What Is SEO – Search Engine Optimization?

Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of making a website show up better on search engines like Google. Search Engine Optimization involves techniques such as keyword research, on-page optimization, and link building to improve a site’s ranking in search results.

The better visibility your pages have in search results, the more likely you are to be found and clicked on. The aim of search engine optimization is to bring in people to your website who might become customers, clients, or regular visitors.

How SEO differs from SEM and PPC ?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) focuses on improving a website’s organic ranking on search engines through ways of doing things like keyword optimization and quality content. In contrast, Search Engine Marketing (SEM) includes both SEO and paid (success plans/ways of reaching goals), like Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising, to increase visibility. PPC involves paying for ads that appear at the top of search results, driving immediate traffic. Unlike Search Engine Optimization, which targets long-term growth, SEM and PPC offer quicker, although (only lasting for a short time), boosts in visibility and traffic.

SEO vs. SEM

SEO(Search Engine Optimization) and SEM (Search Engine Marketing) both aim to increase a website’s visibility on search engines, but they differ significantly in approach and range.

SEO

• Focus: Enhances organic (unpaid) search rankings.
• Techniques: Involves optimizing website content, improving site structure, and building backlinks.
• Timeframe: Typically requires more time to see results but offers long-term benefits.
• Cost: Generally involves less direct cost, focusing on time and resources for optimization.

SEM

• Focus: Encompasses both organic search optimization (SEO) and paid search advertising (PPC).
• Techniques: Includes SEO strategies plus paid campaigns like Google Ads.
• Timeframe: Provides quicker visibility through paid ads but also includes long-term strategies with SEO.
• Cost: Involves costs for paid advertising campaigns in addition to SEO efforts.

SEO vs. PPC

PPC stands for pay-per-click, a kind of online advertising where you pay each time someone clicks on your ad.
Here’s how it works: advertisers choose certain words or phrases they want their ads to show up for in search engine results. When someone searches using those words, the advertiser’s ad appears at the top of the search results.
In simple terms, think of search marketing like a coin. One side is Search Engine Optimization, which is free, and the other side is PPC, which is paid. Another important thing to remember: don’t think of SEO and PPC as competing options where one is better than the other. They work well together, so if you can afford it, use both.

Also, while some people in the industry use SEM and PPC to mean the same thing, that’s not how we use them here on Search Engine Land.

Why SEO is Important?

SEO is a crucial part of marketing. The best part is that organic search brings in 53% of all website traffic.

That’s why the global SEO industry is expected to grow to a massive $122.11 billion by 2028. SEO helps businesses of all sizes achieve real results.

When people want to go somewhere, do something, find info, or buy a product or service, they usually start by a searching.

Trillions of searches happen every year. Search engines are often the main way people find websites, so it’s very important for your website to be “search engine friendly” wherever people might look for your brand or business.

This means that improving your visibility and ranking higher in search results than your competitors can really benefit your business.
SEO is also Super important because search engine results pages  are very competitive, filled with features and it can be hard to stand out.

Another reason SEO is important for brands and businesses is that good SEO work lasts. When a paid ad campaign ends, the traffic stops. Social media traffic is unreliable and not as strong as it used to be.

SEO is the base of a complete marketing strategy, where everything your company does matters. Once you know what your users want, you can use that knowledge in your:

• Paid and organic campaigns
• Website content
• Social media platforms

Type of SEO

There are three types of Search Engine Optimization:

Technical SEO: Making sure the technical parts of a website are optimized.

On-site SEO: Improving the content on a website for both users and search engines.

Off-site SEO: Building brand assets and doing things to increase brand awareness and recognition, like showing expertise, authority, and trustworthiness.

You have full control over content and technical optimizations. With off-site SEO, you can’t control everything (like links from other sites or changes on platforms you use), but it’s still a key part of success.

Think of SEO like a sports team. You need a strong defense (technical SEO), a strong offense (content SEO), and loyal fans (off-site SEO) to win.

Technical Optimization

Optimizing the technical elements of a website is crucial for search engine optimization (SEO) success. It starts with architecture – creating a website that can be crawled and indexed by search engines.

You want to make it easy for search engines to discover and access all your content, like text, images, and videos. Important technical elements include URL structure, navigation, internal linking, and more.

User experience is also a key part of technical optimization. Search engines prioritize pages that load quickly and offer a good user experience. Elements like Core Web Vitals, mobile-friendliness, HTTPS, and avoiding intrusive pop-ups are all important for technical SEO.

Another aspect is structured data (schema). Adding this code helps search engines understand your content better and improves your search result appearance.

Additionally, web hosting services, content management systems (CMS), and site security all play a role in SEO.

