What is SEO?
SEO stands for search engine optimization, and it's one of the most popular type of digital marketing. Its main goal is to increase the visibility of a website on search engine result pages, ultimately attracting organic (free) traffic.
This is achieved by implementing specific strategies and practices that align with the search engine's factors. By doing so, website owners can gain more exposure and potentially reach the coveted first pages of search engine results.
The best part is that this method doesn't require any payment for visitors, making it a cost-effective marketing approach.
.png "Steps in Each Pillar (How to Do SEO)")
Every website or web page has the potential to appear or compete for the top position in the organic search engine results by implementing SEO practices correctly.
But, the process of optimizing webpage or doing SEO for any kind of website (blog, ecomerce shop, portfolios...) it may look confusingly and complicated for some but believe me it is a simple process.
The challenging part of SEO is that you have to put in some effort into improving your website or web page. This means focusing on the quality of the content, the speed of the site, making it easy for users to navigate, and correctly implementing best practices.
It may require patience, but the results will be worth it. Think of it like taking care of a seedling. You need to nurture it, water it, and give it proper attention so that it can grow into something that benefits you in the future, just like a tree providing shade and fruit.
Learning or implementing SEO is like any other field if you want to learn or apply SEO,
it's important to understand the theoretical aspects that come into
play at each stage.
In this post, I will guide you through the different aspects of SEO
in a specific order, making it easier for you to grasp and apply them
effectively.
Topic and Keyword Research in SEO
They say that "Content is King," but the first step you need to consider is "Topic and Keyword Research" because it's what makes the king great.
Topic and keyword research involves gathering the most relevant and valuable words or phrases that people are likely to use when searching for information or products related to a specific subject.
By collecting good keywords and incorporating them into your content, you can optimize it and make it more appealing to search engines like Google. This increases the chances of your content ranking higher in search results and being discovered by people.
Keep in mind that content doesn't have to be limited to blog posts or articles. It can include e-commerce landing pages, portfolios, social media profiles, or anything that has titles, descriptions, images, and URLs.
The keyword research process is usually carried out using tools like "Semrush," "Ahrefs," and "BuzzSumo." However, it's important to note that these tools are not 100% accurate and not completely free.
Therefore, I recommend using Google tools such as "Keyword Planner" or the "Related searches" feature. These tools are free and provide you with real and accurate data based on what people are looking for.
The 3 General Pillars of Traditional SEO
The pillars of traditional SEO, which are fundamental components or principles, form the foundation of effective SEO practices. These pillars are essential for all types of webpages or websites, including blogs, online shops, and more, to ensure a well-executed SEO process.
Below, I have attempted to arrange the pillars in a specific order and explain the necessary steps we need to take for each pillar in an organized manner.
1. On-Page Optimization: (Adding Content)
This refers to optimizing individual web pages to improve their visibility and relevance to specific keywords. On-page optimization includes optimizing meta tags (title tags, meta descriptions), headings, content, images, URLs, and internal linking structure.
Title Tag:
The title tag is an HTML element that specifies the title of a webpage. It is displayed as the clickable headline in search engine results pages (SERPs) and appears as the main text at the top of a browser's window or tab when the page is open.
Meta Description:
The meta description is a short summary of the content on a webpage. It is an HTML attribute that provides a brief description of what the page is about. The meta description appears in search engine results below the title tag and helps users decide whether to click on your webpage.
Heading Tags:
Heading tags refer to HTML tags (such as H1, H2, H3, etc.) used to structure and organize the content on a webpage. Heading tags provide a hierarchical structure to denote the importance and hierarchy of the headings within the content.
Search engines use heading tags to understand the context and organization of the page's content. It is recommended to use heading tags logically and include relevant keywords within them to improve both the readability for users and the search engine optimization of the webpage.
URL Structure (Slug):
the URL structure, also known as a slug, is a crucial component of on-page SEO. It refers to the specific format and organization of a webpage's URL. A well-structured URL should be concise, descriptive, and contain relevant keywords. It helps search engines understand the content and context of the page, making it easier to rank in search results.
Additionally, a user-friendly URL structure improves user experience and makes it easier for visitors to navigate and share the webpage. Using hyphens to separate words in the URL slug is recommended for readability and SEO purposes.
Keyword Placement:
keyword placement in on-page refers to strategically incorporating
relevant keywords within the content of a webpage. It involves placing
keywords in important on-page elements such as the title tag, headings
(H1, H2, etc.), meta description, URL, and throughout the body content.
Proper keyword placement helps search engines understand the relevance of the webpage to specific search queries. However, it's important to maintain a natural and readable flow of the content, avoiding overstuffing keywords (Keyword stuffing).
The goal is to provide valuable and informative
content to both search engines and users, while optimizing for targeted
keywords to improve search engine rankings.
Image Optimization:
Image optimization is the process of optimizing images on a webpage to improve their visibility in search engines. It involves several techniques, including using descriptive file names and alt text/tags that include relevant keywords, compressing image sizes to improve loading speed, and ensuring images are responsive and properly formatted.
