An Introduction to SEO for Beginners
SEO can seem complicated for beginners.
Search Engine Optimization, in simpler terms, is a method to increase your website’s visibility in search results from Google, Yahoo!, Bing, or other search engines.
Complex algorithms determine the order in which Google returns results when you search for something on Google.
These algorithms, also known as search engine ranking elements, take into consideration a variety of rules before deciding which web page will appear in the first, second, and third positions.
Search engines give you an edge over unoptimized websites and increase your chances of ranking higher.
What are the key stages of Search Engine Optimization?
SEO, as I said above, is not a static process. It is a framework that has rules and processes.
To make it easier to understand, SEO can be broken into 3 main categories:
SEO Overview
Technical SEO: This is a technique that allows search engines to index and crawl your website quickly.
On-site SEO: Guidelines to follow for your site and content in order to make it search engine-friendly.
Off-site SEO: is a way to promote your blog or website so it ranks higher in search results.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO is the first stage of the SEO process. Technical SEO is not, as the name suggests, concerned with actual website content or website promotion.
This is about the settings that you must configure to make it easier for search engine crawlers. Most of the time, once your technical SEO is perfect, you won’t have to do it again.
However, problems with indexing or crawling can have a negative impact on your rankings.
Our Technical SEO Guide will help you to perform a technical SEO audit and make sure that everything is functioning as it should.
On-site SEO
The second stage of On-Page Search Engine Optimization is the final. On-Page SEO deals primarily with content and other elements on a page.
On-page SEO has a different focus than technical and off-page. Its main goal is to give search engine crawlers sufficient signals so they can understand the meaning of your content.
Search engines can’t read pages like humans so they look for signals to determine what the page is about.
This is where you will be focusing on website structure, SEO keywords, and title optimizations, headings, and internal links. You can also use structured data markup to send signals to search engines.
On-page SEO can also help improve the credibility and usability of a blog or website if done correctly.
While content optimization is an important part of on-page SEO, it is sometimes referred to as Content SEO.
The On-Page SEO guide explains in detail the various on-page SEO methods.
Off-site SEO
The third stage of SEO is Off-Page.
You can make changes to your website (onsite SEO) to increase its ranking in the SERPs. However, there are other ways to improve your website’s ranking.
Although off-site SEO is commonly known as link building, I prefer the term website promotion because a proper way of promoting a website requires many more techniques and methods than just building links.
Why is off-page optimization important?
Search engine algorithms generally look at the index of search queries that users type to find pages that meet their intent.
Good candidates’ pages appear at the top of search results.
The number of backlinks (incoming links) is one of the main factors that determine the rank of a webpage in search results.
Backlinks can be a sign of trust. Depending on the source, they could have a significant impact on your ranking position.
Your ranking will be affected if the links come from trusted and well-respected sites.
Your ranking will be affected if they are paid links, links from article directories, link farm results, or results of an exchange.
This is a violation of Google guidelines. It will most likely result in a Google Penalty.
What can you do for more links?
It’s a great question. I’m sure you will find hundreds of answers if you search the Internet using that phrase.
High-quality content will lead to natural links, which will in turn result in high rankings and traffic.
You might have temporary success if you buy links or try to get them the easiest way. However, your website may disappear from the first pages of Google after the next Google update.