What is SEO? Search Engine Optimization Guide
Simply, SEO , which stands for Search Engine Optimization – is the process of optimizing your SEO website. This optimization allows search engines to show that it is worth displaying in top positions in search results.
In this article, we will show you what is SEO, how to do SEO and how SEO works.
Remember, SEO is not a one-time thing. SEO is a continuous process without end. So, you should constantly optimize your site. To do this, you need to understand how the search engine is ranked by certain criteria. We will talk about this later, so keep reading!
The Importance of SEO
You need to know what is SEO and what is its importance. There is nothing more important than attracting visitors to your website. The value of a good website with zero visitors is zero.
Luckily there is something you can do to manage your traffic .
Let’s examine the traffic in three different ways to learn what is SEO:
Quality Traffic
The more your business turns into buyers for your business, the better your traffic quality.
You can use the conversion rate to determine the quality of website traffic. Although this depends on the type of your business and your goals, the 5% conversion rate is a good rate .
Good traffic is also when your website visitors search for the products you offer. If you sell Blackberry smartphones, traffic should not come from those who want to buy fruit.
Traffic Amount
It is true that traffic quality is important. But your traffic amount is just as important.
You can measure your traffic from the number of visitors. But there’s more to watch for: visitors, page views, and duration of visit.
You don’t need to calculate these elements manually. There are tools to help you increase your website traffic, such as Google Analytics or StatCounter .
Organic Traffic (No Money)
Organic traffic is the favorite of web owners. It is both free and can bring more visitors and conversions.
Let’s say internet users entered a keyword into the search bar and clicked on a link in the search results. The visits you get in this way are organic traffic.
Although it sounds very easy, the competition for organic traffic is quite high. So you have to do good SEO to get the results you want.
How SEO Works
SEO optimizes your website and makes it easier for people to find your site using specific keywords.
If this optimization benefits:
- Provides relevant information
- Makes search engines reliable
- Brings more and better traffic
Although the search results come instantly, the process in the search engine is a complicated process. It even starts without typing anything in the search bar and hitting enter.
For a better understanding, let’s talk a little more about the search engine.
Search engines do three main tasks for every search you do:
- Crawling . This process, which means is the beginning of the work. At this stage, information is gathered from worldwide websites, from page to page, and from link to link.
- Indexing :After collecting the information, web crawler will store the information in the input list (index).
- Rankings : The results will be shown in order, depending on the ones that fit the most.
Search engines use a set of rules called algorithms to ensure the quality of the results.
Search engine algorithms make sure people get the most relevant information from the most reliable sources.
Even Google, the most popular search engine, has a special team that works on algorithms. This team is responsible for improving the quality of the experience of its users while using Google.
Google sometimes gives its algorithms a special name. For example, Panda is the algorithm for screen and content rewarding or punishment. Penguin is responsible for preventing spamdexing (actions against Google rules). Later, Hummingbird was created to improve both .
It is clear that Google attaches great importance to great website content.
Well, have you ever heard of what page authority is?
Page authority is a scoring system developed by Moz . Scores range from 1 to 100, but predict your ranking on search engines. It helps you understand what search engines use to determine the best search results.
You can control the authority of your page with this link explorer . All you have to do is enter the URL you need to check. Then you will get the analysis for the connection you entered. You can make improvements with the information you get from this analysis.
How to SEO
What is SEO? According to how you learn it, you have to learn how to do SEO.
It is good to repeat, optimizing SEO is a never-ending process. Search engines always update their algorithms to provide the best results.
You should always use the most current and working method. Otherwise, the ranking of your website will be negatively affected by the search engine results page.
SEO has two categories: On-site SEO and Off-site SEO.
On-site SEO
As you can see from its name, in-site SEO is the way to optimize your site from within.
In-site optimization happens by adjusting the elements on your website. In this way, search engines will easily index information. For example:
- Well-formed URL
- Not filling in keywords
- Alternative text for your images
- Smooth titles (H1, H2 etc.)
So what are the factors you should consider when optimizing on-site SEO?
