"Effective Search Engine Optimization Requires a Commitment, Not a Campaign." — James Reynolds
So if you are a startup founder or a business owner, the biggest key to success is being able to use marketing to grow your business.
This means looking at all the potential marketing channels and deciding which one is cheap and best is very important for your business success.
Especially if you're starting up, then digital marketing is the first thing which comes to mind.
SEOI know you would have heard this term before but if you're new to SEO or just need to brush up on your skills, you are reading the right content.
In this article , I have tried to discuss the below points:-Side Note : Skip to the section which interest you the most.
So, we are getting started now…😎
What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is the process of improving a website's visibility on search engines.
OR
SEO is the process of optimizing your website & it's overall footprint so you can show up higher on search engines like Google, yahoo, etc., and thus get more free traffic, thus more sales.
For example, if your startup develops "CRM Softwares" then you want to show up in Google when someone searches "CRM Software" or Just "CRM"
SEO can help you in this as if any one searches for "CRM software" then you're more likely to show up in top search engine results.
Overview on Search Engines.Let's cover the basics first…
In order to understand SEO, it is very important to understand how a search engine like Google works.
Image Source : Visual.lyFor a search query say "CRM Software", there are thousands even billions, of webpages with potentially relevant information. I recommend going through Google's excellent guide on "How Search Works".
There are 3 main functions of a search engine:-
Crawling and IndexingSearch engines basically finds information by crawling the web. They crawl the web by using robots basically referred as "web crawlers". They crawl from site-to-site to find information on the web.
They take all of the pages they crawl, collect them, and bring them back to the main servers for storage in the database which includes billions of webpages.
Actually, this is the basic and initial process where search begins…
Ranking ResultsSo, now the indexing and collection has been done. What do they do with all that information? Imagine a flow…
"Alice" goes to Google and types a keyword "CRM Software". Google searches through all of the records within their search index and determines which pages they believe are relevant for "CRM software",They then rank all of the relevant pages from most relevant to least relevant. Google uses an algorithm called Page Rank to rank pages.
Page rank algorithm is a highly sophisticated algorithm which includes over 200 different ranking factors that they use to evaluate every single web page against. This helps them to rank the page from most relevant to least.
Serving Useful RecordsAfter the search engines has analyzed all relevant pages and evaluated them through their ranking algorithm, they will return the pages in their Search Engine Results Page (SERP), ordered from most relevant to least.
The thumb rule is to get yourself ranked top the order.This is because the higher the result appears on the page, more the users clicks.
For example, a 2014 study showed that
the first 5 results in Google get 67% of all clicks.A typical SERP contains paid search results as well as unpaid, but it's important to note that SERP layouts can change as the time goes on .
Image Source : ScreenShot from Google.com What are the factors that affect your Rankings?We mentioned above that Google has 200+ ranking factors, by definition there are many factors that can affect how well your site ranks.
To break it down to it's most basic definition, there are basically two things that can impact how well you rank:
Off-Site(e.g. Factors Occurring Away From Your Site)
These include external factors. For example, whether or not other websites link to your site, social media, other digital marketing, PR, etc.
On-Site(e.g. factors Occurring On Your Site)
This includes the content on your site, the kind of words that you use, accessibility of your site, how fast it loads, UI experience, site architecture & design etc…
How long does it take to be successful in SEO?"If you're going to post content on your site anyway, you might as well take the time to make sure google takes notice of your effort." -The Content Factory
Generally speaking, an SEO strategy should begin to give positive results in 6–9 months, I know it feels like a long time, but it is so.
Additionally it depends on several factors including:
Success is a Relative Term
As the former Googler Maile Ohye said :
"To some, SEO seems like black magic. Having worked with Google search for over a decade, what I've learned is that first, it's not black magic. And second, if you want long-term success, there aren't any quick magical tricks that an SEO will provide so that your site ranks #1."
"It's important to note, that an SEO's potential is only as high as the quality of your business or website. So successful SEO helps your website put your best foot forward so that it ranks appropriately in a spot where an unbiased potential customer would expect your site to be seen. A successful SEO also looks to improve the entire searcher experience from search results, to clicking on your website, and potentially converting."
"In most cases, SEO's need four months to a year to help your business first implement improvements and then see potential benefits."
