What Is Search Engine Optimization? SEO

Search Engine Introductory

 

Recently human searches have, if not totally, partially changed.

We are most likely to use technology – our phones, and computers to do our searches.

Using search engines that are commonly known, like Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, Yandex, etcetera as our search bot.

The uniqueness of these search engines is unimaginable, Whilst the dictionary only provided a word, pronunciation in written form, and one or two sentences as an example.

And yet, grabbing the full understanding from the dictionaries wasn’t quite easy.

The search engines explore deeper for more essential results like a combination of web pages, infographics, and more.

 

SEO Overview

Search Engine Optimization

 

SEO is simply a way to get visitors from a search engine like Google to your website.

Search engine optimization is the technique website owners equip to build a business brand that advertises for itself on the internet.

With the help of search engines like Google and Bing, without spending extra money on brand awareness ads.

As you can see, for a brand to get its name out there, it needs to advertise, either by word of mouth or in any way broadcast to the public.

But with the internet, the way of advertising can be tricky and costly, since there are a lot of competitors trying to be recognized as well.

That is where SEO can save a brand’s life, especially in cutting marketing and advertising cost.

SEO totally changes the view on the world-wide-web to make it a fair playing ground if I may.

 

What does Search Engine Optimization do?

What is the use of SEO? Search engine optimization helps an optimized website get traffic without spending money on ads to attract visitors to their website or app organically.

By the end of this content, You will learn the Importance of Search Engine Optimization Traffic in Your Niche, the types of search engine optimization, which one to pay close attention to as of now, and how to implement it on your blog.

 

Do you own a website and have email capture forms, premium themes, blog posts, or content that has great copywriting skills and everything a good website should have?

Yet, are you missing visitors to your website? Then let’s uncover search engine optimization in detail, and why SEO can help improve your blog reach?

 

• What Is a Search Engine?

 

A non-technical definition of a search engine is a software program that is designed to perform internet searches that correspond to a specified keyword in web content on the World Wide Web, systematically.

And the results are commonly referred to as search engine results pages (SERPs).

 

• Why is SEO so important?

 

The question is, Why do you need SEO? Is SEO worth spending time on?

To determine if you need to learn search engine optimization, webmasters or business brands need to compare how important search engines are for their competitors and how to analyze and use them to grow their businesses themselves.

To gets insights into any website or app, you can use a tool like similar-web, Ahrefs, or Spyfu. Where you type in your competitor’s web address or App.

For example, let’s use NY Times as our competitor, should we be in the News Media.

 

 

 

What is SEO in digital marketing?

 

From the figure above, we can tell that the “NY times post” has the search engine(turquoise bar) as its second source of traffic, and a free one as well.

Compared to the Direct(Blue bar) and other traffic sources which likely was a form of advertisements, Money Paid to get noticed.

See come to think of this, without brand awereness  nobody will know your brand, then you advertise for people to seacrh directly what website are they advertising?

There, www.nytime.com 🚥  direct traffic.

 

 

What is Website Traffic? Or web traffic?

 

This is the click-through rate of visitors to your website, including pages they visited.

Thus, the number of people that stopped by your website and even bots that crawls your website for search engines.

 

There are other ways not organic to get traffic to your website by appearing on the SERPs, through paid advertising forms like pay-per-click where a business will be charged an amount bid, each time someone clicks on the ad.

 

• Why is traffic from search engines so valuable than any other?

 

Traffic from Google is worth it all and is a huge advantage to saving and creating brand awareness naturally.

For example, search engine traffic if compared for instance Facebook to Google, you will understand that most people visit Facebook or social media to connect with old pals and make new friends.

Even though FB has a couple of articles, it might feel lazy clicking to read that article at that particular time since your original purpose on Facebook was to connect with friends, and not to learn in general.

 

But compared to Google, where we type all our queries there, starting from what, how, when, where, who, why, learn and etcetera.

If you doubt this, open your browser history and see for yourself how often you use the search engine or Google to search for something you do not understand on daily basis.