On – Site Optimization

In Search Engine Optimization, your content needs to be great for two main groups: people and search engines. This means you need to make your content good for both the audience who reads it (what’s on the page) and the search engines that look at the code.
Your main goal is always to put out helpful, top-notch content. You can achieve this by understanding what your audience wants and needs, as well as following the advice from Google. When making content for people, you should make sure it:

• Talks about relevant topics you know about.
• Uses words people would use to find it.
• Is unique and original.
• Is well-written with no grammar or spelling mistakes.
• Has accurate and up-to-date information.
• Includes things like pictures or videos.
• Is better than what others have on the search results page.
• Is easy to read, with clear headings, good paragraph lengths, and maybe bold or italic words, lists, and the right reading level.

For search engines, you should focus on:

• Title tags
• Meta descriptions
• Header tags (H1-H6)
• Image descriptions
• Meta data for Open Graph
• and Twitter Cards

Off – Site Optimization

There are many activities that might not be considered “SEO” exactly, but they still help with SEO success in some way.

Link building, which means getting other websites to link to yours, is a big part of off-site SEO. It’s super helpful to have lots of good links from other trusted websites pointing to yours. Quality matters more than quantity here.

So, how do you get those links? There are different ways to promote your website that also help with Search Engine Optimization:

Building your brand and marketing it to get more recognition and a better reputation.
Doing PR, like getting mentioned in news articles or blogs.
Content marketing, like making videos or writing guest posts for other websites.
Using social media to share your content and connect with people.
Managing listings on different websites where your business might be listed.
Getting and managing ratings and reviews from customers.

When we talk about off-site stuff, we mean things that might not directly affect your website’s ranking, but they still matter because they help people find your brand wherever they look. Some people even say we should call it “search experience optimization” or “search everywhere optimization” instead of just “search engine optimization.”

How does SEO works ?

If you found this page on Google, you probably searched for something like “what is SEO” or just “SEO.”
This guide is on Search Engine Land, a website that knows a lot about Search Engine Optimization. We’ve been talking about SEO since 2006!
This page was first published in 2010 and has gotten a lot of links since then.
Basically, because of all these things, search engines trust this guide and put it at the top of the search results when people look for SEO.
But let’s talk about Search Engine Optimization in general. It works because of:
People: The ones who do the SEO work.
Processes: The things they do to make the work better.
Technology: The tools they use.
Activities: What they produce.

There are other things too, but these are the main ones. Now, let’s look at the Four most important parts of SEO.

1. Understanding how search engines work

Simply put, if you want people to find your business when they search online, you need to understand how search engines work and then give them the right signals to show your business.
When it comes to traditional search engines like Google, there are four main steps:

Crawling: Search engines find web pages by following links and using sitemaps.

Rendering: They figure out how the page looks using HTML, JavaScript, and CSS.

Indexing: They analyze the page’s content and add it to a big database.

Ranking: Using complicated math, they decide which pages are most relevant and of good quality to show when someone searches.
But optimizing for Google isn’t the same as optimizing for other platforms like YouTube or Amazon.

For example, on Facebook, things like Likes and comments matter a lot, as well as who is connected to whom. On Twitter, recent posts and interactions matter, as well as how trustworthy the author is.
And to make things even trickier, search engines now use machine learning to decide what content to show, making it hard to know exactly what makes one thing show up more than another.

2. Research

Research is super important for Search Engine Optimization. Here are some types of research that can help make your SEO better:

Audience research: You need to know who your audience is – their age, interests, and what problems they have. What questions do they ask that you can answer?

Keyword research: This helps you find the right words to use on your website so people can find it easily. You figure out which words people search for a lot and which ones aren’t too competitive.

Competitor research: What are your competitors up to? What are they good at and where do they need work? What kind of stuff are they putting out there?

Brand/business/client research: What do you or your clients want to achieve? How can SEO help with those goals?

Website research: Doing different kinds of audits on your website can show you what’s working and what’s not. You can look at technical stuff, content, links, and how trustworthy your site seems.

SERP analysis: This helps you understand what people are looking for when they search. Are they trying to buy something, learn something, or just find a website? This way, you can make content that matches what they want.

3. Planning

An SEO strategy is like a big plan for what you want to do in the long run. You set goals and figure out how to reach them.
Think of it like a map. The way you go might change over time, but the end goal stays the same.

Your SEO plan might include things like:

• Setting goals and expectations, like when you want to reach certain milestones.
• Deciding what things you’ll measure to see how well you’re doing.
• Figuring out who will do what tasks, either inside your company or with outside help.
• Talking to people inside and outside your company about what’s going on.
• Picking out tools and technology to help you out.
• Hiring and training a team if you need one.
• Deciding how much money you’re going to spend.
• Keeping track of how well everything is going and telling people about it.
• Writing down the plan and how you’re going to do things.

4. Creating And Implementing

Once you’ve finished all your research, it’s time to start doing things.
That means:

Making new content: Telling your content team what stuff they need to make.

Changing or making old pages better: This could mean updating the content, adding links inside the website, putting in important words, or finding other ways to make it better.

Getting rid of old, bad content: Taking away stuff that doesn’t help your website do well in searches or get the right kind of visitors.