When you use Google (or any other search engine) to explore for a term, have you ever queried how the websites in the first search results page got there when there are apparently thousands of other competing websites which match your search term?
Well, the answer to that question is Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Those first few websites had better SEO than their opponents. So, what is SEO? Simply, it is a marketing strategy used to improve the ranking of a website in search engines.
Check out this video from commom craft in collaboration with search engine land here to get the brief introduction on how search engine optimization works.
SEO can be done in several ways. The main (and effective) SEO methods are the following:
1) SEO titles, headers, and URL
2) Back-linking/Link Building
3) Publishing SEO content
4) The use of images, videos
5) Regular updates
This article will quickly touch on each of these SEO techniques. Each of these techniques will be explained in detail in subsequent articles.
Alpha Bee Design gives a clear picture of the SEO process:
SEO titles, headers, and URL addresses
The title of a web page is different from its heading. The title is shown on the 'tab' of that web page while the heading is shown on the web page itself.
When you insert a search term (known as the keyword), the search engine tries to find websites whose title, heading and URL address matches that inserted query or keyword. If the title, heading or the URL address of a website meets your keyword, then that website is given a higher ranking than others.
For example, if the keyword you inserted is "Chicago movers", a website having the URL address: "https://www.chicagomovers.com/" is given a higher ranking than a website having the URL address: "https://www.newcitymovers.com/".
Back-linking
When you visit a website, you will normally see numerous hyperlinks linking that website to other websites. These links are called as backlinks. Websites like Wikipedia is a good example for back-links. Wikipedia lists all the refering websites at the bottom.
These hyperlinks (at the bottom of an article) are back-links of the respective reference websites. Backlinks really helps in boosting the ranking of a website. Generally, the more backlinks a website has, more it improves the ranking.
Writing SEO content
Search engines try to match the inserted keyword with the content of websites. For example, if your keyword is "local moving in Chicago", the search engine will search for articles having the term "local moving in Chicago". However, there will be millions of articles having the term "local moving in Chicago" in them. The search engine will rank these articles according to the "keyword density" of the articles. Keyword density is determined by dividing the number of keywords in the article by the total number of words and then multiplying the result by 100.
For example, if a hundred-worded article has the keyword "local moving in Chicago" repeated twice in it, the article has a keyword density of 2%. Articles having a keyword densityof 0.5-2% are generally given the highest ranking.
This on-page optimization infographic from Backlinko modified by neilpatel will show you what matters, when it comes to creating SEO-friendly content. Have a look here :
The use of images, videos etc.
Everybody prefers graphical websites, compared to plain-text websites. Adding infographics is a good way to enagage people.The major search engines know this and therefore; they give websites containing multimedia (graphics, videos and flash applications) a higher ranking than other websites.
Regular updates
People have an insatiable thirst for new information and facts. The major search engines address this need by giving the websites which are constantly updated a higher ranking than other websites.