 

What is SEO?

 

SEO is the short abbreviation for search engine optimization.

Search engine optimization is the process of tweaking your website or a particular webpage for the search engine to identify its valuable data and recommend it to the user.

Search engines rank an optimized website that has its content linked to other websites, and a well technical setup, so its webpages are easy to find in relation to user search queries.

 

Here, if good optimization on a webpage or the website as a whole is done pretty well, the search engine adds that page to its first 8 – 10 recommended pages on SERPs.

Remember this is the deal breaker, here what emphasizes the search engine is, that we are optimizing it for easy identification by search queries.

 

• How does SEO work?

 

First of all, a webmaster is any website or blog owner. Has to give permission by indexing a post or page for the search engine to understand to crawl (scan) the website and its contents.

The search engine crawl bots scan deeper memorizing your website content in order to serve any keyword that relates to your content to the right searcher.

The search engines help make user search experiences easy by giving the user a combination of links to the exact word, web pages, infographics, research, articles, phrases, images, and even videos with explanations.

Not only can you search for a particular word, but it also goes beyond searching for a whole sentence, topics, and even products you can buy right away with a click of a mouse.

 

Remember, your search result will be relevant to the keyword you typed in the search box.

And mostly, websites with good domain authority, thus have other websites linked to their articles.

Usually, shown on the search engine result pages (SERPs). Since the search engine believes if others are linking and pointing to your articles, it means it has valuable information.

 

 

• The On-page SEO / On-site SEO

 

On-site SEO is the process where the optimization for search engines happens right at the front end or backend of the website development.

Simplified, this is optimizing the website in general or a page with posts, to be easy to find by the search engines.

Through quality content that someone will be willing to link their post or refer to, spiced with some long tail keyword research.

While taking advantage of internal linking to optimized images and,

Metadata/Meta description of what your blog post is about in summary form, and many others we will get to learn along the way.

 

• Off-page SEO

 

The off-page SEO or off-site SEO can be related to the homework or research you conduct to improve your website or blog.

That can be done by brainstorming Keyword Ideas, narrowing down Your Keyword List and accessing Keyword Competition, and choosing Target longtail Keywords.

Also, you can contact authoritative sites for a Link back, use ‘the post boy formula’ thus Guest blogging with links leading back to your site, Internet ads campaign, and auto re-blogging news releases from other websites on your site for traffic and domain authority.

 

•  Technical SEO

 

As the name implies, technical SEO deals with the technology behind the website.

Like is the site configured and coded well? Have you verified the site?

Thus response to your Site load time falls within seconds? Is the site Mobile-friendly?

Since a lot of people are browsing from their smartphones, Is there duplicated content on your site? All of these are termed google page-friendly tests.

 

• Local SEO

 

Local SEO is mainly location targeting wise, let’s say you find yourself in a newer place and happen to need your tire fix.

In that instant Google will not give you search results of a tire manufacturing company advertising from another state,

but rather, a local tire repairing business that is closest to you.

with the help of geolocation on your mobile and the IP address if you browsing from the desktop.

 

Also, a lot of times, I read from most blog forums people ask questions like

First of all, you gonna need to perform an SEO Audit with a quality written down SEO checklist, so as to not leave any stone unturned.

Here is an SEO checklist put together with the help of “Daragh Walsh”(an Instructor), outlining the most important things you should do when starting a new website or performing an SEO Audit.

This SEO Audit and checklist covers technical SEO, Keyword Research, On-Page SEO, Off-Page SEO,  and Link Building.

To experience the best results, follow these mentioned SEO best practices to increase long-term targeted traffic to your site.

 

Technical SEO Checklist

 

• 1. Install Google Analytics.

Traditional google analytics and Google analytics 4 are the most essential tools to measure key SEO metrics like website traffic, conversions, and revenue. Use Ahrefs, OpensiteExplorer, MajesticSEO, Semrush, or Spyfu to measure keyword ranking and link building.

