A search engine is the biggest placard for any business brand. According to a study, 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine and nearly 75% of searchers start their searches on Google. Furthermore, the first five results on Google get 67% clicks. A blog post, article or product is not equivalent to ranking if it is on any other page of the Google search results.

With the help of these statistics, it is easy for one to get an idea as to why search engine optimization is so important. But before understanding its importance, let us first understand the basic concept. The article below would help to give an insight into all the aspects related to search engine optimization.

WHAT IS SEO?

Search engine optimization is a process of optimizing the business’s website for getting free traffic from search engines. It targets the website’s code through the use of ALT tags, page, and links titles. Search engine crawlers easily understand an optimized website. This further increases the chances of ranking higher in SERPs. Its goal is to attract the users organically. The newer way of Search engine optimization is called the new SEO. This new SEO goes beyond the nuts and bolts for optimizing search engines. This SEO takes more than link building, creating any old content, and adding a few keywords for improving organic search rankings and increasing the visibility of the business or brand.

WHAT GOES INTO SEO?

• Quality of traffic – A business should attract visitors who are genuinely interested in the products. The quality of traffic attracts all visitors in the world.
• The quantity of traffic – More traffic is better if the business has the right people clicking through the search engine results page.
• Organic Results – Organic traffic is the traffic for which the business is not required to pay.

SIDES OF SEO FORCE

BLACK HAT SEO

It focuses on optimizing content for the search engine. It does not consider humans at all. This approach results in spammy and crappy pages which are banned fast. Using this leads to severe punishment for the marketer. This ruins the marketer’s chance to build something sustainable for the future.

WHITE HAT SEO

White hat SEO builds a sustainable online business. It focuses on the human audience. The marketer tries to give the best content possible. It also makes the content easily accessible by playing according to the search engine rules.

GREY HAT SEO

This SEO is not authentic or legitimate like white hat SEO and is also not manipulative like black hat SEO. Under this, the marketer does not try to trick anyone. It tries to get a recognizable advantage. That means it’s not quite as pure or innocent as the whitest of white hats. But it isn’t quite as manipulative as a black hat can be.

TYPES OF SEO

• ON-SITE SEO

On-site SEO is also known as on-page SEO. It is the practice of optimizing elements on a website to rank higher and to earn relevant traffic from search engines. It optimizes content as well as the HTML source code of a page. This SEO helps the users to quickly and clearly understand about a page. The search engines can also reliably serve up what human visitors would consider as high-quality content about a particular search query.

The ultimate goal of this is to make it for both the users and the search engines to :

• Understand about a web page
• To identify a page as relevant to a search query or queries
• To find a page which is useful and worthy for the search engine page results

• OFF-SITE SEO

It refers to the actions that are taken outside of the website to impact the rankings within the search engine result pages. This optimization involves improving the search engine and the user’s perception of a site’s popularity relevance, trustworthiness, and authority. This optimization is accomplished by other reputable places on the Internet linking to or promoting the website.

WHAT SHOULD YOUR SEO STRATEGY HAVE?

Every business should have a separate SEO strategy. It should aim at achieving goals that have a specific impact on the company. A business should embrace it in its framework. A search engine optimization strategy should have the following elements:

AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE COMPANY

A business should have a solid understanding of the company for a successful SEO strategy. It should know what strengths a business can leverage to get the most SEO value. It should also recognize what tactics would work best for the brand identity.

CONTENT SHOULD BE CREATED FOR PEOPLE AND NOT FOR SEARCH ENGINES

The business should focus on the topics that people want rather than worrying about the keywords. It must use the content’s assets to listen to the audience and create content that directly addresses their questions and pain points. It should build a foundation that a business needs for good SEO going forward.

WHAT TO DO IF THINGS GO WRONG IN SEO?

A disadvantage of the world of SEO is that sometimes things go wrong. This happens by using overly combative and shady tactics. A solution to this problem is a diagnosis. The diagnosis implies witnessing an enormous drop in the organic search engine traffic of the site.

HOW TO CREATE PERFECTLY OPTIMIZED CONTENT?

Perfectly optimized content is the content that engages users. A person should adhere to the following checklist :

1. Keyword Targeted:- A business should formulate a plan based around a set of keywords. The choice of keywords should have the capability of influencing other on-page factors. This should always be a starting point when writing.
2. Optimized Title Tag:- The title tag is one of the most crucial off-page SEO elements. A business should place its main keyword at the start of the title tag and should be under 60 characters.
3. Optimized Meta Description:- A meta description is a description that is visible in the SERP’s. A well-written meta description is a difference between getting the click and not.
4. Targeted keywords in the first paragraph:- The first paragraph of the content on the page should include the primary keywords.
5. Use of images and videos:- Research shows that 80% of the marketers say that video has increased dwell time on the website. Using images and videos makes the content easier to read and consume.
6. Internal links:- Internal linking aids to navigate both the users and search engines through the content. It spreads link equity to key pages.

CONCLUSION

A business should make SEO a part of its DNA. Optimizing the content liberates the business from a lot of headaches. A business should not have the best website in the world. It should have a website that is exceptional than the competitors.