Everyone keeps talking about the importance of SEO and the many ways it can be incorporated into your website to increase rankings and organic traffic. But, what exactly is SEO?
What is SEO?
SEO stands for search engine optimization, which is basically the practice of achieving more potential and targeted traffic by increasing rankings and the position of a specific website on different search engines, especially Google. There are many ways this can be done, such as putting up high-quality content, keyword research and optimization, internal linking, and backlinking.
To perfect the art of search engine optimization and use this to your advantage as much as you can, you need to understand a number of things, such as how search engines actually work. So, scroll down to learn more!
How do search engines work?
Most search engines work the same more or less. But we will be focusing more on Google in this article. When you type a query on Google and click search, Google loads a number of results for you that matches your concern or is related to it in any way. Now, Google’s algorithm is extremely advanced and searches hundreds of millions of pages on the internet to get you what you need or is relevant to your question. Yes, Google does not let anyone know the workings of its algorithms. However, on the basis of statements and advice from Google and by monitoring its activities, there are a few things that have been determined about how Google chooses its websites and their rankings.
Some of them are listed below:
- How relevant is the website?
If you search for jewelry, would you want a page about pet shops to open in front of you? No, right? Because that is extremely irrelevant to your search. This is why Google pays great attention to what our keyword is and searches websites according to them.
- How accurate is the website?
This is also known as authority and Google determines that through a concept known as ‘backlinking’. Basically, Google checks how many pages link back to that page and decide the ranking of that particular website accordingly.
- How useful is the content?
Keywords just aren’t enough for Google to rank a website higher or to even publish it on the search results page in the first place. Google first ensures that the content is written is relevant. Some people use the keywords but the content is not really up to the mark or not about that keyword itself. Hence, if Google thinks that is the case through different means, such as the high bounce rate of a website or through monitoring user interaction, it will not rank a particular website high enough or might not show it on its results page at all.
Is SEO tough and confusing?
Well, yes and no. There are many changes you can easily make to get your website a ranking boost and help it in standing out from the competition. Other methods may not be so easy. But you will get the hang of it once you start and keep going.
There are some aspects you really need to focus on. They are:
- The technical stuff of your website and on-page SEO
- The quality and relevance of your content
- High quality backlinking
Even a few small changes in these areas can make a big difference. For the big ones, you’ll need to do a bit more research and practice. However, if you are really confused or it feels like a hassle to you, or you feel like you could be focusing more on other aspects of your website that you are better at, you could always hire a digital marketing agency offering SEO services to help you in your SEO journey.
