SEO has become the most frequent term under job responsibilities in Digital Marketing, but its value keeps increasing on a daily basis. Wondering what is SEO? Let’s find out.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It is the process of enhancing content that increases the visibility of web pages in search engines like Google and Bing. This is achieved by the use of keywords that are specific to a theme.
The better the visibility, the more likely your web pages will generate attention and attract potential customers to your business/brand. This is because organic search is the most prominent way for people to discover your business on the internet.
There are more than 5,000 articles published every day online, but every article does not reach the reader.
For example, If you type ‘Digital Marketing’ on Google, you’ll get Top 10 Links to web pages that focus on this subject. Therefore, people don’t need to visit the second page for relevant articles.
It’s possible that the articles on other websites might be better than the ones in the first page. But since other pages lack a proper SEO strategy, they have to wait a little more than the rest to rank up in Google search results.
Let’s explore how SEO works, to get a deeper understanding.
How Does SEO Work?
Search engines like Google, use bots also known as crawlers/spiders, to gather information about all the content they can find on the internet. The bots start from a known web page and follow internal links to pages within that site as well as external links to pages on other sites.
The content on those pages plus the content of the links they follow, helps the bots to understand:
- Information about a page
- How they are all connected to the database called Index.
When a user types a query, the search engine uses certain complex algorithms to pull out the most accurate and useful list of results for that particular query. These organic results can include web pages full of text, news articles, images, videos, local business listings and other more helpful content.
Ranking in SEO refers to the content’s position in the search engine results. Therefore let’s understand the crucial factors that influence ranking and in turn, the marketing strategies.
4 Key Factors that Influence SEO
1. Secure and Accessible Website
Firstly, the website should have the right kind of URL. Specifically, the kind of URL that Google’s bots can easily access to and do their crawling.
For this, you should:
- Create a well-coded website
- Have a robots.txt file that tells Google where it can and can’t look for your site’s information
- Have a sitemap that lists all of your pages
Google’s Search Advocate John Mueller, said that “having an https:// is great for users” because it’s a “light-weight ranking factor.” Whenever you decide to establish your own website, also keep in mind to enable SSL(Secure Sockets Layer) security.
Why? Because the https:// version of your website is an indication that it has been verified. On the other hand, the ‘Not secure’ sign is a scary signal for your users. Even if your website has the best of products, your customers won’t trust you back.
2. Page Speed
Page speed has been listed as one of the leading web page ranking factors for years. Google always wants to improve the user’s experience with fast-loading web pages.
Did you know, Google announced a search engine algorithm update that focused on mobile page speed. This started to affect sites from July 2018. If a site doesn’t load quickly on mobile devices, then it could be penalized.
Google Console has an entire section dedicated to updating you on your site’s performance and speed.
3. Domain, URL and Authority
Did you know that nearly 60% of the sites that have a top 10 Google search ranking are 3+ years older?
Google has penalized exact-match domains (where the target keyword is in the url). This penalty is generally for spammy sites with misleading or incomplete content.
Although, exact-match domains that are deemed to be relevant, valuable and high-quality can see a ranking boost if you have an established website, so you won’t need to go looking for an exact-match domain. Therefore, choose a URL that reflects your business and optimise it as much as you can.
You can check domain authority with sites like Open Site Explorer. All you have to do is, plug your URL into the onsite search box, and you’ll get a report showing established plus new links, domain authority and page authority.
4. Optimized Content
As mentioned before, Google’s search algorithm relies on keywords. Keywords are words and phrases that users type when they’re looking for information. These are also terms that describe the themes you are covering in your website.
In order to use SEO effectively, it is always best to post fresh and original content.
We’re sure that after understanding the importance of SEO and how it will work for your business, you are ready to apply these tips to your content.
If you want to dive deeper into the subject and become a master at Digital Marketing, click right here.
