SEO involves optimizing website content, HTML tags and links to improve the chances that search engines like Google or Bing will see your web page. They then add it to their big databases, known as indexes.
Appearing in organic search engine results builds trustworthiness among your target audiences and can shorten their buying journeys. It can also help you increase your share of voice in a given market.
Keywords
Keywords are the words or phrases people type into search engines when they want to find a product or service. They’re the linchpin of SEO, and they help you develop pages and blog posts that match what individuals are actively searching for online.
It’s important to choose keywords that are relevant to your business and that are also popular with search engine users. You can research your best options using tools like SEMRush or Ahrefs. Another great option is to use an old-fashioned thesaurus. Enter a word or phrase into the thesaurus and it will give you synonyms.
You need to understand the intent behind the keywords you are choosing, too. Singular keywords may be tempting, but they tend to have a high search volume and a lot of competition. For example, if you’re trying to rank for “clothes,” you’ll have to compete with a huge number of brands who are already ranking highly for that keyword.
Content
Billions of searches are conducted on Google each day, 85% of clicks go to organic search results and that’s why SEO is so important for marketers. SEO stands for “search engine optimization” and is the process of optimizing content so it shows up higher on Google’s search results page (SERP) when people search for something.
When it comes to SEO, quality content is king. While the days when you could stuff keywords into meta keyword tags are long gone, SEO has evolved into a highly technical field where creating content is one of the most important techniques for improving a website’s ranking. It is important to create content that reflects the questions, concerns and interests of your target audience and also includes a call to action to get them to inquire or buy. This type of SEO content is called on-page SEO. It is the most effective way to drive traffic to your site. It also helps improve a website’s overall user experience and encourages visitors to return to your site.
Backlinks
Backlinks are a critical component of SEO. They serve as votes of confidence from other websites that Google can use to determine the quality and relevance of your content.
They also help Search Bots crawl and index your website faster, which can improve your search engine rankings. However, it's important to note that not all backlinks are created equal. Some can be considered spammy or low-quality, which can negatively impact your SEO.
A link from a reputable, high-authority website sends a strong signal to Search Bots that your content is valuable. As such, it's important to focus on building links from authority domains in your industry and to try to get your backlinks on relevant pages of other websites. Additionally, contextual and editorial links are a great way to increase the value of your backlinks. Finally, avoid link schemes such as paid links and link exchanges. They can lead to Google penalties, which will negatively affect your search engine rankings.
Analytics
Using SEO analytics can help you measure the success of your efforts. For example, you can use your site's metrics to identify pages that load slowly and may be causing visitors to bounce back from your website. This information can be used to optimize those pages and improve your SERP ranking.
Search engines use a variety of techniques to rank websites and determine their relevance to search queries. These include looking at the content of a webpage and its structure, as well as the keywords it uses. In addition, they look at the number and quality of links to a webpage.
As the world continues to go digital, effective SEO has become a critical tool for brands and businesses. It drives organic traffic, which is more reliable than paid or social media traffic. It's also cost-effective and highly scalable. However, many people have misperceptions about what SEO really is and how it works. This can make it difficult to sell it to clients and executives.
