Have you ever found the website that you’re looking for on the second page of the search results? The answer is probably no! That’s because search engines are finely tuned to get you the result you’re looking for -the first time.
So, how exactly do you get your website onto the first page of the search engine results page (SERP)? The answer lies in search engine optimization (SEO).
But exactly what is SEO? And why is SEO so important to your website?
In this guide, we’ll let you know all of the basics. Here is the novice’s guide to SEO.
What Is SEO?
When a search engine gets a search request, it needs to scan through over 1.7 billion sites. The search engines use powerful algorithms to help rank them in order of relevance.
There are numerous different factors that go into deciding where your site should sit in the rankings.
Search engine optimization is the process of getting your website to rank higher in the search results.
There are four main elements to SEO. These are:
- On-page SEO
- Off-page SEO
- Technical SEO
- Local SEO
Let’s look at these in more detail.
Types of SEO
On-Page SEO
On-page SEO relates to anything you do on your site to help improve its ranking position. This includes writing great content that people will want to search for and read.
To create great content, you first of all need to do some keyword research. You’ll want to use keywords that users are searching for, but that is easy enough to rank for.
Off-Page SEO
Off-page SEO refers to anything that you do away from your site to promote it. This includes link-building and guest posting on other people’s websites. Note that you always want to target quality sites and there are several tools for link building to help find them.
Some people argue that social media use counts as off-page SEO.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO relates to anything that you do under the hood of your website to make sure it ranks higher. This includes making your site more responsive and making it work on all devices.
Search engines know that people will be accessing sites from all kinds of devices. They also know that people won’t wait around for sites to load. For these reasons page load speeds and the ability for a site to work on a mobile device are ranking factors.
Local SEO
Local SEO is important for driving your local business forward. If you want to appear on searches that rank for local intent, you’ll need to think about local SEO.
There are several things you can do to improve your local SEO ranking. Sign up to Google My Business and get yourself a presence on the Local Pack (the maps section at the top of the search results).
Use local keywords such as “New York plumber” or “electrician near me”.
You may also want to hire a New York SEO company to promote your NYC business.
Including SEO In Your Digital Marketing Strategy
What is SEO? SEO is an essential element of any digital marketing strategy. It’s how you get your site to rank on search engines.
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