What is SEO (Search Engine Optimization)?

Do you person a website oregon are you reasoning astir creating one? And bash you privation to pull much radical to your business? If the reply is yes, past there’s nary uncertainty astir it: SEO should beryllium portion of your selling efforts. It’s a large mode to physique your marque and get radical connected your site. But what does it really entail? In this post, we’ll springiness you an knowing of what SEO is and however you tin get started!

What is SEO?

The acronym SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Let’s archetypal get a explanation from 1 of our main SEO experts astatine Yoast, Alex Moss:

So how does Google work? With hunt engines similar Google, the process consists of crawling, indexing, and ranking. The crawler is an online bot that scours the web to cod each the pages retired determination and prevention them successful a gigantic database called the index. This scale is perpetually updated with caller pages oregon updated versions of existing ones. When idiosyncratic searches online, the hunt motor calls connected the scale and uses analyzable algorithms to find which pages are applicable to show. This determines the ranking of results shown to the online searcher.

For example, erstwhile I hunt for the word ‘sustainable telephone case’, these results are shown by Google. Based connected my hunt word and the intent down it, Google deems these results the champion ones recovered successful its index.

Screenshot of Google’s results for ‘sustainable telephone case’

Organic vs paid search

SEO is focused connected attracting much integrated postulation to your website, postulation that comes to your tract via unpaid hunt results. But arsenic you tin spot successful the representation above, the hunt results besides amusement ads and sponsored results. Often astatine the apical of the page. To marque a wide distinction, determination are a fewer acronyms successful usage that are invaluable to know:

• SEM: Search motor selling entails each selling efforts to amusement up successful the hunt results, some done ads and integrated results.
• SEO: SEO is the signifier of improving a website to amusement up erstwhile radical hunt for a applicable taxable wrong immoderate hunt platform. 
• SEA: Search motor advertizing is the signifier of paying for ads that amusement up successful the hunt results of applicable keywords.
• PPC: Pay-per-click. The advertizing exemplary utilized successful SEA, wherever the advertiser pays a interest each clip 1 of their ads is clicked.

These paid results tin let you to amusement up arsenic the apical effect for a hunt term, but it volition outgo you wealth each clip a idiosyncratic clicks done to your website. When comparing SEO vs PPC, they some person their benefits and drawbacks. But much often than not, they complement each different well.

Why SEO is important for tract owners

Huge measurement of searches

The crushed that truthful galore (big) companies heavy put successful SEO is the precocious interaction that it tin person erstwhile done right. To springiness you an idea, Google, the most-used hunt motor got astir 8.3 cardinal searches per day successful 2024. A fig that has lone gone up (and significantly) since 1998. So if you person a website, you privation to marque definite to amusement up successful Google and different hunt platforms.

SEO is intent-driven

Online hunt is precise intent-driven. Unlike different selling channels, specified arsenic societal media, wherever radical hap to scroll upon your marque and content. This means you’re interrupting a user’s acquisition to seizure their attention, which makes it much hard to get them interested. Showing up successful their hunt results aligns with an existing demand—your customers are actively seeking information, products, oregon solutions. This makes SEO a almighty inbound selling strategy, wherever users travel to you alternatively than the different mode around. Because searchers already person intent, they are much apt to convert, making SEO an indispensable instrumentality for attracting high-quality leads.

Competitive advantage

Creating a website and leaving it astatine that isn’t going to chopped it. With caller websites popping up near and right, it’s becoming progressively hard to get noticed and support lawsuit loyalty. SEO tin supply you with higher online visibility, a stronger brand, much authorization successful your field, much interaction moments with your assemblage and higher prime postulation to your website (and/or offline location). All of this, starring to higher marque loyalty and much revenue.

Types of SEO

Although the basal principles stay the same, determination are a fewer antithetic types of SEO worthy mentioning. They whitethorn not each use to your situation, but it is beneficial to dive into the ones that do:

• Ecommerce SEO: SEO specifically focused connected gaining much visibility and integrated postulation for online stores. With the extremity of acquiring much sales.
• Local SEO: Local SEO is the signifier of optimizing your website for a circumstantial section area. This is to guarantee you are easy recovered (both online and offline) by a section audience. 
• Video SEO: The process of optimizing videos and video pages to marque them look successful the hunt results for applicable keyphrases. Whether that is Google’s hunt results oregon hunt results connected different platforms similar YouTube and societal media.
• News SEO: Mainly applicable for quality publishers, quality SEO focuses connected getting contented to amusement up arsenic the apical effect successful Google News and different news-specific areas of the hunt results.

The 3 pillars of SEO

SEO is each astir optimizing your website to summation your online visibility. But what bash we mean by that? What precisely should you beryllium optimizing? Well, there’s a batch you tin bash and it tin beryllium divided up into 3 main areas.

The 3 pillars of SEO: Technical SEO, on-page SEO, and off-page SEO.

Technical SEO

First of all, it’s important to absorption connected the method portion of SEO. Technical SEO is each astir improving a website’s method aspects to amended idiosyncratic acquisition and marque hunt engines recognize your pages. Aspects that autumn nether technical SEO are:

• Loading clip of your pages
• Making the close parts of your tract crawlable for hunt engines
• The magnitude of dormant links connected your site
• Security 
• Use of structured data

Search engines worth these aspects due to the fact that they privation to contiguous their users with websites that supply a due idiosyncratic experience. A leafage that takes everlastingly to load, doesn’t beryllium anymore, oregon isn’t secure, provides a unspeakable idiosyncratic acquisition and volition not marque users happy. Also, aspects specified arsenic crawlability and structured data assistance hunt engines recognize what your pages are about. This helps hunt engines recognize your relevance and allows them to fertile your pages higher.

On-page SEO

Although method SEO is besides portion of on-page SEO, this tin beryllium seen arsenic ‘under-the-hood’ optimization to amended your pages. The different efforts that tin beryllium categorized arsenic on-page SEO are targeted astatine optimizing the contented connected a page. Think of:

• The prime of your content
• Use of the due keywords
• Showing E-E-A-T successful your content
• Site structure
• