What is S-E-O? Understanding the Basics of Search Engine Optimization
If you're a business owner or marketer, it's likely that you've heard of the term S-E-O or "search engine optimization." But what exactly is SEO, and how does it impact your website's visibility and ranking on search engines like Google?
In this article, we'll break down the basics of SEO and explain why it can be critical for the success of your website and online marketing efforts when used in conjunction with other digital marketing tactics.
What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?
SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of optimizing your website to improve its visibility and ranking on search engines like Google, Bing, or any other search engine tool. The goal of SEO is to increase organic, or non-paid, traffic to your website from search engines by improving its relevance and credibility to users through various on-page and technical aspects.
Why is SEO Important?
SEO is important because it helps your website appear higher in search engine results, which leads to increased visibility and traffic to your site. The higher your website ranks, the more likely it is that users will click through to your site and engage with your content. Regardless of the intended use of a site, it is usually a good thing when a website begins to rank for more keywords that are relevant to your brand.
This increased visibility and traffic can lead to a number of benefits for your business, including improved brand recognition and better customer engagement. Additionally, this can lead to further helping lead your sales and conversions by giving you favorable positioning and traction with people who are organically searching for solutions such as yours.
As technology evolves, more and more users are finding themselves going to websites through various mediums or search engines. Users have more options for searching for products in today’s society whether it’s through traditional search engines like Google or Bing, social platforms like YouTube or Tik Toks, or even retailer websites like Amazon.
Approximately 61% of U.S. online shoppers start their product journey on a platform like Amazon compared to 49% who start their journey on a traditional search engine, according to Insider Intelligence’s reporting.
According to that same report, search has evolved as follows when it comes to where users start their purchasing journey.
32% of users start on Walmart.com
20% of users start on YouTube.
19% of users start on Facebook.
15% of users start on Instagram.
11% of users start on TikTok.
SEO is a fundamental part of ensuring products and services can be found in search engines and is only growing as the number of searches each year are in the trillions.
Different Types of Search Features
SEO is incredibly important when it comes to ranking in the global search landscape. Below are a few areas that SEO can help to target for websites.
Knowledge Panels:
According to Google, a knowledge panels are information boxes that appear on Google when you search for entities. These can be people, places, organizations, and things, that are in what is called a knowledge graph.
Featured Snippets:
Featured snippets are special boxes at the top of a webpage that showcases a response to a query in a way that highlights a specific aspect. It shows the descriptive snippet first and typically ranks above traditional search results.
Maps
Maps are great options for businesses who are focused on local search. They showcase nearby businesses for terms that reference attaining a product or service.
Images
Image packs are commonly found on Google and are used to rank images that pertain to products, services, events, or any other usage based on the set query.
Videos
Videos can also be found in the search results depending on the type of search query you use. These can be found across many “how to” types of queries since they typically answer questions directly and provide a great deal of value to users.
Top Stories (News)
Top stories are typically found in news queries to help with providing an easy-to-access way of presenting relevant and recent news around the given query topic.
People Also Ask
People Also Ask sections are on the SERPs and provide value to users by showcasing similar questions and answers based on the query. They are typically good for helping users to refine their searches.
Carousels
Carousels can be found on various search queries and resemble a list-like rich result that can be swiped through on desktop devices. They usually contain a card with text or brief information about the items they represent.
Types of SEO
There are three types of SEO that most businesses can expect to encounter.
Technical SEO: Optimizing the technical/backend of a website.
On-site SEO: Optimizing the on-page contents of a website to help visual aspects of a website.
Off-site SEO: Creating brand assets (ex: people, marks, values, vision, slogans, catchphrases, colors) and doing things that help brand recogition through E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness). This also involves other areas like listings and Business Profiles.
Each of the types of SEO are important for a successful campaign or company in general. While on-page SEO and technical are in your control, off-site SEO will vary. This is because you can’t control other sites so if one shuts down or something happens where they remove links, you have less control.
Nonetheless, utilizing all three can help you to potentially rank higher in the search results and give you a strong offense and defense SEO strategy.
How Is SEO Different From PPC or SEM?
SEO, SEM, and PPC are different in a few ways but are both helpful for businesses to use to drive traffic to your website and potentially increase your conversions.
SEO vs. SEM
SEM stands for search engine marketing, aka search marketing. Search marketing is a type of digital marketing that acts as an umbrella term for the shared practice of SEO and PPC usages. The combined goal using SEM is to drive traffic to the website through organic search and paid search methods.
SEO and SEM are essentially the same thing but SEM also encompasses the usage of PPC. So SEO acts as half of what SEM is meant to do.
SEO Goals: Drive organic traffic and conversions from search engines.
SEM Goals: Drive organic traffic and conversions from search engines and through paid efforts to increase overall traffic
SEO vs. PPC
PPC stands for pay-per-click, a digital marketing practice that is used to drive paid traffic to a website. PPC allows its users to bid on keywords and begin to target users of search engines that are searching for those relative keywords.
When comparing SEO and PPC, they are both a part of SEM but they use different methods of increasing site visitors and enhancing conversions.
SEO Best Practices:
There are a number of key components that contribute to effective SEO, including:
Keyword Research: Identifying and targeting the right keywords is critical to the success of your SEO efforts. Keyword research helps you understand what your target audience is searching for, and what keywords they're using to find it.
On-page Optimizations: On-page optimization refers to the technical aspects of optimizing your website, such as optimizing your website's structure and content to be more search engine friendly.
Content Creation: Creating high-quality, relevant content that appeals to your target audience is critical to the success of your SEO efforts. By producing engaging, valuable content, you can attract and retain users and improve your website's ranking on search engines.
Link Building: Link building involves creating high-quality, relevant links to your website from other reputable sites. These links serve as "votes of confidence" for your site, and help improve your website's ranking on search engines.
Mobile Optimization: With more and more users accessing the internet from mobile devices, it's critical that your website is optimized for mobile. This includes ensuring that your website is easy to navigate, fast-loading, and responsive to different screen sizes.
How Does SEO Work?
SEO has many benefits and tasks that can be done to help sites, but how SEO works is as followed.
Gaining an understanding of how search engines work so you can be competitive for keywords you want your business to rank for.
Research everything so you know your brand and competitors and can best position your site to succeed.
Planning an SEO specific strategy to help guide your brands long-term and short-term plans. SEO is a ultimately a long game.
Creating and implementing the items you listed out in your SEO strategy. This will be the real fruit of your site because now you can see the pages and possibly see growth organically in the future.
Monitoring and maintaining your website and the pages that are valuable.
Analyzing and reporting to make sure that the goals are still in line and yielding results.
Conclusion:
SEO is a critical component of your online marketing strategy, and it can have a significant impact on the success of your website and your business. By understanding the key components of effective SEO, and taking advantage of its many benefits, you can improve your website's visibility and ranking on search engines and drive results for your business.