 

• 2. Are You Using WordPress?

Download the Rankmanth SEO plugin, the swiss army knife of WordPress, or the Yoast SEO Plugin. This will make your life 10x easier. Use it to complete many of the Technical and On-Page SEO best practices in one place.

 

• 3. You must Verify Your Site in Google Search Console.

This free tool allows you to check how the search engines view your site with reports about indexing status, search queries, crawl errors, and penalties. To learn more about how the Google search console works, read this helpful guide.

 

• 4. It is essential to Improve Website Performance & Speed.

Analyze your site with Google PageSpeed Insights. Aiming for a score of 80+ percent. Speed your website up and running with WordPress Plugins: Examples like Wp-super-cache, Better Delete Revision, Autooptimize, optimole image optimizer, WP Smush, and W3 Total Cache.

 

• 5. Perform and configure the Google Mobile-Friendly Test.

Your site should deliver a great user experience across all devices. Extra important now that Google’s algorithm favors mobile-friendly sites.

 

Keyword Research Process

 

• 6. Develop a Buyer Persona:

First and foremost, to create and set up a website we must uncover what our blog is going to focus on. That starts from what niche topic you are going to discuss, and who you are making the content for. Targetting some hungry audiences definite by Gender, Age, and Location… is also known as Market research.

Getting into your customer’s shoes is the first step to keyword research. Remember, customers, are not searching for your site. They are searching for valuable information to solve their problems. Having a buyer persona is a crucial first step to figuring out what your site customers are typing into Google.

 

• 7. Keyword Strategy.

Aim to target less competitive “body and long tail keywords” that competitors have overlooked. Create content around a portfolio of keywords rather than one single term.

 

• 8. Brainstorm for Keyword Ideas.

Make a copy of this Keyword Research Template. Hack Wikipedia for Topic Ideas and Synonyms. Generate 1000’s long tail keywords ideas using 3 automated tools: Google Autocomplete, Ubersuggest & Keyword Shitter. Discover untapped keywords and topics using Quora.

 

• 9. Narrow Down Your Keyword List:

Use search volume data from Keyword Everywhere Extension or Google Keyword Planner to cut down the list. Be sure to consider commercial intent by using Cost-per-click (CPC) figures as a guide.

 

• 10. Choose Target Keywords:

Once you have a list of possible keywords & phrases, start by reviewing the first page of Google for each keyword. Look to see if there are well-established sites with high-quality content. Then, use data from the MOZ SEO Toolbar to see the authority and number of links competitors have. Eliminate overly competitive keywords and focus on
keywords you actually have a chance to rank for. Your chosen keywords will be the centerpieces of your content.

 

On-Page SEO Checklist

 

• 11. Pick One Keyword Per Page. You’ll generally want to start with lower-volume keywords.

 

• 12. Write Title Tags Search Engines Love.

Every page of your website should have a unique title tag, preferably starting with a relevant keyword. Include modifiers like “best”, “2016” etc. to stand out and to pick up long tail searches. Keep title tags 55 characters or less or they’ll appear truncated in search results.

 

• 13. Follow Best Practices for URLs.

Use short and sweet URLs that include your target keyword. e.g. www.exampledomain.com/target-keyword. Avoid numbered URLs like www.exampledomain.com/p=419. Always-use-hyphens-in-URLs. Never_use_underscores_in_urls.

 

• 14. Skyrocket Clickthrough Rate with Meta Descriptions.

Highlight the benefit of your post or product compared to competitors who already appear in the search results. Keep meta descriptions 160 characters or less or they’ll appear truncated in search results.

 

• 15. Optimize for the Google Image Search Results.

Create with Canva. Include the target keyword in the filename and add keyword-rich alt text to images when uploading.

 

• 16. Reduce Bounce Rates.

Make the topic clear by including your target keyword in the first 100 words of your article.

 

• 17. Give Your SEO a Boost with Heading Tags:

Include your keyword once in an H2 or H3 subheading.

