We live in an age where pretty much everything is accessible online. The digital space is expanding with every passing moment. It goes without saying that you need to carve out your niche to stand the competition.
With new businesses and websites emerging on a regular basis, it is certain that you need to pull up your socks and learn some SEO techniques to get on the grind.
For example, let’s say you need to know about what is happening in England after the Queen’s demise. You look it up on the search engine, and the search engine will pull out all the relevant tabs. Which will be displayed on a series of pages, and you click the very first link and read about it.
Your search tab has become the new librarian. For the librarian to pull out your website and display it on the first page, you need to optimize your page right, which is SEO.
What is SEO?
SEO is Search Engine Optimization. Webmasters and Digital markers use SEO for Organic Listing. The more organic your site is, the more important it is to have good rankings. This is why Google sets the ranking for a website based on the percentage of organic visitors.
SEO is not rocket science. You can also use them to rank your website for free, but you have to have a good SEO strategy in place. Studies show that it takes only 0.5 seconds for a user to leave your website if they feel it is not relevant to their search or does not meet up with their expectations.
Which means we only have 5 seconds to grab the attention of the user. Responsiveness of the website & loading speed of it matters. Basically, if someone searches for something and clicks on your website, you should make sure that he stays on your website longer. A lot goes behind a successful website!
Did you Know?
Over 90% of the websites on the internet have 0 traffic. That is, millions of active websites have only 0 – 2 visitors per year. Why do you think those websites do not have traffic? This is where the king (SEO) comes into play.
If you don’t end up on the first page of the search engine, there are 99% chances that you might end up in the unnoticed 10%. Want your website to stand on the other side of the internet? A side where you organically drive high traffic. Some SEO strategies to boost your business are definitely necessary.
How Does SEO Work?
Google uses this metric to rank your site by category. For example, if you have 2,000 visitors and 1,000 are part of a page titled “pets”, then your page has a ranking in the top 5% of all pages that are related to pets.
However, when you start adding more pages to your site, Google changes this metric to determine how many pages are related to each category and then ranks that list accordingly.
The problem with this is that if you have lots of pages related to pets and no page titled pets at all – then those pages will be listed as not being relevant enough and therefore not placed in Google’s index.
You can fix this by creating a new page titled animals or whatever you want – but it’s still going straight in there because it doesn’t fit the criteria for being ranked as relevant enough by Google.
The solution is simple: create two new pages – one called animals and one called pets! This creates two separate listings – one for dogs and another for cats! Figure out which one fits with your niche! Make sure they’re both on different sections of your site! Then put them under different headings so that they’re clearly separated from each other (i.e., cat vs dog).
Keywords – The KEY
Keyword relevancy is a key factor in ranking. The more relevant your web page is, the more likely you are to rank on Google. However, keyword relevancy varies depending on the website and how people search for information.
For example, we are using keywords that are related to “IT”, and then we also must use keywords relevant to IT, something like “Information Technology”, “Technical Support”, “Cloud Services”, etc. It doesn’t matter as long as it’s related to the website content.
In most cases, Google will find an answer to your query from keyword relevancy ranking factors by looking at the number of hits from your competitors, so if you have a high number of competitors, you will end up with a higher number of hits from your competitors.
The more relevant keywords you have, the faster Google will find answers for queries based on these factors.
Backlinks – The BACKUP
Backlinks are important for SEO because they help you rank higher in search engines. If you have a high number of quality backlinks, the higher you rank on the recommendation list. So, consider this as an SEO tip and start using high quality backlinks to help improve your SEO ranking.
A backlink is a link to a page on the internet that is not owned by the original website owner but may be from a third party. It is important to remember that all backlinks are links to related pages on your website because they will make your website more relevant to search engines.
Google Algorithms – The BETRAYER
Google is on a mission to provide the best relevant answers to its users. That is why Google always keeps their algorithms in a swirl – not to complain.
We agree that there are some algorithms out there to achieve Google, but they are a little more complicated than the ones you can find on the web. The chances are huge for your website to be penalized.
If you want to make SEO easier, you could use these simple Python scripts and run them manually. These are simple algorithms that can be used to rank your site in Google, as well as other search engines.
Types & Techniques of SEO
SEO can be majorly classified under three types
- Technical SEO
- On-page SEO
- Off-page SEO
As far as SEO Techniques are concerned, there are three major types
- White Hat SEO
- Black Hat SEO
- Grey Hat SEO
Tips to Increase Your Ranking
Below are some tips to increase your ranking for your website. Check out now!
- Provide well-written, well-structured and informative content
- Keep up with current trends and changes in search engine algorithms.
- Avoid plagiarizing your content should be unique
- Right amount of keywords, overstuffing keywords is a big No-No
- High quality backlinks make your site more relevant
TOP 10 ADVANTAGES & DISADVANTAGES OF SEO
Top 10 Benefits / Advantages of SEO
1. SEO for Everybody
SEO is not limited to the size of the organization. Any organization can optimize their website, be it a small business or an established organization. SEO can work magic on your website if done properly.
