What Is SEO? An Intro to Search Engine Optimization

What Is SEO?

SEO (search motor optimization) is an effort to marque your website much disposable successful hunt engines similar Google—without paying for ads. 

It’s sometimes called SEO marketing, SEO optimization, oregon integrated hunt marketing. And it tin assistance you gain integrated (unpaid) rankings similar this:

And get much marque consciousness and postulation arsenic a result.

Basically, SEO involves making your tract much appealing to users and hunt engines.

There are 4 main elements successful immoderate well-rounded SEO strategy:

1. Keyword research: Finding retired what your people assemblage searches for
2. On-page SEO: Optimizing webpages and their content
3. Off-page SEO: Getting different sites to nexus to your site—which tin boost its reputation
4. Technical SEO: Improving your site’s wide show and accessibility

You’ll larn much astir these later.

Search Engine Marketing vs. Search Engine Optimization

Search motor selling (SEM) is the process of promoting a concern done unpaid oregon paid results connected hunt engines—often both.

• SEO is the subset of SEM that focuses connected integrated results. It tin make postulation that you don’t person to wage the hunt motor for.
• Pay-per-click (PPC) selling is the subset of SEM that focuses connected sponsored (paid) results. It involves mounting up advertisement campaigns and paying to tally them and make traffic.

Paid results don’t ever look connected hunt motor results pages (SERPs). But erstwhile they do, they thin to look astatine the top. With immoderate benignant of “Sponsored” oregon “Ad” label.

Like this:

PPC tin springiness you contiguous visibility for high-value keywords. Whereas SEO tin instrumentality weeks oregon months to amusement results. 

But integrated results thin to person higher click-through rates. Because users often spot them much than they bash ads. And integrated results tin make sustained postulation astatine small to nary ongoing cost.

Why Is SEO Important?

In integer marketing, SEO is important due to the fact that it helps you capitalize connected the integrated marque consciousness and postulation that hunt engines generate.

For example, REI’s SEO strategy yields astir 7.4M monthly visitors. According to Semrush’s Organic Research tool:

If you don’t usage SEO, you’re improbable to fertile prominently for applicable terms. Which limits your quality to scope caller prospects and transportation them to convert.

Users volition astir apt spell to a rival instead.

After all, a higher ranking typically translates into much impressions and a amended click-through rate.

And since website SEO improves the acquisition for users, it tin besides pb to amended engagement and conversion rates. Plus accrued postulation from different sources—not conscionable hunt engines.

Ultimately, SEO tin present a bully instrumentality connected investment.

How Does SEO Work?

SEO works by aligning your website with however hunt engines specify bully hunt results.

Basically, hunt engines usage analyzable processes and criteria to fertile hunt results. With the purpose of giving users the champion hunt experience.

Working connected your website and contented with these systems successful caput tin assistance you summation much visibility.

That said, SEO is not a cleanable science.

Search engines are somewhat secretive astir the systems they use. And perpetually alteration them to further amended hunt results.

So, testing, analysis, and adaptation are important to SEO success.

How Do Search Engines Work?

Search engines enactment by crawling, indexing, and ranking contented connected the internet.

Here’s what each of those means:

• Crawling: The hunt motor uses automated programs (known arsenic bots oregon crawlers) to research the web and observe content. They chiefly bash this by pursuing hyperlinks.
• Indexing: The hunt motor analyzes the content. If it's eligible, the hunt motor indexes the contented (adds it to the database of imaginable hunt results).
• Ranking: When a idiosyncratic enters a query, the hunt motor tries to recognize search intent (what the searcher wants). Then uses a analyzable algorithm to contiguous the champion results from its index.

When your contented is presented successful hunt results, it tin instrumentality a fig of forms. Like accepted hunt listings (the modular bluish links).

But Google commonly displays SERP features (non-standard results) to marque the hunt acquisition much engaging.

For example, this SERP includes a fashionable products section:

There are besides rich snippets (normal results with other elements).

Like this one, which includes an representation and a prima rating:

Things that power your presence, positioning, and quality connected the SERP are known arsenic ranking factors.

They include: 

• The relevancy and prime of your content
• The beingness of keywords connected your page
• The fig and prime of links you person from different sites (which tin boost your reputation)
• How you usage schema markup (which helps hunt engines recognize and categorize accusation connected your site)
• The velocity and usability of your site

Types of SEO

Here are immoderate of the astir important types of hunt motor optimization marketing:

On-Page SEO 

On-page SEO is the process of optimizing webpages to amended their hunt visibility.