 

• 18. Include Outbound Links.

At least 2 outbound links to authority sites (popular blogs, news sites, and .edu and .gov resources) in every piece of content that you publish.

 

• 19. Add Internal links.

3-5 internal links to older articles when you publish a new one.

 

• 20. Publish Longer Content.

At least 600 words. 1500 words for competitive keywords.

 

• 21. Use Prominent Social Sharing Buttons.

Make sure your social sharing buttons are front and center on blog posts and articles. Use the DiggDigg WordPress plugin.

 

• 22. Double-check everything. Once you’re live with an SEO Audit Tool.

 

Link Building

 

• 23. Link Building Strategy.

Not all backlinks are created equal. Your goal should be to earn quality “do follow” backlinks from high-ranking pages in your niche. Earn these naturally by creating (and promoting!) content worth linking to.

 

• 24. Analyze Your Competitor’s Backlinks, Rankings & Traffic.

This is the easiest way to get started with link building. Look at each of the Top 10 search results for your target keyword, and view the link for each page using the MOZ SEO Toolbar. Focus on their “Inbound Links” from “Only External” sources to see who has linked to them. You can also use Ahrefs, Majestic SEO & SimilarWeb to uncover competitors marketing strategies you can replicate.

 

• 25. Maximise Links for Your SEO Campaigns.

Find authoritative links in the tools above and reach out to those sources to pitch your latest blog post or product. Expect a 5% response rate from these cold emails. You can also search for existing non-linked content using Mention or Buzzsumo. Contact the owner or author of the piece and ask them to kindly link back to you if possible.

 

• 26. Create Content That Generates Links & Social Shares on Autopilot

1. Model Successful Content. Use Buzzsumo to find proven content ideas & formats.
2. Put Together Best of Lists. e.g. 10 Best Infographics for Internet Marketers
3. Crowdsource Content. e.g. 7 Experts On Why Building Your Email is So Important
4. Publish Survey Results. e.g. SEO Pricing: 600+ Agencies Share Costs & Pricing Model
5. Create Infographics. e.g. Noob Guide to Online Marketing. Tools: Piktochart, Infogram, Canva.

 

Bonus Tip: Leverage the high domain authority of other websites to quickly get to the top of the search results: Guest Posting, YouTube, Slideshare, Udemy, Quora & more. Publish your content on these sites and drive traffic back to your website. I hope you found this SEO checklist helpful 🙂

 

Download the SEO Checklist for New Websites & SEO Audits here.

 

Quality optimization of websites with a white hat SEO can range from 3 to 5 months for SEO to work, while some experts also argue that SEO actually works within 6 to 12 Months of optimizations but it is for the long run.

Also, people turn to using other means termed as Black-Hat SEO and Grey-Hat SEO. Which are deemed unhealthy practices and can get penalized if caught by the search engine bots, to get their website ranking first or appearing on the search engine result page -SERPs.

 

The 3 common approaches and Practices of SEO

SEO techniques may be categorized into a white hat and a black hat, the most commonly known, and a Grey hat.

White hat SEO vs. black hat SEO compared with Grey hat SEO strategies;

White hat SEO

White hat SEO is the legal way to get to the SERPs page, thus through good content, keyword research, and more strategies that search engine agencies endorse as accuracy are called “White hat SEO”, White hats generally take longer to show your result on the SERPs, but profits in the long term,

Black hat SEO

Whilst, the black hat is a form of cutting corners to get on the SERPs page. and those which search engines like Google no longer approve are called “Black hat SEO”.whereas black hats count fraudulent on their sites to get to SERPs asap and may end up being banned permanently once the search engines discover what they’re doing.

Grey hat SEO

The SERPs attempt to decrease spamming and so, have labeled both as either a

white hat SEO or black hat search engine optimization.

 

Search engine ranking factors

1. On-page optimization.
2. Mobile-friendly-first-test-pass.
3. High-quality killer copywriting content.
4. Optimized webPages to speed your website loading time.
5. External links(outbound-link) and Internal links(inbound-link).
6. Optimized and easy user Page Experience. This includes both user experience (UX) AND user interface (UI)

What are negative ranking factors?

