ExecutiveChronicles.com | What Is SEO: Everything You Need to Know | Explaining to someone 30 years ago what our online experience is like today would likely blow their minds. The whole world is at our fingertips. All we need to do is type what we need into the search bar, and job done!
However, on the other side, if you have ever tried to create a website, it becomes clear that getting seen by the public is not easy. In fact, a staggering 90.63% of pages get no traffic at all.
So how does a website get seen in the first place? The answer is SEO.
What is SEO, and how does it work? Keep on reading to find out!
What Is SEO?
SEO stands for search engine optimization, the process of getting your website as high as possible on the search engine results page. Although we use the term search engine, the market leader, without any doubt, is Google. Therefore when most people talk about working on SEO, all efforts go towards cracking Google’s algorithm.
The higher up on Google you appear in your particular niche, the higher are the chances that your website, and by extension, your business will be a success. With 33% of traffic going to the first result and the volume dropping off by 95% on page 2, the holy grail appears on the first page of search results.
So how can you get there? By applying some SEO fundamentals.
SEO Fundamentals
There can be regarded as 4 basic areas of SEO that anyone building a website should pay attention to if they want their website to grow. These are on-page SEO, technical SEO, off-page SEO, and backlinks.
On-page SEO is the bread and butter of website development. It includes using keywords in your text (including words that research shows people are using to search in your niche), your title and header tags, meta description, and more.
Technical SEO includes how easy it is for Google to find your website and viewed as reliable. Much like a property inspector isn’t interested in the house’s decor, the aspects of technical SEO are not related to your content but more to your website structure. You can know more about it from Webcitz.com.
Off-page SEO considers all the efforts that can be taken to boost your page away from your website. This is where agencies like William Lawrence advertising earn their stripes, as arranging guest posts on other websites and getting influential people in your field to share your content, among other things.
A special word on quality backlinks. Backlinks are when another page links to one of your pages.
Why is this so important?
The main purpose of Google’s search algorithm is to find and display relevant and useful results. This is vital because other websites give you credibility by referring back to your page.
The fundamentals of SEO are by no means a simple equation. Time, balance, and constant attention are needed to get it right, but if you work hard at it, you should eventually see some results.
Taking It Local
Our last mention will go on local SEO.
This is when a website considers all the factors that signal you want to target people in a specific location. When was the last time you used the words “near me” or put your location with the service you needed in the search bar?
Use of these keywords, along with good use of Google Maps and My Business, is key to cracking this.
For it to work out, local SEO is more effective for businesses with brick-and-mortar locations or a service area within a particular radius.
SEO Made Simple
So what is SEO?
Simply put, it is all the tips and tricks used to get a website ranking high. We hope you enjoyed our simple breakdown of all you need to know.
If you did, be sure to check out all the other great digital marketing content on our site!
