Usual Internet users would often ask, what is SEO? If you aren’t familiar with search engine optimization (SEO), you may be looking for a quick guide on how to navigate it. Search engine optimization (SEO), while in-depth and technical, is a strategy well worth the investment. To help you learn the fundamentals of search engine optimization (SEO), we have created this quick SEO basics guideline.
First, What is a Search Engine?
A search engine is a web-based application that allows people to find information on the Internet. Search engines work with a piece of software that helps users discover the information they need online by using keywords or phrases. The engine results page can deliver search results rapidly, even when there are millions of websites available since they continuously monitor the Internet and index every page they locate.
When a user enters a search phrase, the search engine examines the website page titles, contents, and keywords it has indexed and employs algorithms (step-by-step procedures) to generate a list of sites, with the most relevant sites at the top, hence, redirecting user with a search result pages. Search engine optimization (SEO) is used by businesses to help search engine results perceive their websites as highly relevant to specific searches. Google, Bing, and Yahoo are some of the most popular search engines.
Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a Google web tool that allows webmasters to verify the progress of their websites’ indexing and optimize their exposure. It is a free Google service that allows you to monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot your site’s visibility in Google Search results. It allows a user to receive warnings when Google detects indexing, spam, or other concerns on your site, as well as see which websites link to yours. Also, it recommends SEO techniques that generate traffic from search engines, while on the other hand, Google Analytics allows you to monitor and get a complete view of traffic from marketing efforts, social media, and search engines.
Search Engine Results Pages
Google’s answer to a user’s search query is known as Search Engine Results Pages or SERPs. Organic search results, sponsored Google Ads results, Featured Snippets, Knowledge Graphs, and video results are common in this. These are the pages that Google and other search engines display in response to a user’s search query and are comprised of both organic and sponsored search results.
Do search engines work in an SEO strategy?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the art and science of increasing the visibility of web pages in search engines such as Google. Because search is one of the most common ways for individuals to find material online, ranking higher in search engines can result in increased traffic to a website. Search engines operate by crawling the web with bots known as spiders. These web crawlers follow links from page to page to identify fresh content to add to the search index. When you utilize a search engine, relevant results from the index are extracted and ranked using an algorithm.
What is SEO (Search Engine Optimization)?
SEO refers to search engine optimization. SEO is the process of making efforts to improve the ranking of a website or piece of content on Google. The primary distinction between SEO and paid advertising is that SEO entails “organic” ranking, which implies you do not pay to be in that space. To put it simply, search engine optimization is the process of optimizing a piece of online content so that search engines like Google display it near the top of the page when someone searches for something.
SEO is the process of improving elements on your website to help your business attain a higher ranking in search results. When users conduct searches on search engines like Google, they focus on the first page of results. 75% of users don’t look beyond the first page of results. If you aren’t on the first page of results, your audience will miss your business. You’ll lose leads and sales to your competitors. SEO helps you improve your ranking to get to the first page of results.
How is your website’s SEO?
SEO is the process of making efforts to improve the ranking of a website or piece of content on Google. To put it simply, search engine optimization is the process of optimizing a piece of online content so that search engines like Google display it near the top of the page when someone searches for something.
Before you optimize for SEO, you need to know how search engines like Google work. Google’s algorithm influences where your site appears in search results. You must understand the algorithm to recognize how and why Google ranks your website in a particular position. It’s also important to understand Google’s algorithm because you must know what helps and harms your site. You want to ensure that you’re using the appropriate practices to drive sustainable results for your business.
Two main factors influence SEO:
- On-page factors: These are factors that you can control on your site. On-page factors include aspects such as internal linking and website functionality. You can manage these elements to help make your site better for your audience.
- Off-page factors: With these factors, you have little to no control over them. Off-page factors include things like backlinks to your site and social media mentions. You can try to manage these actions, like through outreach, but you don’t have complete control over them.
These are two main factors that influence your SEO marketing strategy, so you’ll want to keep them in mind as you go through this SEO crash course.
How to do SEO successfully?
The most recognized benefit of SEO is improved rankings, yet rankings are really a means to an aim. Many of the genuine advantages of SEO are traffic-related. The next part of this course on the fundamentals of SEO is how to implement strategies that will help you create a successful SEO campaign. There are numerous parts to SEO, so we’ll take a look at each component and tell you how to optimize for it.
SEO Strategies to Consider
When creating a website, it is critical to keep Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in mind. Doing so from the beginning of your preparation will help to ensure that less work is required in the future. Going back and rebuilding a website for SEO will take far more time and effort than doing it correctly from the start. As SEO grows more significant in the internet world, it becomes more important to businesses and their success. In today’s digital environment, using SEO tactics is no longer an option. These methods are required for success. Without getting too technical, provided below is an SEO guide to do SEO like a professional.
