There’s a lot of time and effort that goes into marketing any brand. From impactful tone and eye-catching visuals to captivating copy and comprehensive market research, businesses looking to get ahead will need to do plenty of groundwork to achieve success.

However, all of the groundwork can be for nothing if you don’t consider one thing above all else: Search Engine Optimization or “SEO,” as it’s commonly known. SEO is the foundation of any successful digital marketing campaign.

But what is SEO?

Search Engine Optimization (or) “SEO” Defined

Search engine optimization is the process of improving the ranking of a website in search engine results pages (SERPs). SEO can be a complex, nuanced, and time-consuming process, but it’s essential for businesses that want to increase their online visibility and reach potential customers. 

There are a number of factors that contribute to a website’s SEO performance, including: content quality, keyword research, on-page optimization, and off-page optimization. 

Google qualifies search results by using a complex algorithm that takes into account a variety of factors, including:

• •  The relevance of the content to the search query
• •  The quality of the content
• •  The popularity of the content
• •  The freshness of the content
• •  The location of the user
• •  The user’s search history

Google’s algorithm is constantly being updated and improved, so it’s difficult to say exactly how each factor is weighted. However, it’s clear that Google is constantly striving to provide users with the most relevant and useful search results possible.

It’s important to note that Google’s algorithm is a trade secret, so the exact factors that are considered are not publicly known. However, the factors listed above are some of the most important ones that are known to affect search results.

(Pro Tip: SERPs are the results that appear when you type something into the search bar. )

Why is SEO important?

Though it may seem like a headache, SEO is a cost-effective means of increasing website traffic, improving brand awareness, boosting credibility, establishing authority, and supercharging leads and sales. Considering these incredible benefits, the time and effort it takes to implement your SEO is a minor obstacle with powerful and long-lasting effects on your business.

Who can benefit from SEO?

Any business with an online presence can benefit from SEO, no matter the size, type, service, or product. Optimizing your website gives your business the opportunity to rank highly on search engines, increase credibility, and earn authority above competitors. Well implemented SEO also helps your potential customers find your business when they need it most. 

What are the Basics of SEO?

SEO breaks down into several categories that are both in and out of our control. However, we can tip the scale in our favor at base level by executing well in the following fields:

On-Page SEO

On-page SEO is the process of optimizing your website’s content, title tags, meta descriptions, and other elements to help improve its ranking in SERPs. This includes using the right keywords, creating informative and relevant content, as well as ensuring that your website is easy to use.

Off-Page SEO

Off-page optimization is the process of building links to a website from other high-quality websites. Links from other websites are a signal to search engines that your website is popular and authoritative–these factors contribute to your website’s overall ranking. 

Technical SEO

Technical SEO is the process of ensuring that a website is properly optimized for search engines. This includes making sure your website is mobile-friendly, loads quickly, and is secure. Search engines love this kind of versatility, security, and ease of use.

So do your potential customers. 

How do I improve My SEO?

Though factors like domain age, domain authority, backlinks, and social media presence will all play a role in how your website ranks in search engines, there’s always potential for improvement with your local SEO. 

These factors include: 

Keywords and Keyphrases

Choosing the right keywords and keyphrases is one of the most important factors in SEO. These keywords and phrases are a direct line between you and your customer, because THAT’S what they’re looking for. 

When you choose the right keywords, you not only improve your website’s ranking in SERPs but you make it easy for potential customers to find you. There are innumerable keyword tools available to help you get these keywords right.

Create High-Quality Content

Creating relevant, high-quality content that users love to engage with can have some amazing benefits that money can’t buy. Well curated content attracts and engages your audience, builds trust and authority (both online and offline), boosts SEO performance, and generates leads and sales. 

Simply put, the more time someone spends on your website, the more likely they are to buy in. High-quality content is key for this reason.

Optimize Your Website for Search Engines

In addition to the aforementioned technical SEO, on- and off-page optimization, you should also consider how you’d like to structure your meta-data. Meta-data operates on the backend of your website and provides search engines with additional information to better understand and categorize your business. 

Meta-data includes creating descriptions that clearly define various aspects of your website, providing information on specific content like images and video, and assigning relevant keywords to individual webpages.

Build Backlinks

A backlink is a link from one website to another. Backlinks are also known as “inbound links” or “incoming links.” These links signal to search engines that your site is being seen, visited, and engaged with. 

It’s important to note that not all backlinks are created equal. The value of a backlink is determined by the quality of the website linked to you, the number of backlinks that website has, and the relevance of the link to your website. 

Backlinks can be earned in a variety of ways that include guest blogging, social media engagement, blog comments, and submitting your website to directories.

There are two main types of backlinks, “Dofollow” backlinks and “Nofollow” backlinks. 

1. Dofollow backlinks are the most common. They pass link “juice,” which is a measure of a website’s authority to the linked website.
2. Nofollow backlinks do not pass link-juice. These links are often used to prevent spam and indicate that the associated link is not an endorsement.
   

The Quick Roast

SEO is a complex and ever-changing field. However, by understanding the basics of SEO, you can improve your website or webpage ranking in SERPs, attract potential customers, and grow your business. It’s important to note that SEO is an ongoing process. You will need to monitor your website’s performance and make changes as your business grows and evolves. 

While mastering SEO is complex, even implementing the basics can greatly improve your website’s performance and drive sales for your business. With a little time and effort, you can reap the total benefits of SEO and achieve your desired business goals.