Should I go for Pay-Per-Click (PPC)?In my opinion ,SEO is a long-term investment and Pay-Per-Click and other forms of paid advertising are a short-term one.
Not only that but SEO does take a lot of time and effort whereas, a PPC campaign can probably be up and running in a few hours or days.
If we go as per marketing budget, SEO is usually the most efficient long-term marketing channel when you consider the spend.
Again I do not mean that PPC is bad. But rather PPC is a very good source of digital exposure. In fact, SEO and PPC typically work well together.
It's important to have a good understanding of both to be successful both short and long-term.
What are the basic pillars of the SEO Strategy?I suggest laying out an SEO strategy before even you start off…
The general approach to laying out SEO strategy using five critical pillars is the general practice…
1. Technical OptimizationFor me good technical optimisation is the base of all, on which the SEO strategy depends. It needs serious work to reap benefits in future.
In good technical optimization we make sure that Google and other search engines like Bing, yahoo can crawl and index your pages. If there is a problem, no matter how awesome your design is, you will not get the results.
Good technical SEO also includes good technical page set-up in which you make your website structurally more crawlable in the eyes of Search Engine.
We look at a site from a technical perspective, it basically involves digging into topics like:
After establishing a technically sound website, now comes the part of content. If you want to do well in SEO, having content that is relevant to your target customer is very important.
When it comes to content optimization, this means having content that is highly customised towards your audience searches.
You can actually do this by
Once you are done with technical and content optimisation.
Here are some good questions to ask yourself:
So technical and content are done. UX and UE are good, now comes the engagement part…
Ask yourself:
According to me, the off-site promotion pillar is the last because it's one of the most difficult to execute.
According to me, while the steps above can take you far in SEO, no good SEO strategy is complete without off-site promotion.
Search engines look at both the quantity of links to a site or page as well as the quality of links. For example, a link to your website from an authoritative site like The Financial Times is worth more in terms of SEO than a link from a lower quality website.
Additionally, Google will also look at the way people link to your website like say, many websites link to your site using the anchor text "CRM Softwares" then it is a clear indication to them that your site is relevant for that phrase.
This is called link building and is the hardest thing to do in SEO because
A) the link has to occur on someone else's website
B) it is difficult to get people make the effort to link to your website.
What happens if you try Tricking the Search Engine?"Successful SEO is not about tricking Google. It's about PARTNERING with Google to provide the best search results for Google's users." — Phil Frost, Main Street ROI
A good SEO is not going to give you magical results overnight & get you #1 rankings. Proper SEO strategy is a long-term play.
If you want to get a top position without much effort then I would honestly recommend not to go with SEO. There is no shortcuts to Good SEO.
Google algorithms are so sophisticated that if you do take shortcuts and get a ranking through artificial means, they will eventually catch you, and when they do, it won't be good for your website. You can even be blacklisted or penalized.
In fact, they have an entire set of Webmaster Quality Guidelines to govern the SEO tactics. Some of them are as under:
Here comes the concept of "White-Hat vs. Black-Hat"The main difference between the word "White-Hat & Black-Hat" is — those who show themselves as "white-hat" would never indulge in something that would penalize a website & those who say themselves as "black-hat" make every active effort to violate Google's quality guidelines.
How Do you Evaluate your performance?This is for all. Here are the steps:
Audit — Do this RegularlyIt applies to everyone. Whether you're a beginner or SEO expert, audit is an important unbiased way to know where the problem is and I believe opportunities lie where the problems are.
Technical audit:
Content strategy audit:
"Content Is King, but Marketing Is Queen and Runs the Household." — Gary Vaynerchuck
I will suggest to start there. Your audits shouldn't be a one-timer or a formality type. It should be a regular & unbiased one depending on the size and complexity of your site.
Always compare result from your last audit.
What are the best SEO tools ?There is a big range of SEO tools that can help you doing things more effectively.
Below are a few personal favorites:
If done correctly SEO can absolutely grow to be one of your biggest source of traffic and more importantly it would be long term.
SEO as a "Zero Sum Game." I feel in order to be successful, we have to replace other websites. I know it takes a lot of hard work and dedication. But remember once done successfully with constant monitoring, it becomes harder and harder for other sites to beat you.
Hopefully, I have tried my best to show you the right direction for SEO, which I think would help you achieve success.
Best of Luck…👍
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