1. Research and target valuable keywords
Everything about SEO revolves around keyword selection. You won’t have a successful SEO campaign without choosing relevant keywords for your website and its pages. Keywords help your website appear in relevant search results, so you want to select the right keywords to get your site in front of interested leads. So, how do you find relevant keywords for your campaign? To find relevant keywords, conduct keyword research. Keyword research will help you identify high-value keywords for your campaign.
When you conduct keyword research, focus on long-tail keywords. These keywords contain three or more words. An example of a long-tail keyword is “paper companies in Harrisburg, PA.” Long-tail keywords are better for your campaign because they drive more relevant traffic to your product or service. They are specific, so they drive leads that are looking for your business, product, or service. Once you have your keywords selected, integrate and anchor them into your web pages. You need to have a different keyword for each page to get and target people. Management of these keywords is vital and start by placing them in the title tags, meta descriptions, and body text of all your pages.
An important part is that you do not overuse your keywords. Using keywords too often leads to keyword stuffing. Keyword stuffing harms your SEO and hurts your ranking. Keyword selection and integration are the two main fundamentals of SEO. If you want to have success with SEO, start by choosing the right keywords for your campaign. It will set you on the path to driving valuable results and metrics for your business.
2. Know your SEO competitors
When you’re trying to rank at the top of the search results, you’re competing with other companies for the top spots. You must know your competitors well. That way, you can outrank them. Start by browsing the search results for your keywords on Google. Who appears in the top spots? These are the sites you’re going to need to outrank and outperform to help your website get to the top of the search results. Check these high-ranking pages out and look at what they’re doing. You’ll want to note what these competitors do well and where they miss the mark. It’s an excellent way for you to learn how you can make your strategy and pages better.
3. Improve page speed
When users visit your website, they don’t want to waste time waiting for your page to load. They want to access information quickly so they can get on with their day. If your page doesn’t load fast enough for your audience, they will return to the search results. This increases the bounce rate on your page, which negatively impacts your SEO ranking. Google will believe that your page isn’t relevant to the search terms or users and will rank other sites above you that provide a better (and faster) user experience.
To help improve your site’s performance, focus on decreasing your page’s load time. You can reduce your page’s load time by focusing on the back end of your website. Here are a few things you can do to improve your page’s load time:
- Reduce image file size
- Decrease redirects
- Delete white space in coding
- Leverage browser caching
- Use a content distribution network
All these practices will help improve your page’s load time to provide your audience with information fast. If you want to know what you must fix on your site, use Google PageSpeed Insights to see where you can make improvements. Google will tell you what is slowing down your website so you can improve it on your own. Don’t have experience fixing the back end of your site? Don’t worry! You can invest in page speed services, like Mach 1 Design, to get a team of experts to optimize your site’s speed and SEO.
4. What is content and why publish content regularly?
In publishing, art, and communication, content is information and experiences aimed towards an end-user or audience. Content marketing is an integral part of your SEO campaign. If you want to drive successful results with your SEO campaign, you must create content to drive valuable traffic to your website. There are numerous forms of content that you can create to drive traffic to your page. A few examples include blogs, videos, ebooks, and infographics. All of these types of content are great for driving traffic to your page. For example, an HVAC team may produce the following content as a part of its SEO strategy:
- An infographic on the prevalence of HVAC systems
- A pricing guide on residential or commercial HVAC costs
- A video on how different HVAC systems work
When you create content, focus on providing your audience with valuable information they want. Your audience is continuously conducting searches looking for content to help answer their questions and educate them. By creating content, you bring these leads to your page. They spend time on your website and get to know your business. As users learn more about your company, they build brand familiarity. When it comes time to convert, they will remember the helpful information you provided and choose your business over the competition.
Increasing traffic on your page and increasing the dwell time of users sends a positive signal to Google that your page is relevant. That signal can help improve your ranking in relevant search results, which means more traffic for your company.
5. Optimize Link Building
Need help with your SEO and digital marketing?
With people conducting searches online 24/7, you must invest in SEO to ensure that you are reaching the right people. SEO will help you improve your site’s ranking to reach more users interested in your products or services. SEO is a process that takes time to develop and drive results.
This crash course can help you get started, but you may find more professional assistance with your SEO campaign. Contact us online at www.Mach1Design.com or call us at (469) 536-8478 to see how our team of experts can help you create a custom SEO strategy that drives results for your business.