What Is SEO? Beginners Guide

What Is SEO?

When you want to search for a query or need to know the price of any product, what is the first thing that you do? Google it!

Google brings you millions or even billions of results for your query or problem in a matter of nanoseconds. How is google this smart? Because of SEO.

SEO is the process of making modifications according to the search engine’s algorithm in your website to rank better. SEO helps in increasing visibility in search engines and get more traffic.

Search Engine Optimization is a set of techniques aimed at enhancing the look and ranking of web pages in natural search results. Since organic search is the most popular method for users to find and access online information, having a strong SEO strategy is crucial for increasing both the quality and volume of visitors to your website.

If a website manages to rank at the first page of the search engine result page (SERP), it gets more visibility and hence more opportunities. SERPs show paid ads at the top which gets there by SEM and then organic search results at the bottom. Website owners pay to occupy the top positions while the organic results are unpaid and result from SEO practices.

A site will often see greater traffic if it can move up the list of search results, which is given in alphabetical order. For instance, the top result for a normal search query will receive between 40 and 60 percent of all traffic, whereas results two and three will receive far less traffic overall. Only 2 to 3 percent of searchers click past the first page of results. A website may thus see an increase in visitors and perhaps prospective business as a result of even a slight improvement in search engine results.

What Are The Three Pillars Of SEO?

The 3 types of SEO include:

• • Technical SEO

• • On Page SEO

• • Off Page SEO 

So now, you have a better idea of what SEO is. Let’s talk about the three pillars of SEO. It will give you more comprehensive information about website ranking and traffic driving strategies.

1. 1. TECHNICAL SEO

      Technical SEO describes the procedures followed to facilitate search engines indexing your website and improve user experience(UX). These requirements alter as search engines’ algorithms become more complicated, which means that this kind of SEO is constantly changing.
      Indexing your website in a way that makes it easy for Google’s web bots/crawlers to crawl and index it is one example of technical SEO.
      To make your website load faster, you can use more technical SEO techniques like shrinking the picture file size on your site.
      Additionally, it involves making your website mobile-friendly. As more and more people use mobile devices to search and browse the web, Google is becoming increasingly interested in this metric for page rankings.
      The following technical SEO initiatives should be addressed:

      • Website Speed

        A faster website speed is always preferable, and Google recently added additional load time variables as ranking factors. Keep your template straight forward, avoid unnecessary redirects, and enhance your looks.

      • Mobile Compatibility

        Many consumers are switching from desktop to mobile to conduct various types of product and service searches. To make sure that any visitors arriving via mobile will find it simple to navigate, test your website on a mobile device.

      • Site Architecture

        Make your site structure as concise as possible by utilizing HTTPS hypertext, a user-friendly and reliable URL structure, a clear navigation hierarchy, and reliable internal links.

      • Site Security

        Securing your website will increase conversion rates and page rankings. A security protocol icon is one of the finest trust signals.

1. 1. ON PAGE SEO:

      Any content on your website pages, including blogs, product copy, and web copy – contribute to the ON-Page SEO. In other words, website element optimization is done using ON-Page SEO.
      The following elements of ON-Page SEO are crucial:

      

      • Keyword Analysis / Keyword Research

         

        Keyword analysis or keyword research is a important aspect of search engine optimization (SEO) and digital marketing. It involves identifying and evaluating specific words or phrases (keywords) that people use when searching for information, products, or services online. 

        Understanding the keywords you want to rank for is the first thing you need to do with your website before you do anything else. You must conduct keyword research to accomplish this. You select the primary and secondary keywords in this process, then create content and meta tags around them.
        The main elements of keyword research:

        • Volume Of Keywords
        • Competition
        • Relevance

        To find keywords, you can also use keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner and Ahrefs. After selecting your keywords, you may move forward and begin optimizing your pages for them.

      • Meta Title

        On the search engine results page, the title tag acts as a header title element and displays a summary of the material on your website. It is also a determinant in click-through rates (CTR) and the most crucial element of on-page SEO. The first 50–60 characters of the title tag are displayed by search engines.

      • Meta Description

        A meta description is a concise statement that describes the information on a webpage. They are further shown on the search engine results page. A meta description helps consumers grasp your website’s content better than the title tag does. Click-through rates(CTR) are also influenced by the meta description.

      • Internal Link

        Internal links are the connections between web pages on your website. They make it possible for people to explore the website. Additionally, they modify the link value (worth passed from one site to another site).

