Search engine optimization, or “SEO,” is one of the most discussed digital marketing strategies on the Internet.
Many people want to know more about this topic because it is complex.
The vast majority of questions we received from over thirty business owners in our article, where we asked them their most important questions about digital marketing, were about organic search.
We’ll dive deep into SEO because this topic has so much interest.
There are also hundreds of thousands more resources on SEO.
This comprehensive guide will give you an overview of the various types of SEO and how to optimize your strategy.
Search Engine Optimization Definition
According to Wikipedia insights, SEO is the “process of increasing quality and quantity by increasing visibility of a site or web page to users using a search engine” and “refers only to the improvement of natural or organic results and excludes paid placement and direct traffic/visitors.”
In its simplest form, search engine optimization is continuously improving a website’s content to get it closer to the top search results without paying.
Search Engine Marketing is the opposite of paying for a top spot in search. This requires an entirely different set of skills and knowledge. Both tactics are part of “Search,” but when you concentrate on ranking your content naturally, you’re doing SEO and not SEM.
When people refer to SEO, it’s usually “Google-first search optimization.”
Other search engines besides Google can help brands increase traffic and deliver content to their audience.
While it’s not wise to construct your castle on a rented property, it’s still best to optimize for Google first since it is the most popular search engine. The work you do will also translate to other platforms.
What you need to know about the Google Algorithm
Let’s start by defining what an algorithm, in general, is.
Study.com defines an algorithm as a “finite list of instructions often used to solve problems or perform tasks.”
Every day more than 5 760,000 blog posts are published on the Internet. This content is so significant that categorizing and sorting with guidelines would only be possible.
Search engines such as Google use artificial Intelligence and a variety of ranking algorithms to provide the best results for searches.
Google claims its algorithms consider “many factors including the words in your query, the relevance and usability and expertise of the sources and your location” to provide the most relevant results.
The weight of each factor is different depending on your query. For example, freshness plays a more significant role when answering questions about current news than dictionary definitions.
It can be challenging to keep up with the latest optimization techniques, as the search algorithm constantly changes (there were 3200 confirmed changes in search in 2018 alone). But first, let’s discuss the various types of SEO and how they all work together to help you achieve your organic search goals.
There are two main types of SEO
Three main types of search engine optimization exist, each with its guidelines and impact. These types of SEO are on-page (also known as technical), off-page (also known as link building), and off-page.
On-Page SEO
On-page SEO, according to SearchMetrics.com, refers to all measures that can be taken within the website to improve its ranking in search results.
It is essential to have the correct title tags and write keyword-rich descriptions. You should also create content with keywords and phrases related to your content to help search engines understand when to display it.
You can manually update or optimize everything under on-page SEO by editing your website’s code.
Off-Page SEO
Off-page search engine optimization is a different approach. It involves indirect activities, such as generating links that are done away from your site to improve the organic ranking.
Off-page SEO is important because Google looks at more than what you publish on your website to determine ranking and authority. It is, therefore, crucial to combine on-page SEO with off-page SEO.
Off-page SEO can be more than just building links.
Off-page actions such as brand mentions, social media sharing of your content, and bookmarking all have high-value search signals. They tell Google that you are an important source of information.
Tech SEO
Technical Search Engine Optimization is the catch-all category that includes all the improvements you can make behind the scenes to improve your ranking.
According to Moz, technical SEO is the process of improving the structure and content of your website for crawling and indexing. Developers typically perform these activities
It is important to note that more than technical SEO is needed to propel you to the top search engine results. However, suppose you have laid a solid foundation through your on-page optimization and have established authority with off-page signals. In that case, improving your site’s technical aspects can significantly impact the number of people who find your content via search.
Imagine that technical SEO is the skeleton of your website. A strong skeleton will not win you the race, but your website could die suddenly if broken or missing. Search engines must find your website easily, load quickly for readers, and be easy to crawl and decode.
Technical SEO Activities include:
Improving the page load speed.
Optimizing backend code.
Telling search engines which pages to index and which to ignore.
Adding redirects when a page changes.
Using canonical URLs to avoid duplicate content.
Adding structured data.
It is anything that tells the search engine how to display and understand the site.
If you’re a beginner, it is important to know that you could seriously harm your ranking if you try to tackle the technical aspect of SEO without proper training. It is always best to consult a professional before making any changes. You don’t want to upload a robots.txt file that prevents your site from being indexed without your knowledge. It has happened before and isn’t pretty.