It’s mostly astir utilizing keywords effectively.

Keywords are applicable hunt presumption you privation the leafage to fertile for. And they assistance amusement hunt engines (and users) that your contented is applicable to their search.

It’s champion signifier to incorporated your keywords into the assemblage contented and the pursuing locations, when it’s earthy to bash so:

• Title tag: The HTML leafage rubric that tin look successful SERPs
• Meta description: The HTML leafage summary that tin look successful SERPs
• H1 tag: The HTML constituent that contains the on-page title
• Subheading tags: HTML tags that incorporate subheadings (H2s, H3s, etc.)
• Alt text: HTML representation descriptions 
• URL slug: The unsocial portion of the webpage address

It’s important to debar keyword stuffing (forcing successful keywords wherever they don’t belong). Because Google considers this to beryllium a spammy practice.

Violating Google’s spam policies tin pb to a punishment that harms your hunt visibility.

Off-Page SEO

Off-page SEO refers to things you tin bash outside of your website to amended its hunt visibility.

It astir commonly refers to link building. Which is the process of getting different high-quality websites to nexus to your website. 

These kinds of links are called backlinks. And they tin assistance your SEO by signaling that your website is utile and trustworthy. 

Other off-page tactics similar social media management, online estimation management, and email marketing tin indirectly payment your SEO. By helping thrust marque consciousness and engagement.

Technical SEO

Technical SEO is improving method aspects of your website with the purpose of improving its hunt visibility.

The astir important happening is ensuring that hunt engines tin crawl and scale your website properly. This whitethorn involve:

• Using meta robots tags and robots.txt to power the behaviour of hunt motor bots
• Creating an XML sitemap that helps hunt engines recognize your tract structure
• Building internal links that assistance hunt bots (and users) navigate your site

After that, you tin absorption connected idiosyncratic acquisition factors specified arsenic leafage speed, website security, and mobile-friendliness.

Image SEO

Image SEO is the process of optimizing images connected your website truthful they whitethorn look much prominently successful hunt results. And assistance your wider SEO performance.

For example, representation optimization tin assistance you gain vulnerability similar this:

Common tactics include:

• Resizing and compressing images truthful they load much quickly
• Adding alt text (HTML representation descriptions) that helps hunt engines and radical utilizing surface readers recognize what images depict 
• Making definite images are visually appealing and utile to your audience

Google displays images successful the apical 20 results for implicit fractional of U.S. SERPs, according to Semrush Sensor information from September 2024. And tons of users spell straight to Google Images.

So, there’s a immense accidental to gain postulation from your images. 

Video SEO 

Video SEO is the process of creating and optimizing videos for maximum visibility successful hunt results. This includes results connected hunt engines (like Google) and video platforms (like YouTube).

Common tactics include:

• Performing YouTube keyword research to spot what videos users hunt for
• Adding keywords to your video rubric and description
• Using schema markup to assistance hunt engines recognize embedded videos 

Local SEO

Local SEO is an effort to amended your visibility successful location-based hunt results.

For example, erstwhile idiosyncratic searches “outdoor store adjacent me” oregon “portland outdoor store”:

So, section SEO is important if you service customers successful a circumstantial area. Or person 1 oregon much brick-and-mortar locations radical tin visit.

One of the astir important factors successful section SEO is optimizing your Google Business Profile. Because Google evaluates and ranks profiles (rather than webpages) successful map-based results.

Other tactics include:

• Listing your concern successful online directories
• Encouraging and responding to Google reviews
• Publishing localized contented connected your website

How to Get Started with SEO

To truly recognize the meaning of SEO and however it works, you request to enactment it into practice.

Here’s however to get started:

Conduct a Technical SEO Audit

If hunt engines can’t crawl oregon scale your tract properly, your different efforts mightiness spell to waste. So, it’s astute to statesman with a technical SEO audit.

Enter your domain into Semrush’s Site Audit instrumentality and click “Start Audit.”

Create oregon motion successful to your escaped relationship (which lets you audit up to 100 pages per month). Then, travel the steps to acceptable everything up.

The instrumentality volition cheque your tract for implicit 140 issues.