1. 1. OFF PAGE SEO:

      Off Page SEO can be compared to keeping up a good relationship with other Search Engine websites. With the appropriate tactics, your relationship with other websites will grow over time, which will assist to increase the authority and appeal of your brand.

      

      • Local Off-Page SEO

        One effective strategy for Off-Page SEO implementation is Google My Business. As part of local SEO, it promotes your presence to potential local customers, which helps local businesses grow.
        Off-Page SEO depends on how people behave. It, therefore, applies to both local SEO and natural SEO. High-quality items receive a lot of suggestions from existing customers, which is the in-person analog of Off-Page SEO, even in physical retail businesses. Off-Page SEO will highlight your website and represent its legitimacy and repute.

      • Link Building

        Link building is the practice of getting links pointing to your website from other websites. This is often referred to as developing external links. To build links, content is always king. In terms of ON-Page SEO, having quality content enables you to rank by optimizing it for relevant keywords. Having high-quality content encourages other websites to link back to your site from the perspective of an Off-Page SEO strategy.
        Some link-building tactics:
        High-quality content production:
        If your content is unique, well-structured, and easy to read, other websites will link back to yours.
        Off-site Activity
        Spend a lot of time visiting websites that are comparable to yours. Search for other websites with related material. They can share their stuff with you, and you can share your content with them. By working with bloggers and using social media, you may also increase off-site activity.

How SEO Works?

All website pages are crawled using search engine bots/crawlers, which download and store the data in a collection called an index. When someone searches for something in this index, which is similar to a library, the search engine serves as the librarian. Users are shown content that is connected to what they were looking for by the search engine, which extracts and displays key information from the particular keyword. To decide which pages should appear in what order on the SERP, search engine algorithms examine the web pages in the index.

What Metrics Are Used By Search Engine Optimization Algorithms?

The material from the index that is displayed in a SERP is determined by thousands of different criteria. However, they combine into 7 essential elements that influence the search query’s output of results.

• • Website Relevancy

• • Quality Content

• • Page Structure

• • Links

• • The Question’s Intent

• • Website Usability

• • Setting And Context

Now lets have a brief look on each point.

• • Website Relevance

    The algorithm examines the content of webpages to determine whether the sites’ include information important to the user’s search. This happens after intent has been determined. The presence of the search terms on the webpage would be a useful indicator of relevance.
    Search Engines utilize collected engagement data in addition to keyword matching to deciding whether the page is related to the search query. This checks anonymously search history to see if the page matches the query.

• • Quality Content

    The goal of search engines is to give preference to the most trustworthy sources accessible. The algorithms’ intelligence can determine which pages exhibit knowledge, authority, and reliability concerning intent.

• • Page structure

    Page Structure is the fundamental element of SEO. Because HTML is the language used to create webpages, the way the HTML code is organized can affect how well a search engine understands a page. Site owners can take steps to enhance the SEO of their website by including pertinent keywords in the page’s title, URL, and headers and by ensuring that a site is crawlable.

• • Links

    The ranking of a website in Google and other search engines is significantly influenced by links from other websites. Because website owners are unlikely to link to low-quality websites, a link can be viewed as a vote of approval from other websites. In the view of search engines, websites that receive links from numerous other websites gain authority (referred to as “PageRank” by Google), particularly if the websites linked to them are also authoritative.

• • The Question’s Intent

    The algorithm must determine what information the user is looking for to show relevant results. We call this having intent. The algorithm seeks to comprehend language to comprehend intent. The algorithm’s ability to recognize searcher intent depends on its ability to interpret spelling errors, synonyms, and the fact that some words imply different things in a different context.

• • Website Usability

    Search engine rankings are heavily influenced by website usability and design. The system considers the way a site looks in various browsers, whether it’s optimized for multiple device types, including PCs, tablets, and phones, and whether slower internet connections can still access it with ease.

• • Setting And Context

    To help identify which results are most helpful to a user at that particular time, search engines and their algorithms incorporate data from past search history and search parameters. It is possible to deliver content important and relevant to the area from which someone is searching using their country and location.

Why Is SEO Important?

The ranking of websites that appear on Google’s SERPs is based on several different factors. They are looking for content that is related to the user’s query and that the reader can rely on to be helpful. In comparison to content that is placed lower, content that ranks well on the SERP has a considerably higher chance of receiving clicks and attention. Place #1 on the SERP is expected to receive 30% of clicks, with 12% of those clicks going to Position Three. Sites in positions nine and ten at the bottom of the page only get roughly 2% of clicks.

