Let’s begin with a simple question: what precisely is SEO? According to SEO company Malaysia, SEO stands for ‘Search Engine Optimization,’ and it is the practice of obtaining traffic from search engines’ free, organic, editorial, or natural search results. Its goal is to boost your website’s ranking in search engine results pages. Remember that the higher up on the list your website is, the more people will see it.
- Identifying relevant keywords with high search traffic potential is only one example of what successful SEO entails.
- Creating and optimizing high-quality, valuable content for search engines and people
- Relevant links from high-quality websites are included.
- Taking measurements of the outcomes
Nowadays, SEO is seen as a necessary marketing activity.
What are the differences between paid and organic search?
It’s critical to grasp the distinctions between organic, natural search (also known as SEO) and sponsored search right away. There are five major distinctions:
Position
The first distinction is that sponsored search results display above organic results on search engine results pages, whereas organic results appear below them.
Time
Another significant distinction between sponsored and organic search is the amount of time spent on each. Paid search results are almost instantaneous, often even in minutes, but organic search results take weeks, months, or even years to appear. As a result, organic search must be approached in a medium- to long-term manner.
Payment
When it comes to payment, paid search traffic is paid, as the term implies. On a cost-per-click (CPC) basis, you pay per click (PPC). That is, you get charged a price each time a person clicks on your ad. So, rather of depending on organic traffic to your website, you purchase it by paying Google to show your ad when a visitor searches for your term. Organic search traffic is free, but it does necessitate a financial and time investment.
ROI
Paid search is really more easier to assess in terms of return on investment, or ROI. This is partially due to the fact that Google gives additional keyword data for you to collect in Google Analytics. Paid search, on the other hand, might see its ROI stagnate or fall over time. Organic search ROI is a little more difficult to quantify, but it usually improves with time. Organic search may provide a very strong return on investment in the long run.
When it comes to traffic, about 20% to 30% of searchers click on sponsored results, whereas 70% to 80% of searchers click on SEO results. As a result, the organic results receive the lion’s share of clicks.
Paid and organic search have certain similarities.
It’s not only about the contrasts; paid and organic search have certain parallels as well:
- Keyword research: Both paid and organic search employ a search engine, and both need a user to enter a keyword. As a result, you must conduct keyword research for both organic and sponsored search.
- Landing pages: Both forms of searches necessitate the creation of landing pages. The landing page must be linked to your website for SEO purposes. It might be the same landing page you use for organic search, or it can be a whole distinct standalone page off your website for sponsored search.
- Traffic: The purpose of both sponsored and organic search is to generate traffic. Most essential, user intent is present in both sponsored and organic search traffic. That is, when someone asks Google a question or searches for information, they are in an active mindset, and as a result, they are more likely to act on the information they find.
The three SEO pillars
Knowing how to get your brand, website, or organization noticed by searchers is a basic skill for a digital marketer, and understanding how SEO is changing will keep you on top of your game. While SEO changes in subtle ways on a regular basis, its core principles remain constant. We can divide SEO down into three main components or pillars that you should be aware of and use on a daily basis:
Technical Optimisation:
Technical optimization is the process of completing tasks on your site that are not linked to content but are intended to increase SEO. It frequently occurs behind the scenes.
On Page optimization:
On-page optimization refers to the process of ensuring that your website’s content is relevant and delivers a positive user experience. It entails using a content management system to target the appropriate keywords inside your material. WordPress is a popular example of a content management system.
Off-Page Optimization
Off-Page Optimization is the practise of improving your site’s search engine results by engaging in activities that take place outside of it. Backlinks, which serve to create the site’s reputation, are a big part of it.
How do search engines actually work?
People use search engines when they have a question and want to find an answer on the internet. Search engine algorithms are computer programmes that search for hints in order to provide searchers with the exact results they need. Algorithms are used by search engines to identify web sites and determine which ones to rank for a particular keyword. Crawling, which is the discovery stage, indexing, which is the filing stage, and ranking, which is the retrieval stage, are the three stages of how search engines function.
Step 1: Crawling
Crawling is the first step. Web crawlers are sent out by search engines to locate new pages and gather data about them. These web crawlers are also known as spiders’ or ‘robots.’ Their goal is to find new web pages and to examine the content of pages they’ve already visited to see whether it’s changed or updated.
Search engines scan web pages by following previously found links. When a search engine scans your homepage, it will hunt for another link to follow and may follow the link to your new blog post if you have a blog post connected from your homepage.
Step 2: Indexing.
Indexing is the next stage. When a search engine determines whether or not to utilize the material it has crawled, it is called indexing. A search engine will add a crawling web page to its index if it is judged worthy. This index is utilized in the last step of ranking. When a web page or piece of content is indexed, it is filed and saved in a database from which it can be retrieved at a later time. The index contains the majority of web sites that have unique and important material. If a web page meets the following criteria, it may be excluded from the index:
- Its material is regarded as redundant.
- Its material is regarded as low-quality or spammy.
- It was impossible to crawl over it.
- Inbound links were missing from the page or domain.
Step 3: Ranking
The third and most critical phase, ranking, is the most significant. After the crawling and indexing stages are completed, ranking can begin. Your site can be ranked once it has been crawled and indexed by a search engine.
Search engines utilize over 200 ranking signals to categorize and rank material, all of which fall under the three pillars of SEO: technical optimization, on-page optimization, and off-page optimization. The following are some examples of signals used by search engines to rank web pages:
- Keyword presence in title tag – Whether the term or a synonym was referenced on the page and within the title tag.
- Web page loading time – Whether the website is mobile-friendly and loads rapidly.
- Reputation of the website – Whether or whether the web page and website are deemed reliable for the topic being looked for.
Results are ranked and ordered.
Google Hummingbird is the company’s core search algorithm, and it determines how search engine results are ordered and ranked.
RankBrain is a machine-learning search engine sub-algorithm developed by Google:
- If RankBrain encounters a term or phrase it is unfamiliar with, it employs artificial intelligence to help it comprehend it by linking it to related search requests.
- It enables Google to comprehend these inquiries by transforming keywords into well-known themes and concepts, allowing it to give better search engine results — even for unique searches.
- RankBrain promotes websites that deliver user pleasure and return the result that the user expects, rather than aiming to be the best keyword optimised result.
Using RankBrain to its full potential
Optimizing your website for better user experience and happiness, as well as making the most of the RankBrain ranking factor, is a solid SEO approach.
The following are the three most successful methods:
- Medium-tail keywords should be prioritized (key terms consisting of two to three words).
- Optimize page names and descriptions for clicks so that your listing is more likely to be clicked when someone searches. The click-through rate refers to the percentage of individuals who find you on Google and subsequently visit your website.
- Optimize content to increase dwell time (the length of time people stay on the page) and reduce bounce rate (the percentage of visitors who leave after only viewing one page).
Google’s top three ranking factors are:
- Links
- Content
- RankBrain
Identifying SEO goals
Setting SEO goals is an essential component of any SEO plan. Setting SEO goals – and aligning them with your entire company goals – is critical because:
- They invite important stakeholders to join in.
- They assist you in developing your SEO strategy.
- They make certain that objectives are met.
What should you keep track of?
Setting targets may appear to be a time-consuming chore, but assessing them may help you achieve long-term development with your SEO. So, what kinds of items should you keep track of?
Consider the following measurements:
- Traffic
- Market Share
- Keywords
- Brand recognition
- generation of leads
- Reputation
- E-commerce
This article is posted on London Time.