Once your audit is ready, click the fig successful the “Errors” section:

These are the astir terrible SEO issues connected your site.

Click “Why and however to hole it” for much accusation astir each one. And usage the “Send to…” buttons to make tasks for your squad successful Trello, Zapier, oregon the Semrush CRM.

Once you’ve fixed the issues, rerun the audit to cheque that everything’s moving properly.

You should besides spot your Site Health people improve.

Perform Keyword Research

Keyword research is the process of discovering what hunt presumption your people audiences use.

It’s important due to the fact that it tells you what these users want. Plus, utilizing keywords efficaciously tin assistance you fertile higher for them.

One mode to find keywords is with Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool. Enter a wide starting word that’s related to your business, take your country, and click “Search.” 

The instrumentality volition stitchery “Broad Match” keywords that incorporate your starting keyword oregon a adjacent variation. 

We urge that SEO beginners filter for keywords with a debased keyword difficulty people (KD %). 

Like this:

Why? 

The little the KD%, the weaker the contention from different sites. And the easier it should beryllium to execute a precocious integrated ranking.

This is particularly important erstwhile you’re conscionable starting retired successful SEO.

You tin besides usage these keyword metrics to place the champion keyword opportunities:

• Intent: The benignant of hunt intent down the keyword. This tin beryllium informational, navigational, commercial, and/or transactional. It indicates what benignant of contented the emblematic idiosyncratic is looking for.
• Volume: The keyword hunt volume. Which is the mean fig of Google searches each month, according to our data. 
• Trend: How existent hunt volumes person fluctuated implicit the past 12 months. This tin assistance you recognize if a keyword is seasonal. Or declining oregon expanding successful popularity.
• SF: How galore types of SERP features are present. Click the fig to spot which ones they are and get penetration into hunt intent. Or click the icon to spot the SERP for yourself.

When you find keywords you privation to target, prevention them with the “+” button.

Create Quality Content

To fertile prominently for your people keywords, you request to make quality content—accurate and archetypal contented that satisfies hunt intent.

For example, radical who hunt “best headlamps” are typically looking for merchandise recommendations, reviews, and comparisons to assistance them determine which headlamp to purchase.

REI caters to this intent by conducting in-depth tests. And sharing their findings successful a well-written and well-presented blog post:

The leafage appears to beryllium optimized for search, too.

• The keyword “best headlamps” appears successful the rubric tag, H1 tag, assemblage content, and URL slug
• Internal links constituent to other, applicable pages connected the site
• Schema markup helps hunt engines recognize the article

Build Backlinks

When different tract links to your URL, it tin bespeak that your page/site is utile and trustworthy. 

That’s wherefore Google considers backlinks erstwhile ranking hunt results.

You tin commencement gathering your estimation with Semrush’s Link Building Tool.

It identifies nexus gathering prospects (sites that mightiness nexus to you) based connected your people keywords and competitors. And gives each accidental a standing based on:

• The imaginable benefits of earning the nexus (links from relevant, high-quality domains thin to transportation much weight)
• The expected trouble successful acquiring the nexus (some sites manus retired backlinks much easy than others)

The instrumentality past helps you to nonstop outreach emails to your prospects. And show the backlinks you acquire.

Track Your Performance

To spot if your efforts are working, way your SEO performance. Then, you tin marque immoderate adjustments based connected what you learn.

First, import your people keywords into Semrush’s Position Tracking tool. 

It lets you show your wide integrated visibility (where 100% is simply a apical ranking for each keywords and 0% means you fertile extracurricular the apical 100 for each keywords).

And gives you a afloat rankings breakdown for each keyword.

You tin adjacent motion up for alerts astir important ranking changes.

We besides urge that you acceptable up Google Analytics 4 (or an alternative analytics tool).

This volition let you to way SEO metrics similar integrated postulation and conversions.

Just retrieve that it tin instrumentality weeks oregon months to spot the results that travel from efforts. So, marque definite to let capable clip earlier changing your strategy.

Keep Learning SEO

Practicing SEO is the champion mode to proceed your learning journey. And could beryllium cardinal to increasing your website’s revenue.

But earlier you dive in, marque definite to make and research your free Semrush account.

It gives you entree to market-leading SEO tools. Plus a ton of adjuvant resources, including SEO courses.