The difference between the top-ranked and bottom-ranked websites makes it quite evident that brands seeking the attention of online consumers must raise their rankings. The digital ecosystem is gradually turning into a crucial component of the sales process for almost all companies. For the first time, in 2016, there were more online purchases than in physical stores (United Parcel Service Inc). Even if they do decide to make their purchase at a store, over half of businesses claim that customers like to do their research online. To maintain their customer presence and voice, brands must pay close attention to SEO.

Following are some of the most crucial benefits of SEO that will help in the growth of your business.

Improved Visibility

We undoubtedly live in a digital age. Companies that want to establish a strong brand presence online should be approachable. On the other hand, you’re probably not getting clicks or advertising your business to anyone if you’re not on page one. Today, a strong brand identity depends on search engine optimization.

While most promotional strategies typically focus on a specific target market, SEO can assist you in attracting any interested people at any given time, regardless of where they are in the buying cycle. You can draw in more potential customers who could be interested in doing business with you if you target keywords rather than categories like you do with PPC or social media advertising.

Make a list of the keywords you want to rank for. Then, extend it using keyword research tools. Finally, do competitive research to reduce your list by figuring out who your opponents are, what keywords they are dominating, and where they are receiving backlinks. Then, use this knowledge to improve your SEO strategy and get more visibility online.

Improved Credibility

Your brand will become more recognizable, trustworthy, and visible thanks to SEO. Your website appears at the top of the search results page when users look for pertinent keywords and phrases. Prospects will think you are dependable and trustworthy in what you do since psychology takes over at this point.

As I just explained, a person may be persuaded to click on your website by your meta description and website title, while supporting the transmission of a message aligned with your objectives.

Anyone looking for information today simply uses Google, and appearing at the top of the search results helps to increase your credibility. To win big, you must be where your clients are to offer them your goods, your services, or the ideal response to their problems.

By adapting to their language and providing them with the customized solutions they need, SEO enables you to get into the minds of your target clients. The credibility of your brand will rise quickly.

Improved Traffic

One of the major advantages of SEO is organic visibility, which increases website traffic. The visitor is the focus of search engine optimization. Using relevant search queries, an efficient SEO Plan can assist bring your website’s pages to the right audience.

Organic visibility brings high-quality traffic to your website without needing to charm or persuades the visitor because the user is already looking for what you have to offer. Ranking in these top positions can result in large traffic improvements for your website because top positions on search engine result pages receive the majority of impressions and clicks.

The creation of useful and keyword-relevant title tags and meta descriptions, which appear on the result pages, is another focus of SEO. Enhancing click-through rates with appropriate tags and descriptions encourages growth in relevant online traffic.

Increased Qualified Leads And Sales

One of the most underrated benefits of SEO for your website is more leads and sales. When you market your service or product with an excellent SEO strategy, you see the leads rolling in.

The reason for these improvements is your position in the search results. You may attract the clicks of the customers who matter most to you by ranking highly for high-value keywords chosen by your target market. Almost 33 percent of all search traffic goes to the first listing in the search results. So, ranking at the top of the first page will bring you perks you can never imagine of.

SEO strategies produce more leads than any paid marketing strategy. It produces 57% more leads in B2B marketing. According to a research report, outbound leads have only a 1.7% closure rate while SEO leads have 14.6% or even more closure rates. These stats show the importance of having SEO on your website for your business.

Is SEO Worth It?

Is SEO worth it? Yes, search engine optimization, or SEO, in brief, is a very effective strategy to rank on the first page of Search results. The search engine company has a big share of 87-92% of web traffic in the US. It gets 800 million search inquiries regularly. According to SEO, users from all over the world click anywhere between 50 and 60 percent of all search engine results. Research suggests that the first result that emerges for any keyword research on the search engine obtains roughly 28% of the views.

So, it is highly important to improve your website with keyword phrases to maintain a competitive advantage. SEO plays a critical aspect in driving traffic from all over the world. The most significant component of this digital marketing strategy is its capacity to multiply traffic growth over time.

Is SEO Worth Your Money?

I will present you an example to clarify your question concerning “Is SEO worth it?” You will want to rank at the top search results of Google for a keyword for your website that has high traffic volume and low keyword difficulty. Supposedly, you anticipate receiving 10 clicks each day, or 300 clicks total, each month. So, if you aim to rank for 20 keywords for the same site, you will earn 10×20=200 clicks each day for a total of 3001020=60,000 clicks every month.

