Every day, people around the world use the internet for all sorts of tasks – from the complex; like planning an international trip, or researching a project, to simpler things like ordering lunch or chatting to a friend. As we’re working online, most of us use search engines to get the information we want, quickly and easily. We don’t consciously think about where this information is coming from and how it’s organized as it zippily arrives in our browser windows.
But how do search engines know what we want and when? When we punch in a search request, there’s a lot going on behind the scenes to deliver our results; algorithms trawl through the various options and show us what they think we will like the best, what suits our search terms the best. The businesses, brands and online stores trying to get our attention rely on SEO – or search engine optimisation – to get noticed by the algorithm, and so get put at the top of search engine results pages. SEO is complex and ever evolving, and this short guide will help you understand it better.
What is SEO?
The best way to get noticed online, as a brand, business or online store, is to increase your rankings in search engine results pages for search terms that are relevant to your niche. By placing higher in search results, brands and businesses online increase traffic to their websites. A well-formulated and executed SEO strategy will increase traffic to websites but also improves a brand’s online reputation – the more people who see and interact with the brand, the more recognised it becomes.
Search engines and algorithms
Search engines program their algorithms with a set of rules to track and place websites and rank them appropriately in search results. Google is one of the most commonly used search engines, dealing with more than one trillion websites on a daily basis.
The ranking process happens in three steps:
- Crawling: the algorithm picks through links between web pages, determining which pages have the most useful and relevant links – the more quality links a page has, the higher it will place in the search.
- Indexing: this involves taking information from websites, sorting and indexing it and cataloging it away for future reference.
- Ranking: ranking of websites happens in two stages, firstly; the algorithm analyzes the search terms to make sure it understands what the user is asking for, then the algorithm ranks pages according to the search request, and the crawling and indexing it has done.
What’s included in this SEO guide?
SEO is complex, and there are so many ways you can increase your brand’s visibility online – from the simple to the complex. Some commonly used SEO tactics:
Utilizing keywords: this involves researching what words consumers are typing into search engines when they are looking for what they need.
- Link building: by linking out to content a website demonstrates that they consider the link content to be useful and relevant. Google clocks these links and uses them to determine where the host website should sit in search results – the more backlinks the higher the ranking.
- Website functionality improvements: having a user-friendly website is essential for SEO. Search engines will check things like loading speeds and click-throughs to make sure your page is functioning well and that users will get what they need if they visit it.
- Content creation: consistently creating relevant and useful content is key pillar of SEO success; it not only shows the algorithm that you are an authority in your niche or industry but it will attract organic backlinks from your industry peer websites, which also increase your SEO.
We’ve just scratched the surface of SEO and how it works. You can learn Perfect Link Building’s SEO Guide online or visit https://perfectlinkbuilding.com/