2. Guaranteed Unlimited Traffic
Once you optimize your website right, it naturally pops on the first page of the search engine. Which practically means your website is relevant to the user’s search, and there is a hundred percent possibility that the user will land on your page.
3. Quality Traffic
Unlike Google / Facebook Ads that pops for relevant audiences on random pages, the audience may be the target audience but not the intended ones. This is one of the major pros of SEO. The users who visit your site actually have the need for services and can definitely be turned into sales.
4. Relatively Less Expensive
Google ads, in the long run, can be expensive. By optimizing your website right, you can avoid this. In fact, studies say that SEO brings in greater ROI (Return of Investment) for its users. It is relatively less expensive and an efficient marketing choice.
5. Solidifies Your Brand
We are in an age where people trust recommendations from Google. Doing some SEO magic to your website can actually increase your brand awareness. It will help you stand strong in the evolving market.
6. Builds Trust & Credibility
Our search engine has become our unsaid advisor, be it anything. Let us be honest and accept the fact that we blindly trust Google’s recommendations. People believe these recommendations are trustworthy. Imagine your website being recommended, it will gradually build trust & credibility for your brand.
7. Can Increase your Social Media
The more you build your trust among users, the more you are likely to gain brand credibility. The more credible you are as a brand can help you gain visitors by backlinks. By this way, there is an automatic shift in your social media number.
8. Better Conversion Rate
The user who lands on your website through a google search actually is in search of your products/services. This, in other terms, is known as “Search Marketing”. They are your quality leads. Better optimization enhances your chances of a better conversion rate
9. On the Longer Run, SEO is a Better Choice
Google Ads pop up only until you are willing to pay for them. Once you stop paying, your website will gradually slip to the second or third page if not optimized properly. How long will you pay for Google to bring your website on the first page? That is why SEO is a better choice in the long run.
10. Measurable Results
SEO results are measurable. By this, you can, in real time track what strategies are working for you and which are not. This will be of great help to ace up your games when you feel you are not getting desired results.
Top 10 Drawbacks / Disadvantages of SEO
1. Time Consuming
Let us get the cat out of the bag, SEO is not something that can be done overnight. It takes time. We strategize plans, apply them and wait for them to work. If not, we carve out plans that will give us desired results. SEO works only by trial and error method.
2. No Instant Results
As said earlier, SEO is not an overnight job. You cannot optimize your website in a day, it takes time. There goes a lot of work behind every successful website. You will at least need a minimum of six months to see impactful results.
3. Not Predictable
The major downfall of SEO is that they are not predictable. You can get 1000-2000 visitors one day and get 0-2 visitors another. It doesn’t go into great detail about how those tools work or what they actually do.
4. You Need an SEO Expert to do the Job
Though SEO can be done yourself by learning strategies from the internet, you need an actual expert to do it for you. Organizations hire experts to get the job done quicker and to drive quality traffic at the earliest.
5. Risk of Getting Penalized
Just like your work organization, your search engine also follows a set of rules and regulations to maintain its traffic and provide a great user experience. You are in safe hands until you abide by them. If you slip them, your website might be at risk of penalization.
6. Stable Ranking – Not Promised
Your website might do amazing and rank on the first page one day and be pushed down by competitors the next. There are no promised stable rankings. Your competitors might do a better job and stand your place.
7. Appears After Google Ads
Your search engine is a little partial. They provide a special place to users who pay for them. That is, if you pay for Google Ads, your page is recommended on the first page even if your website is not optimized properly. Then follows the other recommendations.
8. Constant Maintenance
Your website/webpage needs constant maintenance, and it’s a major drawback. Constant checking for broken links, deterred images, and outdated data is necessary. Broken links can also be a reason for weighing your rankings down.
9. Do Not Have Full Control
Search engine algorithms keep switching on a daily basis. Keeping up with them and optimizing your website in accordance with them might be a tedious task. It is sure that you do not have absolute control over everything.
10. Get Ready to Create Bulk Content
Creating bulky content is also another way of bringing up your website’s ranking. It helps in the visibility of your website. Bulk content means tons of information with a handful of keywords. Irrelevant content can also bring down your rankings.
To Sum Up
Optimizing your website and making it appear on the front page of the search engine. It helps in driving quality traffic to your website without even shelling a penny. SEO is kind of cool. But, it is an extensive topic that still needs to be figured out even by experts.
SEO has taken an inevitable part in this digital world. It can do so much to your business. All you need is some strategies under your sleeve, a lot of patience and tons of effort.
FAQs
Q. What do you mean by SEO?
A. SEO means Search Engine Optimization. It is the process of optimizing the website to increase the visibility of your website in search engines.
Q. What are the types of SEO?
A. SEO is major of three types: Technical SEO, On page SEO & Off page SEO.
Q. What are the challenges of SEO?
A. Challenges of SEO are;
- It is a time-consuming process
- You do not have full control
- Rankings are not stable
Q. What are the 2 advantages of search engine optimization?
A. The two advantages of Search Engine Optimization are it can drive quality traffic to your website, and it can build brand visibility.