By optimizing images, you enhance the user experience, increase the chances of your images appearing in image search results, and potentially drive more organic traffic to your website.
Internal Linking Building:
Internal linking is the practice of linking to other pages within your own website. It involves adding hyperlinks from one page to another to create a network of interconnected pages. Internal linking helps search engines understand the structure and hierarchy of your website's content, improves navigation for users, and distributes link authority throughout your site.
By strategically placing internal links, you can guide users to relevant pages, promote deeper engagement, and enhance the overall SEO performance of your website by improving crawlability and indexing of your pages by search engines.
Adding Breadcrumbs:
Adding breadcrumbs refers to a navigation aid that displays the hierarchical structure of a website and helps users understand their current location within the site. Breadcrumbs are typically displayed as a series of links, starting from the homepage and leading to the current page.
They provide a clear path for users to navigate back to previous pages and improve user experience. In terms of SEO, breadcrumbs can enhance website usability, increase the time users spend on your site, and provide additional internal linking opportunities, which can benefit search engine crawling and indexing.
Check Readability (Assessing Readability):
Assessing readability is the final step in content sharing. It involves evaluating how easily readers can understand and comprehend the content on a webpage. Readability is crucial as it affects user experience and engagement.
Factors like sentence structure, word choice, paragraph length, and formatting influence readability. By ensuring that your content is clear, concise, and easy to understand, you enhance the reader's ability to absorb and engage with the information.
Search engines also consider readability as an indicator of high-quality content. Readability analyzers are useful tools for evaluating and improving the readability of your content, optimizing its effectiveness for both users and search engines.
2. Technical SEO: (Crawlability, Performance, Navigation):
The technical SEO pillar, which encompasses aspects such as crawlability and performance, focuses on optimizing the technical aspects of a website to ensure search engines can effectively crawl, index, and understand its content.
This pillar is crucial for improving search engine visibility and user experience. Here are some key elements within the technical SEO pillar:
Crawlability:
Crawlability refers to how easily search engine bots can discover and navigate a website's pages.
To enhance crawlability:
Create a sitemap: Generate an XML sitemap that lists all the important pages on your website, making it easier for search engines to find and index them.
Robots.txt file: Use a robots.txt file to guide search engine bots on which parts of your website to crawl and which ones to avoid.
Internal linking: Implement internal links between pages to help search engines discover and crawl them more efficiently.
Site Speed and Performance:
Optimizing website speed and performance is crucial for both search engine rankings and user experience. To improve site speed:
Minimize file sizes: Compress images, CSS, and JavaScript files to reduce their size without sacrificing quality.
Enable browser caching: Leverage browser caching to store static files, enabling faster page loading for returning visitors.
Content Delivery Network (CDN): Utilize a CDN to deliver website content from servers located closer to the user, reducing latency and improving load times.
Mobile-Friendliness:
With the majority of web searches conducted on mobile devices, having a mobile-friendly website is essential. Ensure:
Responsive design: Create a website design that adapts and renders well on different screen sizes and devices.
Mobile usability: Optimize the user experience on mobile devices by having easily clickable buttons, readable text, and a logical site structure.
URL Structure:
A well-structured URL can enhance both user experience and search engine visibility. Consider:
Descriptive URLs: Use clear, concise, and keyword-rich URLs that reflect the content of the page.
URL canonicalization: Prevent duplicate content issues by setting preferred versions of URLs (www vs. non-www, HTTP vs. HTTPS) through canonical tags or server configurations.
Structured Data Markup:
Implement structured data markup (e.g., Schema.org) to provide additional context to search engines about your website's content.
This can enhance the appearance of your listings in search results with rich snippets and other enhancements.
Website Security (HTTPS):
Implementing HTTPS encryption provides a secure connection for users and is a ranking factor for search engines.
Obtain an SSL certificate and ensure that your website is served over HTTPS.
Analytics and Reporting:
Regularly monitoring and analyzing website performance using tools like Google Analytics helps evaluate the effectiveness of SEO efforts. It allows you to track traffic, user behavior, conversions, keyword rankings, and other key metrics to make informed decisions and optimize your SEO strategies.
By focusing on the technical aspects of SEO, specifically crawlability and performance, you can ensure that your website is easily discoverable by search engines, loads quickly, and provides a positive user experience. These optimizations contribute to better search engine rankings, increased organic traffic, and higher user engagement.
3. Off-Page Optimization (Link Building):
Off-page SEO plays a crucial role in enhancing the visibility, authority, and reputation of your website by focusing on external activities. It involves building high-quality backlinks from relevant websites and effectively managing your online reputation.
Additionally, engaging with social media platforms, online communities, and forums can also contribute to your off-page SEO efforts. These activities help establish your website's credibility and attract more organic traffic from external sources.
Within the off-page SEO pillar, there are two primary elements: "External Backlink Building" and "Getting Clean Traffic." The first element involves acquiring backlinks from relevant domains, while the second element focuses on attracting legitimate traffic from trustworthy websites. Here's a breakdown of these two key components:
External Backlink Building:
External backlinks are links from other websites that point to your website. They serve as votes of confidence and trust in the eyes of search engines. Here are some strategies for building external backlinks:
Content Creation: Produce high-quality, valuable content that other websites naturally want to link to. This could include informative articles, infographics, research papers, or case studies.
