SEO is a one of the most important parts of your online marketing campaigns in today’s digital age. It is a broad term which combines multiple strategies, techniques and actions working together to improve your website visibility and ranking in Search engine result pages (SERPs). Basically, it helps your websites get noticed by search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo.
Today in this article we will talk about the basics of SEO in digital marketing and see how it works. We will discuss different types of SEO and why they’re important will help you stand out in the online world!
What Does SEO Stand For?
SEO is the abbreviation of Search Engine Optimization. It improves different parts of your site and digital marketing strategies to boost your rankings in the internet searches. The main purpose of SEO is that it helps the website be ranked high in searches so it gets viewed by more people. Ultimately you get more visitors which will make your website more popular and active compared to competitors. Therefore you should start focusing on SEO if you want to get higher web traffic.
Types of SEO
As stated earlier there are different types of SEO techniques:
- Technical SEO
- On-page
- Off-page SEO
- Local SEO
For the best results experts recommend using a combination of these. Let’s explain what these types of SEO are and how they work:
What is technical SEO?
Technical SEO focuses on the backend of your website to make sure your website is functioning properly. It involves optimizing things like website speed, secure connections (HTTPS) and mobile friendliness. It makes sure that your website is built well enough for search engines to understand and index. Some common technical SEO practices are website architecture, indexing, crawling and rendering.
Difference between On-page and Off-page SEO
On-page SEO refers to everything you do on your website, such as content optimizations, images, meta tags, etc. On the other hand, Off-page SEO covers activities outside your website like link building, guest posting and branded searches. Both these types of SEO work together to increase your website’s chances of ranking in the top searches.
What is Local SEO
Local SEO is for websites that want to target a specific location. It is more suitable for businesses looking to promote their services or products to a certain demographic within a specific region. So local SEO helps you appear in local searches such as Google Maps. In simple terms it helps people in your area find your business more easily.
What is White Hat SEO vs Black Hat SEO
White hat SEO and black hat SEO are two types of methods to improve your website authority on the search engines. Black hat SEO includes practices that are unethical whereas white hat emphasizes on using legitimate practices approved by the search engines. It includes quality content, keywords and proper backlinks. White hat SEO results in longevity and scalable growth online.
On the flip side using black hat SEO means you will use unfair methods and break all kind of search engine rules. These items include keyword spam, hidden links and even things as simple as outright spamming. Black hat SEO is the definition of risky SEO because its implementation can get your site banned from search engines.
But what if you combine both good and bad practices? The combination of white hat and black hat strategies is called gray hat SEO. The examples of gray hat SEO are buying backlinks, cloaking, social media automation and spinning content to name a few.
How Does SEO Work
Search Engine Optimization is the process of attracting more quantity (not quality) traffic from search engines to your website. It consists of applying various strategies including writing an incredible content, enhancing website navigation, reducing page loading time or the addition of backlinks. Now, when it comes to SEO its main objective is to help your site appear higher on the search engine results page.
Website ranking matters because users don’t usually bother scrolling down and moving to the next SERP. This means that the majority of the people only visit the first few links in the search results. Hence to get more traffic on your site you need to get your website ranked as higher as possible and that’s where SEO services come in. Without it your website would get lost in the vast sea of 1.1 billion websites on the internet.
SEO will let the search engine find your page when users search for something related to your content or business. As your ranking improves the more people will visit your website which leads to more target audience, leads and customers. SEO also helps in building online reputation and trust since people tend to click on top-ranking pages.
Why is SEO Important?
There are many reasons why SEO is important, from improving the performance of your website to getting more clicks on your web page. Here are the key benefits of implementing SEO practices:
1. Higher ROI
Digital marketing comes at a cost but all your investment goes to waste if you don’t get the results. With SEO you can get the return on investment (ROI) because web traffic makes up for 15% of all new leads. If your website is ranking at the bottom on second, third or forth page of the SERPs then you will lose this additional revenue. So if you want to get the best out of your marketing campaigns
then SEO is very important.
2. Generates Brand Awareness
SEO will make your website keep appearing in the search results every time users look up for something relatable. Prominent ranking in search results increases the chances of getting more people to know your company. This visibility increases your brand awareness and build trust for your business. With time you are able to make a name for yourself in the online space where more and more people will visit your site.
3. Outrank Competition
With 80% of people using the internet to research products your competitors are also likely putting money into SEO and other online marketing. If you skip SEO then your sales and market share could drop and go to your competition. Since only 25% of users look beyond the first page of search results you'll miss out on potential customers and profits. This is why SEO is necessary for outranking your competitors on the internet.
FAQs
What Are Top Search Engines?
Google has captured 92% of the total search market and is obviously the number one global player. Top search engines aside from Google are Yahoo, Bing, Baidu, DuckDuckGo and Microsoft Edge.
How Many Types of SEO?
There are three main types of SEO which include On-page SEO, Off-page SEO and technical SEO. Each one focuses on different aspects to increase discoverability and ranking on search engines.
Do SEO Services Work?
Yes SEO services work when applied consistently and correctly. Your chances of success are much more if you do it with a professional SEO service provider who delivers customized strategies.
What is SEO Content Writing?
SEO content writing is all about using the right words and phrases that tell search engines what your website addresses. Content should be interesting and relevant to the search intent of your target audience.
