081-4797-7173
Ever wondered why you get linked to particular sites when you Google a particular keyword? Have you seen the words SEO come up several times but never really understood what it meant? Have you been wondering how to utilize SEO for your online business? Then, you are in the right place.
Dive in for your beginner’s guide to SEO and see how to rank higher.
What is SEO?
SEO is short for Search Engine Optimization – a concept that can define the success or failure of your digital business. It is the process of enhancing the visibility of your site based on the content and link popularity.
This helps them become easier to find on search engines’ result pages (SERP) which increases the number of clicks (or traffic) to your website.
SEO is very important for online businesses as it can increase brand recognition. In addition, it increases the amount of traffic to the website by making it rank higher.
photo from unsplash.
How It Works
Once a query is typed into a search engine (such as Google), it runs it through an algorithm which filters through the vast results and chooses the most relevant for that query. This depends on the content, relevance and quality of the website.
Each site is ranked based on these factors, appearing on the first or last page of results depending on how the site is performing.
With Google, there is also a provision for paid ads which are typically the first to appear on the SERP.
SEO applies to websites that are not paid which are referred to as organic sites.
How to Rank Higher
Keywords
The first step is to ensure that you’re using the right keywords in your post titles and content to direct the right traffic to your site. It’s also important to look out for the keyword search volume and keyword difficulty score as these will determine your ranking.
The right keyword can accelerate your ranking or leave you at the bottom. So, before you start putting out content, do the necessary research and find out what your target audience is on the lookout for.
Content
This is what contributes majorly to the visibility of your site. It determines the relevance of your site which in turn determines the rank.
Optimize the content you create around the keywords you’re targeting. This can be done by placing it in the title, url and meta-title and meta-description tags.
On-site Optimization
The setup of your site also determines how the search engine is able to recognize and rank it. Factors like how much it would take to read (dwell time), links, duplicate content are considered by the search engine just as a reader would.
To increase your rank, make sure it is easy to read, links are working and try not to fill it out with too many images.
Links
This is how you can generate popularity for your site. When a website adds a link to your content, creating a back link, this increases the authority of your site. The search engine recognizes this as also added popularity and ranks it higher.
The process of creating more backlinks is called link building. You can achieve this by reaching out to other sites, guest posting, profile linking or just let it happen organically.
Lastly,
Remember that SEO is a long term strategy so don’t worry if you don’t rank first immediately. Keep improving your brand content and optimizing keywords and try to use the many SEO tools available.