Outreach and Guest Posting: Reach out to relevant websites or blogs in your industry and offer to contribute guest posts. In return, you can include a link back to your website within the guest post or author bio.
Influencer Collaboration: Collaborate with influencers or industry experts who can mention or link to your website in their content or social media posts.
Link Reclamation: Identify any mentions of your brand or website without an accompanying link and reach out to the respective website owners to request a backlink.
Getting Clean Traffic:
Social Media Engagement: Leverage social media platforms to engage with your audience, share valuable content, and drive traffic back to your website. Build a strong social media presence and encourage social sharing of your content.
Online Communities and Forums: Participate in relevant online communities, forums, and discussion platforms where your target audience is active. Provide helpful insights, answer questions, and include links to your website when relevant and allowed.
Content Syndication: Repurpose and distribute your content on various platforms such as Medium, LinkedIn Pulse, or industry-specific article directories. Include links back to your website within the content or author bio.
Online Directories and Listings: Submit your website to relevant online directories and listings. This can help improve visibility and drive targeted traffic to your website.
Both "External Backlink Building" and "Getting Clean Traffic" contribute to improving your website's authority, credibility, and online presence. They signal to search engines that your website is trusted, popular, and relevant, which can positively impact your search engine rankings.
Other Types of SEO for Specific Needs
We have discussed the pillars of SEO and explained the necessary steps. However, it is important to consider that every website has specific needs depending on its project or goals. In each case, the implementation of SEO may require slight adjustments, but the fundamental practices and rules remain the same. Below, I have compiled the most common types of SEO for different purposes of websites or webpages to provide you with valuable insights.
Local SEO
The practice of optimizing a website or online presence to increase its visibility and relevance in local search results. It focuses on targeting specific geographical locations and tailoring SEO strategies to attract local customers. Local SEO techniques involve optimizing the website's content and meta tags, acquiring local citations, managing online reviews, and optimizing Google My Business listings. The goal is to improve local rankings, drive more targeted traffic, and generate leads from individuals searching for local businesses or services in a specific area.
E-commerce SEO
E-commerce SEO refers to the process of optimizing online stores or e-commerce websites to improve their visibility and rankings in search engine results. It involves implementing strategies like keyword research, optimizing product descriptions and titles, improving site structure and navigation, enhancing user experience, and acquiring relevant backlinks. The aim of e-commerce SEO is to drive organic traffic, increase conversions, and boost sales for online businesses operating in the e-commerce industry.
eCommerce Marketplace SEO
E-commerce Marketplace SEO involves optimizing product listings on popular online marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, or Etsy. It focuses on optimizing product titles, descriptions, images, and other elements to improve visibility and rankings within the marketplace's search results. This includes keyword research, competitor analysis, and strategic optimization techniques to increase product visibility, attract more customers, and drive sales within the specific marketplace ecosystem. The goal is to enhance the discoverability and competitiveness of products within the marketplace platform.
Voice Search SEO
Voice Search SEO is the practice of optimizing websites and content to improve visibility and rankings in voice search results. With the rise of voice assistants like Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant, voice search has become increasingly popular. Voice Search SEO involves targeting long-tail, conversational keywords, optimizing for featured snippets, improving page load speed, and providing concise, direct answers. The goal is to ensure that websites and content are optimized for voice queries, making them more accessible and relevant to users who rely on voice search for information.
Mobile SEO
Mobile SEO refers to the optimization of websites and online content specifically for mobile devices. With the increasing use of smartphones and tablets, mobile optimization is crucial for providing a seamless and user-friendly experience on smaller screens. Mobile SEO involves techniques like responsive design, mobile-friendly page speed, optimizing for local search, improving user interface and navigation, and ensuring compatibility across different mobile platforms. The objective is to enhance the mobile user experience, improve search engine rankings, and drive more organic traffic from mobile users.
International SEO
International SEO is the practice of optimizing websites and online content to target and attract audiences from multiple countries or regions. It involves implementing strategies such as hreflang tags, geotargeting, and language localization to ensure that the website appears in relevant search results for different locations and languages. International SEO aims to increase visibility, improve user experience for international visitors, and drive targeted organic traffic from various global markets.
Final Words & Advice
I believe SEO is one of the most important online skills that business owners and website owners must master. It can be a blessing for those who aspire to achieve success online and gain visibility, especially for those with limited budgets who cannot afford ads or paid campaigns. I encourage you to learn SEO or hire someone to do it for you.
SEO is accessible for learning, with numerous sources available, and it's free to implement. By utilizing SEO techniques, you can benefit from free organic traffic to your website.
However, it's important to keep in mind that staying up-to-date with search engine algorithm changes and industry trends is crucial to adjust your SEO strategies accordingly. Major search engines like Google frequently update their algorithms, which directly impact search rankings.
Blogs like TechSEOTool can help you stay informed about the latest updates and strategies related to SEO and digital marketing. Wishing you good luck in your SEO journey!
