If you're reading this, then chances are you're rather new to SEO.
Search engine optimization has a combination of ranking factors. These factors aim to achieve strong organic search engine rankings which generates more relevant traffic for your website or blog.
The benefits are very promising. By improving your search rankings, you increase your visibility, which helps you reach more qualified traffic and increase your chances of bringing in more qualified leads.
Understanding SEO for your local business.
Major search engines have "robots" which are called crawlers. They "crawl" the internet analyzing billions of pages everyday.After analyzing each webpage, search engines like Google will save the information to determine if the page is deemed worthy to be in the their search engine.
To better understand it, imagine a library. When we are looking, for example, for a book about philosophy, we don't need to go from shelf to shelf to search for that content. We receive guidance on the specific location where the books related are located, which makes it easier to access the philosophy materials.
Google's servers work in the same way: when organizing web pages, they always present the most relevant sites that contain the complete material.
Every search engine has a secret recipe called "Algorithm," and its job is to turn all information into useful search results. So what do we need to know? Simple, we need to know the ingredients that the search engine requires for their recipes.
In fact, most of the significant ingredients are known:
Every word on your website matters because search engines account for literally every word.
When someone searches for "search engine optimization," the search engines will narrow the results and show only web pages that are about "SEO."
For that matter, creating content is not only necessary but essential. Also, it's critical to know that the quality of the content is also weighted.
For your website or blog to show up on results organically, you need to create quality content. Ideally, create a variety of different types of content pieces that are well-written and relevant to your audience.
A few types of material that improve search engine rankings are:
Blog posts and articles
Social media content
E-books and PDF downloads
How-To Guides and Tutorials
Videos and audio recordings
Infographics or other visual content
After creating the content, it's time to analyze its quality. Google's algorithm has sought to identify low-quality and high-quality materials to optimize results for the public. That is, the more thorough the content is, the better the chances of it being in the first positions of the SERPs (Search Engine Results Page).
On-Page SEO Matters — it's time to go beyond content writing and go to deeper levels of the site's HTML.
Title Tag
The title tag is the internal title of each page, the one that the readers will see when they have already accessed your content. Also, the one that tells the search engines what your page is about.
Meta Description
The meta description function is to tell the visitors what the page is about and its relevance. But most importantly, it tells the search engines a little bit more about what each page is about. Pro tip: include relevant keywords and provide details of the material.
Sub-headings
Sub-headings are essential to identify the priority of the content on the page. You can use up to six sub-headings, as the most important being (H1) and its subtitles (H2 to H6). In this way, Google will identify the hierarchy of your content information.
Internal Links
Internal linking is critical for Google. From there, the "bots" will analyze the user experience on your posts and what other content you are sending your readers to. Also, the more internal links a specific piece receives, the higher the relevance on Google. It will say: "Hey Google, these are the most important pages on my website/blog."
Image Name and ALT Tags
Google doesn't see images in the same way as users. It needs textual elements to understand what that image is about and present it as a search result. Therefore, use keywords for the file name (keywords must be separated by hyphens, no spaces) and describe the image. Pro tip: Make a description of the image using the keywords.
Off-Page SEO Matters
Unfortunately, you have little to no control over your off-page SEO. However, you can still do your best to improve your rankings! So here we go:
Link Building
Link building is the most critical part of off-page SEO. It's composed of backlinks, which are links from other sites to yours. Why? Because every website that links to yours is indicating that your content is good. The more referrals you receive, the greater is your relevance. The more relevant you are, the more respect you will receive from search engines.
Building Authority
Yes, the main factor in gaining authority is link building, especially if you receive links from sites that have influence over the topic you are talking about. However, that's not all for building authority. As an example, older domains have more weight than very new domains. Also, the amount of content that the domain posts will also directly influence its authority.
Social Engagement
Social engagement and mentions on social media will also influence your site's rankings. Google is eyeing how people have been engaging with your content. That way, you not only gain authority but also Google will see that your material pleases users. Since Google always wants to give the users the best experience, it will better position your content on the ranking.