For a less competitive term, you might have to pay between $300 and $500 per month if you pay a professional agency to rank local SEO keywords for you. If you calculate the cost-per-click (CPC), it turns out to be $0.67-1.00 (i.e., 300 clicks each month). Now suppose that specific keyword stays at the top of the search results for the next 12 months, the CPC will decrease to $0.056-0.083 each month. The total sum you will finish up paying for the keyword is $300-500 for the entire year.

On the other hand, if you decide to go for PPC ads with the same budget of $300-500 a month, you will still earn 300 clicks a month. However, there is a huge difference between this method from SEO. For instance, you will have to pay $300-500 each month for a total of $3,600-$6,000 for the entire year. That way, your CPC will also go up and stay at $0.67-1.00. Though you will finally still get the same number of clicks, you will have to pay 12 times even more.

So, SEO is worth the money. SEO is a long-term investment and it will pay you off in unexpected ways.

Is SEO Worth Your Efforts?

One of the primary reasons we see people push back from spending on SEO is because they believe it requires simply too much effort for such little instant return. This is not the case! Usain Bolt, a nine-time Olympic gold medalist, would undoubtedly respond positively if you asked him whether he thought the four years of preparation he put in between each Olympic success were worthwhile. The effort you put into SEO is similar. While it could take some time to get there, once you do, you can count on it to stick.

While it does take a while to create a big presence online through the efforts of SEO you can start to see benefits within the first year if actions are performed effectively. Of course, doing things efficiently means you will have to put in some work to ensure you receive the best outcomes. But trust me, the benefits are worth it.

You might be wondering, what if I pay an SEO business to perform my task for me? That would imply that I don’t need to do any effort, wouldn’t it? The truth is that even if you choose a reputable SEO company to do the job for you, you will still need to put in the effort to provide them feedback on their plans and inform them of your brand. You understand your business better than anyone else, thus your opinions and feedback are crucial to your SEO strategies even if you obtain support.

At the end of each day, you’ll discover that the time and effort you put into your SEO marketing strategy will be enormously helpful, especially further down the road where you’ll be able to relax a little more and just reap the rewards of building a website with a superb digital platform.

Is SEO Worth Your Time?

One of the biggest arguments people use against practicing Search Engine Optimization is that using it right can take a huge amount of your time. It’s this reason why many individuals want to go with Pay Per Click advertising instead, however, what you achieve in the time you lose is both money and long-term visitors to your website. With a Pay Per Click strategy, you can assume fast results but if you quit paying for the advertising the number of visits to your site will drop immediately. But for fast results, obviously PPC Marketing is better.

With SEO it might be a hard uphill battle to the top of Google’s search results, but once you’re there now you’ve built a long-term flow of website traffic. Also, as per ClickX, organic traffic is 8.5x more likely clicked on than any PPC results, making them much more worth the effort. It’s significantly more beneficial to have the #1 search result for a keyword than to have an advertisement for that keyword.

Is SEO Worth Your Time?

Yes. SEO is equally valuable for all kinds of businesses either small, medium, or giant. In reality, it provides a wonderful option for a small enterprise to achieve the highest amount of potential clients online. SEO delivers a larger ROI to website proprietors as compared to other sorts of marketing solutions. When you have a term appear at the top of Search engine results, it stays there till you keep on enhancing the off-page SEO and On-page SEO of that specific page.

SEO is a great choice for bloggers to produce excellent and focused leads and customers. Your SEO company can do all the heavy work conducting the in-depth review and study relating to your website, articles, keywords, and target demographic. Since a small firm has a small budget, it can help with generating more sales while maintaining the marketing price down. Research has proven that search engine optimization is 20x more effective than PPC.

Conclusion

Business owners and marketing professionals believe that SEO is certainly one of the best investments, having a reputation for taking too long to produce returns. As already said it generates on average $2.75 in extra revenue for every penny spent. Now, keep in mind that it can take some time for the consequences of this marketing effort to manifest, but the short-term discomfort is well worth the additional benefit that you’ll observe in just a few short decades. Among the most crucial elements in today’s atmosphere to become the leader in your field is having the strongest digital presence.

So it’s obvious that SEO is still relevant. It becomes even more applicable in the modern era. Ever more people are conducting searches online. However, outdated SEO techniques are no longer used.

Therefore, if your SEO techniques aren’t producing results any longer, it’s not because SEO is dead. All you should do is locate the new SEO approach and use it till it becomes useless. Then? Find the current one. That’s how this will go. SEO will keep changing. But it won’t pass away any time soon.

Which SEO strategy will you choose this year, then? Let us know in the comments!