WHAT IS SEO?

SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization." It is a well defined set of processes for improving website traffic in order to increase the visibility of your website on various search engines like Google, Microsoft Bing etc. SEO is designed to create more relevant, user-friendly, and high-quality content that can better satisfy the search experience of a user.

SEO vs. PPC vs. SEM

• SEO is the process of driving organic traffic from the search engines.
• PPC stands for pay-per-click. In this case, the advertisers have to pay for every click in respect of their ads.
• SEM stands for Search Engine Marketing. It is a combination of both paid, i.e., PPC, and organic, i.e., SEO processes.

People usually get confused between SEO and SEM. SEM can be understood as a coin, and both SEO and PPC are either sides of it. Hence, SEO is just a part of SEM, which is basically a wider concept. Both methods have their own pros and cons. SEO may take time, but it remains in the high ranks, whereas in the case of PPC, visibility is only available until the advertisers pay for it. In my opinion, a combination of both strategies and an effective SEM can be adopted in accordance with the budget limit.

WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF SEO?

• Technical SEO
• On-Page SEO
• Off-Page SEO
• Local SEO

Technical SEO:

It involves evaluating and improving the infrastructure of the website and improving its overall efficiency. It includes improving the speed of the site, securing it with HTTPS, ensuring that it works well on various devices, etc.

On-page SEO:

This type involves optimizing the content in such a way that it is relevant, free from possible grammatical errors, well-written and unique, consists of multimedia (images and videos), updated, and readable.

Off-page SEO:

It includes activities like brand building, PR (public relations), content marketing, social media marketing, etc. that are performed off-site.

Local SEO:

It means driving local traffic to the website to increase the visibility of the brand among the local audience. It aims at achieving top rank in local search results. It can be achieved through reviews and ratings, Google business optimization, and creating content that focuses on local audiences and events.

5 REASONS WHY SEO IS IMPORTANT:

• Increasing website traffic
• Ensure user-satisfaction
• Competitive advantage
• Brand image
• Evolving with change

Increasing website traffic:

Through an effective SEO businesses can ensure high rank on the SERPs (Search Engine Result Page), due to which more and more users tend to visit the website, which in turn results in an increase in visibility and online presence. This makes potential customers find the websites much easier.

Ensure user satisfaction:

It ensures that the content is relevant to the search requirements of the user and any other aspects like site structure, site speed, etc. for a better and smoother experience.

Competitive Advantage:

It helps the websites stay ahead of their competitors by serving as a competitive edge over others. Businesses can capture a huge market share online through the effective implementation and adoption of various strategies and practices.

Brand image:

Through SEO, businesses can build brand awareness. If the website is ranked highly and appears on the first page of search results, it increases the probability of more and more users visiting the website. Hence, awareness is established in the minds of the users.

Evolving with change:

As we already know, in this dynamic world, change is the only constant. Hence, SEO practices keep getting evolved along with the changing algorithms as well as the size and reach of businesses.

HOW DOES SEO WORK?

The following are the areas that can make SEO work:

• Understanding how search engines work
• Research
• Planning
• Implementation
• Monitoring

Understanding how search engines work:

If you want to make your SEO work, it is important to understand the technicalities behind the workings of search engines and create content accordingly. Google uses the following stages:

• Crawling:
  

  In this stage, automated bots called crawlers discover websites by visiting them and then visiting the other URLs present on the site, and the process takes place in a recurring manner.

• Indexing:
  

  After the crawling stage, Google analyzes the content that is stored on each of the websites, the keywords used, etc., and stores the information in a huge database called the search engine’s index.

• Ranking:
  

  This is the final stage where websites are ranked on the basis of quality provided and relevance in relation to the searches made by the user.

Research:

This step involves conducting research in certain areas and using it to create the content.

• Keyword research
  

  Keyword research includes finding those words that are repeatedly used by customers during searches.

• Audience research
  

  Audience research, knowing about the target audience is the most crucial step. Their demographics, psychographics, pain points, expectations, etc. are important to read.

• Competitor research
  

  Competitor research, identifying the strengths, weaknesses, and strategies of the competitors is equally important to achieving better results.

Planning:

This stage includes creating a roadmap towards success. The strategies may have to evolve, but the goals must remain the same. It includes defining the expectations, metrics used, setting a budget, documentation of the plan, coordination, etc.

Implementation:

After all the research is done and plans are formulated, the final step is to implement an effective SEO plan, keeping in mind all the necessary information.

Monitoring:

Since the algorithms are ever-changing, one must keep monitoring and evolving the SEO to see if there is any change in the desired and actual results and identify and fix the reasons behind such deviations.

SEO is truly important, and it must be implemented by businesses to achieve the best results. Now that you are already aware of the know-how, what are you waiting for? Analyze and implement SEO on your websites to rise above all else. Leave a comment if you still have any queries regarding it, and I will try to help you all.