What is SEO, and What Does it Stand for?
SEO is a fundamental part of modern-day digital marketing. It stands for “search engine optimisation”, the process of getting your website to rank on Google, Bing, or other search engines.
SEO is a multifaceted process aimed at augmenting the visibility of a website in organic, or non-paid, search engine results pages (SERPs). This is accomplished by optimising a website in such a manner that search engines, like Google, Bing, and Yahoo, find it easy to read and index its pages.
SEO isn't a singular step but rather a series of strategies and procedures designed to make your site more appealing and accessible to search engines. This includes everything from the strategic use of keywords and meta tags to link building and improving site speed. The primary objective is to ensure your website stands out in the digital landscape, making it more likely to be discovered by potential customers.
SEO has grown more and more prominent over the past decade, as it has naturally become more difficult to hit the top spot for any given search term. This is largely due to the investment in SEO by businesses and organisations that see the value of driving organic search visits.
What is so Special About Search?
Search on the whole should be an important part of any business strategy. Searching across a search engine shows a level of interest and/or intent. And this is important for businesses because it shows an essence of qualification. If I search for men’s jumper, for example, it suggests I am in the market to buy one, or browsing with a view to see if men’s jumpers are right for me.
This is a major contrast to the likes of paid social media advertising, whereby most ads are proactively targeting people who organisations think could be a good fit for their products, as opposed to reacting to interest.
SEO, like most digital marketing areas, is saturated with phrases and acronyms. These include SERPS, ranking, longtail and short tail keywords, domain authority, and so on.
What Does SEO Involve?
Simply, search engine optimisation is about developing content that is both user and search-engine-friendly. For those who work in SEO or digital marketing in a more general sense, there is an understanding that it’s a competition to manipulate search engines so that your products or services are in the top spot.
In order to implement an SEO strategy, SEO managers or digital marketers typically undertake a website audit, which helps them to see the current state of play. This looks at current SERPS (search engine result positions), where websites perform strong and where they need to be improved. The audit phase typically coincides with or follows keyword research; identifying the keywords that you want to attract so that you can understand where competitors may be outperforming you.
SEO work can include on-page, which looks at the public-facing web pages, such as the content and imagery used. Technical SEO looks at things such as page speed, technical structure and setup, overuse of javascript, and so on. Both are fundamental parts of any SEO professional’s work. Without strengths in both, organisations will struggle to gain their desired share of searches.
The Key Components of SEO
SEO is a complex process that comprises a variety of elements.
On-page SEO is the first component, and it involves optimising different facets of your website, such as keywords, meta tags, and the actual content. It essentially makes your website more understandable and relevant to search engines.
Off-page SEO is the second piece of the puzzle and it mainly focuses on elevating your website's profile through building backlinks and social signals, helping to boost your site’s credibility and visibility.
The third part, technical SEO, doesn't concentrate on the content itself but rather on enhancing non-content-related aspects like site speed, mobile optimisation, and indexing to ensure a seamless user experience and easy navigation for search engines.
A successful SEO strategy will embrace and incorporate all these dimensions.
How SEO Works
SEO's essence lies in discerning the queries people key into search engines, the solutions they're hunting for, the language they utilise, and the type of content they prefer. It operates on the principle of making your website more appealing and pertinent to these search trends. The job of search engines is to scrutinise and catalogue pages to comprehend their content. SEO aids in making sure that search engines can effortlessly interpret and catalogue your site, enabling it to secure a higher position in SERPs.
A Long-term Investment
Recognising that SEO isn't a swift solution, but an enduring commitment is crucial. It's not an endeavour you undertake once and then abandon, but a continuous process that demands constant attention, adaptation and analysis.
While the fruition of SEO tactics may take a few months to surface, the results tend to be sustainable and substantial. In the dynamic world of digital marketing, SEO operates like a generous benefactor, continuing to deliver results long after the initial investment. Gradually, it can channel a consistent flow of targeted, economical traffic to your website, thus proving its worth as a key weapon in your digital marketing toolkit.