 

What are organic search results?

 

Without spending a dime, SEO can be the best source to get visitors to your website, termed Organic search or traffic. So, it is very important to do good keyword research for your web content or business, targeting to be ranked high on the search result page.

 

Every marketer will love to see their business webpage shown in the SERPs if the query is relevant to the keyword, the business is built on. This way, a website gets traffic organically and by optimizing a good click-through rate (CTR), which is good for business in the long run.

 

• What are Google organic click-through rates?

 

What is the click-through rate and why is it so essential in SEO?

The Click-through rate is the number or percentage of people who searched for a term on the search engine and click on the result to learn more.

 

What happens is, that person, tends to click through the first 8-10 results on the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs).

Making Marketing Gurus obsess over getting to the Search Engine Result Pages where, even, where the first website on the page is mostly clicked through.

Let us take a look at the statistics of how website clicked-through rates really are on the SERPs.

 

 

 

 

 

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SEO best practices in summary

❏ 1. Research the Importance of SEO Traffic in Your Niche
❏ 2. Measure 5 SEO Performance Metrics
❏ 3. Optimize Your Homepage
❏ 4. Verify Your Site
❏ 5. Increase Website Speed
❏ 6. Take the Google Friendly Test
❏ 7. Do Keyword Research
❏ 8. Brainstorm Keyword Ideas
❏ 9. Narrow Down Your Keyword List
❏ 10. Access Keyword Competition & Choose Target Keywords
❏ 11. Write Title Tags Optimized for Search Engines
❏ 12. Increase Click-Through Rate with Meta Descriptions
❏ 13. Optimize Images for Google Search Image Results
❏ 14. Optimize Heading Tags, Outgoing/Internal Links, Etc.
❏ 15. Get Backlinks that Matter
❏ 16. Contact Authoritative Sites for Links
❏ 17. Create Quality Content that Naturally Gets Links
❏ 18. Use Authority Sites to Reach the Top of the Search Results
❏ 19. Use “The Poster Boy Formula”
❏ 20. Build-Up Good Reviews for Local SEO
❏ 21. Create/Optimize All Online Profiles for Local SEO
❏ 22. Respond to Negative Reviews for Local SEO
❏ 23. Get Long-Term Traffic

 

How is SEO Performance or Website traffic measured?

Previously, we’ve looked at some overviews on SEO.

And in this section, we are going to learn how to measure SEO success.

 

By monitoring website activities, data is collected and processed.

Businesses gain an in-depth understanding of what their visitors like and follow most on the business web pages.

To check the accuracy of measurement, website owners usually install a free tool or plugin called Google Analytics.

 

5 SEO Metric to Measure SEO Performance

 

1. Improving Site Structure
1.1. Improve the structure of your URLs

1.2. Make your site easier to navigate

2. Optimizing Content

2.1. Create unique, accurate page titles

2.2. Make use of the “description” meta tag

2.3. Offer quality content and services

2.4. Write better anchor text

2.5 Optimize your use of images

2.6. Use heading tags appropriately

 

 

What is the best search engine?
What is the most popular search engine?
Google
Why is Google the most popular search engine?
How does Google work?
What is web crawling?
How does Google web crawler work?
What is the meaning of web crawling in SEO?
How do I get Google to crawl my website?
How to make sure Googlebot isn’t blocked?
What is indexing in Google Search?
How long does it take for Google to index a new site?
How do Google search algorithms work?

Dealing with Crawlers
3.1. Make effective use of robots.txt
3.2. Be aware of rel=” no follow” for links

4. SEO for Mobile Phones
4.1. Notify Google of mobile sites
4.2. Guide mobile users accurately
5. Promotions and Analysis
5.1. Promote your website in the right ways
5.2. Make use of free webmaster tools

Original link: Amoheric.com