Keyword Collection (Keyword Research)
You should choose the right keywords to get a good amount of organic traffic from any content you post.
So what is the keyword? Simply, keywords are specific topics or ideas that internet users enter into search engines.
However, keyword research is very important. This helps you understand what keywords people are using to find you. Make sure post titles, titles within the post, and body text contain the keywords you are targeting.
Technical Part
Don’t expect web crawlers to do the hard work for you! If you need to do this:
- Have a sitemap
- Never leave broken links on your website
- Avoid misdirects
- Fix all URL errors
Optimization
There are things you need to do on your site. Make sure your website has:
- Good structure
- Easy navigation
- Related content
These are very important. A good structure informs search engines about which pages of your website are important. Easy navigation will keep visitors on your site longer. Relevant content will also bring quality traffic.
User experience
Once visitors come to your website, you should serve them well.
If people come to your site for your products, suggest them the best products they are interested in.
You can use categories to easily find what they are looking for.
In addition, you should add detailed information to all products, including relevant images.
If you’re a blogger, content categories will make it easier for your visitors to navigate your site.
Also pay attention to your page layout. Visually attractive websites can attract new visitors and keep them on your site longer.
In addition, your website should be fast. Regardless of your content, users should not be difficult to navigate your site.
Offsite SEO
Offsite SEO requires less technical knowledge than on site SEO, but at least as important.
You can see it as a way of promoting offsite SEO. So people will know that your website is worth visiting.
Some ways to do SEO optimization off-site:
Content Marketing
Content is important. Therefore, the importance of content marketing is increasing day by day.
In addition, content marketing is one of the most efficient ways to achieve higher rankings in search results. If you have great content marketing strategies:
- You can bring in new visitors
- You can influence more people to get your products
- You can increase your business’s reputation
- You can save money because it is cost effective.
Ads
If you have a large number of followers / subscribers, you should focus on creating great content. However, if you cannot do this, you need ads.
Thanks to the ads, you will reach more people. You can also avoid your competitors thanks to good advertisements. The more creative and attractive your ads are, the better people will remember your brand. For a more competitive niche, this strategic move can make a difference.
Public relations
Public relations help your business become more known.
Although you need to invest a small amount, you need Public Relations for the following reasons:
- To increase your brand awareness
- To provide official official information
- To establish authority
- To improve your community relationships
How to Get More Information on SEO
For those who are not familiar with SEO, learning can be a bit difficult. You learned what is SEO, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. Luckily, there are many resources available for you to learn right away:
1. Ahrefs
There are many articles on SEO that are suitable for both novices and experts on their blogs. In addition, their content is always updated with the most up-to-date SEO methods.
2. MOZ
Founded in 2004, MOZ is an SEO software maker. They have a great blog where they share their expertise in online marketing and SEO optimization.
3. Search Engine Journal
This website offers you a lot of resources to learn SEO. SEO guides have lists of articles as well as articles about writing great content. It also has a news section with the most up-to-date SEO-related news to make sure you don’t miss anything.
If you want to learn about SEO, it is recommended to test a few things.
While many tips and suggestions are useful, some may not actually work. The reason for this is the constantly changing algorithm used by search engines.
Also, things that work for others may not work for you.
Don’t give up, as there is a lot you need to know. Instead, continue learning steadily and get more material.
Result
In this article, you learned what is SEO, how SEO works and how.
SEO is an important tool to increase the visibility of your website. If you have a business, you can get more traffic and more paying customers thanks to SEO!
To achieve this, you need to take advantage of both on-site SEO and off-site SEO.
Before implementing SEO, you need to understand the most important thing on your website, traffic. Here are the important points we mentioned:
- The amount of traffic . The amount of traffic to your website.
- Traffic quality . Relevance of visitors to your website.
- Organic traffic (free of charge) . The traffic you get from search engines.
What is SEO and its importance for your site now you know. However, SEO is an endless process that continues constantly. You can get more information about SEO from many online sources we chose.
Do not forget to share your thoughts and comments with us in the comments section below. Happy optimizations!