In this complete guide, I will explain What SEO is, how it works and how learning it can improve your small business today!
I also included some detailed information about Search Engines as this term will come up a lot!
If this is your first time at Bounce Rank, be sure to visit the homepage to learn more about the blog and how it can help you become an SEO Specialist today.
Okay let’s begin, feel free to use the table of contents to help you navigate the post!
Cheers! 🙂
What is SEO in basic words
In simple words, SEO is an:
Acronym for Search Engine Optimization, which is when you improve your website’s content to make easier to find on the internet or Search Engines, like Google, Bing, and Yahoo.
What is a Search Engine
Search Engines are computer software programs that allow you to search for information on the Internet.
They are basically a bunch of computers that use complex series of calculations called “algorithms” to help you find websites and content that answers your “question” or query.
How do Search Engines Work
Search Engine “crawlers” scour the internet looking for new, fresh, exciting content to add to their database or their “index“.
The crawler then visits this index to return information to a searcher whenever they have a question.
A perfect analogy for this, would be to think of Google as a waiter, when someone or a searcher puts in an order or asks a question; Google takes the order and goes to kitchen or the index to get the food or the answer.
Now that you have a solid understanding of What SEO is and what Search Engines are, let’s talk a bit more about how SEO works shall we?
Why is SEO important?
The goal of doing SEO is to rank your website on the first page of Search Engine Results Pages or “SERPs”, so that someone is more likely to click on your website.
If they are more likely to click, then they are more likely to browse around, and eventually buy something!
In fact, “leads” are more likely to convert to customers if they come from a Search Engine Results pages.
Google reported that; 76% of people who search on their smartphones for something nearby visit a business within a day. (Think With Google)
Out of all those searches; 28% of them result in a purchase. (Think With Google)
So imagine:
how beneficial it would be to your business to show up on Search Engine Result Pages!
How does SEO work
SEO works by improving your website’s content so that appears on the first page of SERPS.
By showing up higher in the results pages you are more likely to get clicks, and in turn more visitors to your website.
You might be thinking to yourself:
Why page 1?
Well, only 0.78% of Google searchers click on results from the 2nd page. (Backlinko).
Like really, think about it:
How often do you go to the second page when searching?
Never, I bet!
So ranking high is super important!
So to improve your SEO you must focus on 3 main components; On-Site, Off-Site and Technical SEO.
What Are the 3 Main Components of SEO?:
There are 3 domains that SEO is broken into; On-Site, Off-Site, and Technical.
While they are separate, they are actually connected, and by being strong in one category you are able to improve your website as a whole.
For instance:
by improving your website speed you are able to not only improving your technical SEO but you are also able to improve you On-Site SEO because users will stay on your page longer.
This will lead to them consuming more content, which will eventually lead to an improvement in Off-Site SEO as people will be more likely to link to it.
So all 3 domains are important, and by having a basic understanding of all three, you are well on your way to growing you traffic!
Here’s some more detailed information on each domain:
What is Technical SEO?:
Technical SEO focuses on improving your website’s speed, navigation, responsiveness, and usability to improve search rankings.
This can include:
- improving the load time of your website
- fixing broken links on your website
- improving the accessibility of your website for people with disabilities
Technical SEO can also extend to the inner workings of a website as it can also involve writing and fixing code.
So an understanding of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and other programming languages can be beneficial to helping you improve the appearance and functionality of your website.
Now I understand that this may be out the scope of many of you, but fear not you can ask your Web Developer for help on this part of SEO!
Learn More SEO Today!:
If you want to know where to start, I would first begin with learning On-Page SEO, as it is the most easy to learn. Also I did a post about some significant SEO statistics that may be worth checking out also.
As always good luck on your SEO journey!