use to rank Web pages for relevance. This makes searching the internet more effing etc and provides a better experience to users, it also has a host of benefits for brands and businesses. 

Major search engines such as Google and Bing use bots and crawlers on the Internet, these are programs that browse the Internet automatically and assess the quality and content of web pages. They then add web pages into the index where they are ranked by an algorithm. The more relevance the algorithm can find the higher your web page will rank. 

The bots and crawlers are the programs the search engine uses to find new content on the Web, you want them to find your SEO. This content is then placed on the index where the search engine algorithm looks it over and ranks it according to relevance (your SEO doing its job). Hopefully, you will then be ranked highly by the search engine. 

SEO and Marketing 

SEO is the way that users of the Internet find what they are looking for through search. Over the years this process has become more efficient because of SEO and therefore competitive. If you’re a business or brand operating today you need to ensure your SEO is strong to rival your competitors. 

Trillions of Internet users search the web daily and many of those searches are for commercial intent. SEO works in the background to deliver close match search results to users based on the quality, content and user experience of the website. This means there is a high chance of you matching with your customers. 

If you’re a brand, a small business, or a startup company you need to optimize your website and make it relevant to your products and your customers. When you have the best information you rank higher in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) and if your information is relevant you will be more visible to searching customers. 

How to Learn SEO 

SEO sounds like an industry term that requires a university degree to understand. It can get quite involved but with some self-study and courses, it isn’t too hard to wrap your head around and use it in practice. There are many good ways of learning SEO from Internet articles to college courses. 

SEO is quite involved but if you want a simple overview that is also practical it can be useful to think of it in terms of on-page and off-page SEO. On-page SEO refers to the content and layout of the blog or web pages and off-page SEO is actions take outside of your webpage that affects your search results. 

On-page SEO is things like your Title, Meta-title, Keywords, Headings, and Body Text. It refers to the way your webpage is set up for the algorithm to scan and determine its quality and relevance. Off-page SEO links back to quality website (backlinks) promotions for your website and other websites linking back to you. 

SEO Success Factors 

SEO is a holistic practice, in other words, you need all of the SEO practices working together and pulling in the right direction to achieve the kind of SEO success you want for your business or brand. For instance, there is no point in having a super-fast user-friendly website if the content is not optimized for search. 

The success of SEO for your business website is determined by several factors organized and working in sync. On-page factors include content, architecture, and HTML, while off-page factors include trust, links and user factors. It’s important to get the balance of positive factors correct and reduce the impact of negative ones for high functioning SEO. 

If you can get the balance of positive factors correct it will benefit your business and the search engine. Search engines will be able to identify useful content and improve quality engagement and you will experience more traffic to your website through higher ranking in the organic SERPs. But beware that attempting to manipulate SEO practice usually leads to penalties and lower ranking.

Content Success Factors 

Although it is not the only important ranking factor, on-page SEO needs to be well put together so the algorithm can rank it appropriately. It’s important to remember that attempts to manipulate the algorithm process – with keyword stuffing for example – tend to go unrewarded and results in a lower ranking, not a higher one. 

When you create your website content you need to make sure it is well-written and highly valuable. Don’t hold anything back when it comes to writing your on-page content because chances are there will be content that outranks it available. You will also want to research your keywords carefully and make sure they are relevant to headlines. 

Before creating your content research keywords using tools like Google Search Console and Ahrefs Keyword Explorer. Find keywords that are precise and relevant to your product or business. Focused on Long-tail Keywords – that means keywords that aren’t obvious and are a little more precise – these match better with users queries. 

Website Architecture 

Website Architecture has always played a role in on-page SEO but it is used more and more by search engines to determine relevance and quality for users. This is partly due to the demand of Internet users who like their websites to be slick and user friendly. 

Firstly, your web pages must be optimized for the search engine crawlers which need to be able to read your page easily. The HTML code for the title, meta-title and body text should all be in the right place so the crawlers can access the content easily and read it. This serves as a ranking factor. 

Your website must also be optimized for user experience which means it must be fast and without errors. It also must be optimized for mobile and tablet devices and more and more users are searching the internet in this way. If your website architecture is outdated this will influence its SERP ranking. 

Expert SEO Advice 

The world of SEO is continually changing. Major search engines such as Google and Bing change their algorithms regularly in line with the latest practices and the latest developments in user experience. This is one reason you need to stay ahead of the curve on SEO. 

The other reason is the effect it can have on your business and revenue. If the search engine factors change – as they did in May 2021 to include more “page experience” like mobile-friendliness and safe-browsing factors – your business will be affected if you don’t also update your SEO, daily crawlers will soon start to notice.

It isn’t always easy to maintain up to date records on the latest SEO practices so it helps if you can seek out some expert advice to keep you informed of the latest developments. Websites like Moz, Ahrefs and Hubspot are professional and reliable – you might also want to create an SEO feed on your article reader. 

Next Level SEO

When it comes to optimizing your business website for SEO there is plenty to work with. Keeping your website relevant in SERPs should be a regular practice as you need to create fresh content that’s SEO ready and update or delete outdated content that could affect your SERPs. 

But at some point you will reach the stage when you have the results you are looking for and your website is well-tuned for SEO. That’s good news but don’t let your guard down, continue to update your website consistently and look for advanced strategies to take it to the next level. This might involve researching different search engine algorithm factors. 

Google and Bing are the most popular search engines by far, in 2021 there are around 4.66 billion Internet users worldwide and over 2 billion of them use Google – around 150 million use Bing. As you progress on your SEO journey you will need to investigate ranking factors for alternative search engines as well and find ways to reach new customers in your industry.  

Conclusion 

SEO sounds like a technical term but it’s actually a straightforward process used by major search engines to rank your website on a SERPs page. While it is easy enough to understand it takes some time to implement and getting the balance right can be tricky. The best place to start is with a beginner’s guide to SEO, or a short course in the fundamentals of today’s SEO best practice.