What is search engine optimization (SEO)?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a process of making your website or content optimized so that it can easily rank higher and be visible in Google, Bing, or any other search engine results. The main objective of SEO is to increase the visibility and relevance of a website, web page, or a specific article for specific keywords or phrases in order to drive more traffic to the website.
In the world of online marketing, search engine optimization-SEO is one of the most important tools that you have at your disposal. It helps improve the visibility of your website or a web page in search engine results pages (SERPs), and more visibility means more income.
Let’s understand with an Example.
Let’s say you look for “What is SEO and How SEO will help in increasing my sales.” You see different results. Suppose you have written an article on the same topic related to SEO. Your blog will be visible among others on the first page if your article.
- Include Title, Meta description, Subheadings, Image name, Tags, etc.
- Include keywords that people would hunt about
- Is Well written and contains accurate information
- Is Original and Unique
- Is Structured
- Is Free from spelling and grammatical errors
- Is Engaging
- Is reader friendly (easy to understand even by a 12-year-old child)
Similarly, if you have a product-based business and you have optimized your product title, description, images, tags, etc. Also, if your site’s loading time and interface are good, then the chances of getting sales are much higher.
These are some of the contributing factors that help in SEO. I will be discussing more of these SEO ranking factors in the next paragraphs.
How SEO Works
For search engine optimization (SEO) to operate, certain adjustments need to be made to a website’s design and content to make it more appealing to search engines. SEO works by using various techniques and strategies to improve the ranking of a website in search engine results pages (SERPs). It uses complex algorithms to determine the relevance and ranking of a website for a particular query.
Some key things to consider in order to make your Web pages SEO friendly include the following:
- Creating SEO-friendly content – Good, engaging, and authoritative content will stand out and be more likely to be found by potential consumers. This content should be original, not copied from other sources, and it should be well-written with clear and concise language.
- Proper SEO keyword placement – Selecting the right keywords for your website or article can be tricky, but it’s important to do your research and make sure that the keywords you pick are relevant to your target market and your business, and people look for these keywords. Including relevant keywords in H1 tags, title tags, image tags, etc., can help improve traffic and engagement.
- Integrating social media links – If possible, including links to your website’s social media pages in your SEO-friendly content will help increase engagement and traffic from those platforms. It will introduce your website to a wider audience.
- Category or Niche designation – Websites that are organized into specific niches (like home improvement, health & fitness, automotive, etc.) tend to perform better in SERPs for specific SEO keywords than those without category designations. This is because search engines work more closely with websites within specific niches, and displaying relevant content related to those niches can improve visibility in SERP results for general keywords as well.
- User experience – A website that is easy to use and provides a good user experience is considered SEO-optimized and will rank higher in search engine result pages (SERPs) than a website that is difficult to use.
- Mobile optimization – With the increasing use of mobile devices, it’s important for a site to be optimized for mobile devices in order to rank higher in search results.
There still are many little factors that contribute to a fully SEO-optimized website. SEO is a constantly evolving field, and it’s important for website owners and marketers to stay up-to-date with the latest updates and best practices in order to get the best possible outcomes.
How does Google know which page to rank?
Google uses automated software known as “bots” or “spiders” to crawl and index websites on the internet. The process can be described as follows:
Discovery
Google, when someone uploads a piece of content on the internet, discovers it and adds the page to a queue to be crawled. New pages can also be discovered through links from other pages on the internet. However, you can also add “a link” to Google’s queue list. When Google’s bots find a link to a page, they follow the link.
Crawling
Google sends bots or crawlers to your site. The bots read and scan each and every word, image, and any other content and links that you might have. It analyzes its structure, including the HTML code, images, videos, and other elements. It even crawls the links on your website and goes to that link and crawls that website’s content as well. If the links you provided justify what you have written, then it classifies your content as accurate and worthy. The bots use this information to better understand the content and context of the page.
The same goes otherwise. If other websites are inserting your website’s link in their blog, a crawler comes to your site and reads it. This linking-building process tells Google algorithms that whatever you have written is worthy, which is why other websites are linking to your article or website.
Suppose more and more authority websites are referring to your site or its content. In that case, Google will understand that the content on your site is worthy and worth showing to others. So, it shows your content to others and boosts its authority.
Indexing
After the bots have crawled the page, it analyzes and stores your website data in their database for fast and accurate retrieval.
Updating
Google periodically re-crawls pages every time you post something new on them and updates its index to reflect any changes that have been made to the content or structure of the page.
Google sends crawlers (bots) to your website, which go through all the pages and content within, read it in its language, and rate it according to its algorithms. Thus, Google gives your site some authority or rating. And rank your article accordingly after other websites’ content based on this rating.
Google’s goal is to provide the most relevant and up-to-date information to its users, so it’s important for you to make sure that the pages are well-structured and optimized. By following these leading practices for SEO, you can help Google crawl and index your site more effectively, which can improve your website’s visibility and ranking in search engine results.
Types of SEO
There are many types of SEO, but the most common are
White Hat SEO
White hat SEO refers to ethical and legitimate tactics that comply with search engine guidelines and best practices. This includes creating high-quality content, optimizing website structure and design, using relevant keywords, building high-quality backlinks, and focusing on user experience. The goal of white hat SEO is to improve a website’s ranking in search results by providing value to users and satisfying Google engine algorithms.
Black Hat SEO
Black hat SEO refers to unethical and manipulative tactics that violate search engine guidelines and best practices. These tactics include keyword stuffing, hidden text or links, cloaking, spamming, and other deceptive techniques aimed at tricking algorithms into ranking a website higher in search results. The goal of black hat SEO is to achieve quick results by exploiting algorithms, often at the expense of the user experience and the long-term sustainability of a website’s ranking.
Search engines like Google strictly prohibit black hat SEO tactics and may penalize sites that use them. In contrast, white hat SEO is considered a long-term and sustainable approach to SEO that can help a website rank higher in search results over time.
Conclusion
By following these strategies, you can make your site SEO friendly and can help improve your site’s ranking in search engine results and drive more qualified traffic to your site. However, it’s important to remember that SEO is a long-term process, and it can take time to see results.