SEO is a process that is very important for ranking any website. It ranks websites higher so that the website displays on the Search Engine Results Page.
What is SEO?
SEO – stands for Search Engine Optimization
It is a combination of two words:-
Search Engine – carry out web searches
It scans websites worldwide to provide results that best match the search
Optimisation – best use of thing or effective usage
It is a process of making a web page/post better for search engines, so it ranks higher.
SEO is the process which optimizes the website, its content, images, pages and posts created. As a result, it becomes easy to find when the search queries are made by the audience.
In other words, it is the process of improving the website so its visibility is increased in the search engine results when the search queries are made
The better the visibility, the higher the rank and the more likely it is to be displayed in the SERP. It will get more clicks and audiences.
Before we proceed with the exact definition of SEO it is important to know about SERP.
What is SERP?
It stands for Search Engine Results Page.
Whenever we open Google.com, an option is available with a blank box where Keywords can be entered. Next on clicking the Search button different results are displayed.
The results which are visible on the page are called SERP.
Different websites are visible along with their content matching the searched keyword.
This is only possible because of SEO. Only those pages and websites will be listed which are ranking high for the Keywords searched.
Do we optimize search engines in SEO?
The answer is NO, Search Engine is software. We do not optimize search engines, we optimize our website which includes pages and posts to rank higher
What is a Search Engine?
A software system that searches the information from the World Wide Web (WWW) that we know as the Internet. The search is made using the user’s query typed in the search box.
The working of a Search Engine is important. Since it displays correct results as per the keyword searched.
The Search Engine indexes the following on the websites –
The Pages
The Posts
Images
Videos
Other Contents
Indexing helps to provide the best possible results to the queries made.
Different Search Engines
There are many search engines available. The most well-known and used Search Engine is Google
Microsoft Bing: It provides web search, image search, video search, and more similar to Google.
Yahoo: It is also another popular search engine that offers various features and services.
DuckDuckGo: This search engine is used to maintain privacy. This search engine doesn’t track user data.
Baidu: This search engine is used in China. It offers similar services like web search, image search, and other services.
Yandex: This search engine is used in Russia. It offers web search, maps, and other services.
Ask.com: Known for its question-and-answer format, Users use this platform to ask questions in any language.
Every Search engine has its own set of algorithms that it makes use of. Algorithms are updated and formulated from time to time as per the requirement.
Algorithms determine the relevance of the websites and thus produce search results based on Query.
Search Engines are very important and have become part of our life. Almost everyone makes use of the search engine to search for anything as per the requirement.
Why is Google popular?
Among the different Search Engines available. Google is one of the most popular and is being used by almost everyone.
Google provides exact related search results. The main reason for its dominance is the use of algorithms which is quite different from other search engines.
Algorithms are Complex system designs, used to deliver correct information based websites ranked by relevance on SERP
Top 5 algorithms
Panda – Started in February 2011. It focused more on Quality Content and No Plagiarism. Keyword stuffing was also checked.
Penguin 2012 – It focused more on backlinks/ link spamming. It resulted in a High authority domain.
Hummingbird 2013 – It focused on keyword stuffing and checking keyword density and ranked sites accordingly
Rankbrain 2015 is a machine algorithm that is used to sort the search results using
Relevant content
Keywords should be correctly used.
Page Experience Update 2021
Page experience with good quality content, user interface, time spent on the website and loading time of the pages.
Page Rank Algorithm
It is the most important and oldest one used by Google in 1998 by Larry Page, founder of Google.
It is thought to have stopped in 2006, but there is no concrete evidence for the same.
Calculates authority of the website-based page rank source
More backlinks more authority
How do Search Engines work?
To understand how SEO works and what practices should be followed in building a website that ranks higher and generates more traffic.
It is very important to understand the workings of Search Engine.
It is important to note that Google or other search engines have already worked before we have typed our search.
Search Engine lists the results when the keyword is searched But this is not an easy task as it seems.
There are different technical processes which have undergone in the background.
It is important to understand these so that we can create a website taking this aspect. The website then created is likely to be ranked high by the Search Engine.
Below are the stages of Search or activities which are being performed by the Search Engines.
Crawling
Search engines use Crawlers. These crawlers also known as spiders or bots crawl over the entire content of the website, including the links and Sitemaps. By crawling they gather information about the website and web pages.
Post-crawling and checking the complete details, it is saved in the local server.
So creating a sitemap is very important when we need the Crawler to crawl our entire website
Rendering
Search engines generate how the page will look using the HTML, Javascript and CSS information.
Indexing
Search engines analyze the data content and metadata adding them to the database to index them.
It refers to sorting out and categorising the data which is then saved onto the main server.
Ranking
Using different algorithms which are published from time to time. These algorithms catch hold of different parameters, gaze at the relevancy of the page and make the decision to show when researchers enter a query.
Step-by-Step SEO – Beginners
Keyword Research – This is the initial and important phase. Here we research and identify the most searched keywords based around which content can be created.
There are different tools available for top keyword research –
Ahref’s Keyword Explorer
Ubersuggest
Semrush
Google Keyword Planner
Google Trends
Google keywords- It’s time to search the keywords identified on Google itself. This gives us the clarity of the usage of the keyword from the search results page. It helps to narrow down the long list of keywords.
Reviewing the top-ranking web pages gives an idea of the keyword usage. Also a glimpse of the type of content to be created which Google will rank.
Create good content – The time is not to create good content around the keywords identified. For this, we need to develop a structure for the usage of keywords so that one keyword can be targeted for one page of content.
Create Backlinks – This is creating backlinks for our site. When this bank link is created from high authority sites, for search engine crawlers the site appears to be of high-quality content and thus ranks it higher.
Technical SEO- This refers to improving the technical aspects of the site. Technical optimization will help the crawler to index the site more effectively and increase ranking.
Enhance page content and user experience – This is an important SEO step which pulls the audience. Page quality should be improved by using quality content along with images and videos. Good Content attracts more audience and increases users’ experience. The audience keeps coming back and helping in driving traffic to the site.
Re-optimize Content – SEO is not a one-time process. It is a continuous process and we need to keep checking all the pages and consider the SEO strategy. We can make use of plugins and follow the tips and tricks along with recommendations. These changes will have an impact on the rankings.
Methods of SEO Optimization – Post/Page
1. Short and Crisp answer in Content – Main pointers to be used at the beginning of the answer. It should be easy to understand. Content should be relevant to the topics.
2. Use keywords throughout the article – Also it should not appear that keywords have been stuffed only. Avoid keyword stuffing.
3. Use of pointers and bullets – The content should be organized in a readable format. The use of points and bullets to share the information makes it easier to read and understand. This also increases good experience for the user.
We can also share information in the form of lists and tables to enhance the quality of content and experience.
4. Use Google Analytics/Monsterinsights – Optimization of Content using Google Analytics/Monsterinsights is very important. This helps us to know our visitors and also track user engagement.
5. Optimize the page’s Meta Description – Adding a short description about the page/posts gives an overall understanding to the visitor. It helps the visitor to know what would be the content and if it is of interest to him.
6. SEO best practices
Keywords in SEO Title and Description.
Keywords in Content and subheadings.
Categories and tags to be optimized.
Enough content to cover the topic.
Internal linking to other posts and pages.
Add title and Alt tags to your images.
Add FAQs section on each page.
Conclusion
SEO is very important when it comes to ranking a webpage. To be visible on the first page of the Search Engine Results page it is important to optimize the webpage.
SEO leads to an increase in traffic to the webpage and thus increases the visibility of the web page.
SEO is not a one-time process but an ongoing process which should be continuously done.