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SEO

What is SEO?

SEO has become a very effective digital marketing tool in the last few years. Marketers, copywriters, content creators, etc., use SEO to optimise websites, articles, and much more.

For a business, having their website listed on search engines such as Google or Bing is fundamental as every second, there are over 694,0001 searches conducted on search engines. Therefore, it is essential to have an SEO strategy in place to index your website on Google or any other search engine. And this is so your business does not miss any potential customers that may find your website and could potentially buy your services or products.

Search Engine Optimisation, most commonly known as SEO, refers to the process or technique that marketers and copywriters use to improve the visibility and traffic to a business website. It is a strategy to increase the rank of a website in the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs), like Google or Bing. 

Semrush2 states that “through SEO, your content becomes more likely to rank highly in the SERPs and appear to users first when they search for relevant keywords.” SEO is directly related to organic search, which refers to the search results you don’t have to pay for; this is why an SEO strategy is essential for improving your website's traffic and quality. 

How does SEO work?

SEO is not something to ignore. The algorithms that search engines use are fundamental for website traffic and visibility. Whenever there is a search or query, these algorithms find what they believe are the best answers to these queries in many types of content, like articles, videos, images, etc. 

SEO focuses on optimising the content by applying different strategies and best practices, such as keyword research, backlinks, internal links, and the quality and relevance of the content. 

SEO Elements

On-Page SEO & Off-Page SEO are two elements in the overall strategy of SEO. Both include different and necessary features that should be included in an SEO strategy. 

On-Page SEO & Off-Page SEO

On-page SEO3 is all about the content on your website. This means having the relevant keywords in your content, writing relevant and high-quality, having an optimised URL and having your titles and metatags in the correct format. On-page SEO is all about improving your website’s ranking through content. There are several tools for content management, such as WordPress and Wix. On-page SEO elements4 are: 

  • Content: it must be relevant and high-quality. 
  • Intent: know your user’s plan; you must understand your customer and what they would ask the search engines to find you. 
  • Keywords: Keywords are fundamental for search engines. Make keyword research; there are tools, such as Semrush, Ahrefs and Google Keyword Planner, to help you build your lists. 
  • HTML: Your site’s HTML includes essential elements for your SEO
  • Title Tags
  • Subheading
  • Meta Descriptions
  • Alt Text
  • URL Slug
  • Site Architecture: This will help your website to be easier to crawl by bots and be indexed by the search engine.

Off-page SEO5 is the process of optimising the website itself. This is done using backlinks and creating content people want to share. This process can take some time, but it is fundamental to having a successful SEO strategy. Off-page SEO elements6 are:

  • Mobile-friendly 
  • Trust Rank: this includes domain and page authority. 
  • Link Building

Black Hat Vs. White Hat

Black Hat SEO7 refers to risky strategies that do not follow search engine algorithms and best practices. Instead, these strategies try to manipulate the algorithms to rank higher in the SERPs. These strategies include duplicate content, invisible text, redirecting in the wrong way and links that are not relevant. 

On the other hand, White Hat SEO8 refers to the strategies that follow the best practices or guidelines to rank higher in the SERPs. White Hat SEO focus on delivering high-quality content and optimising the user’s experience on the website. 

These elements are necessary for building a successful SEO strategy but must prioritise the content.

75%9 of searchers do not go past the first SERP, and this is why it is so important to have an SEO strategy in place. Marketers and business owners must understand that SEO is a long-term strategy and that the results may not reflect immediately in the metrics. Therefore, marketers must keep updated on the possible changes to the algorithms but focus on the content, which is the most important part, on building links and using relevant keywords. 

In this age, where people tend to ask Google for answers and research about products and services, businesses must be visible in this highly competitive world. As a result, content and SEO have become essential strategies for marketing teams and will continue to be crucial for the foreseeable future. 

Sources

1 “Introduction to Search Engine Optimization.” HubSpot, https://www.hubspot.com/hs-fs/hub/53/file-13221845-pdf/docs/ebooks/introduction-to-seo-ebook.pdf. Accessed 30 July 2022.

2 Lahey, Connor. “The Importance of SEO: Gaining Visibility Online.” Semrush Blog, Semrush, 27 April 2021, https://www.semrush.com/blog/importance-of-seo/?kw=&cmp=LM_SRCH_DSA_Blog_Core_BU_EN&label=dsa_pagefeed&Network=g&Device=c&utm_content=554858858599&kwid=aud-387617292705:dsa-1439622780951&cmpid=11799892963&agpid=137318541268&BU=Core&extid=23624544433&adpos=. Accessed 1 August 2022.

3,5 “What is SEO and how does it work?” Digital Marketing Institute, 21 October 2019, https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/what-is-seo. Accessed 2 August 2022.

4,6 Guide, Step, and Neil Patel. “What is SEO? Your Complete Step-By-Step Guide.” Neil Patel, https://neilpatel.com/what-is-seo/. Accessed 1 August 2022.

7 Grimm, Bastian. “What Is Black Hat SEO? 9 Risky Techniques To Avoid.” SEMrush, 19 November 2020, https://www.semrush.com/blog/black-hat-seo/. Accessed 1 August 2022.

8 “White Hat SEO: How To Rank by the Rules.” SEMrush, 11 November 2020, https://www.semrush.com/blog/white-hat-seo/. Accessed 1 August 2022.

9 Lieberman, Mike. “10 Stats About Inbound Marketing That Will Make Your Jaw Drop.” HubSpot Blog, 20 January 2014, https://blog.hubspot.com/insiders/inbound-marketing-stats. Accessed 1 August 2022.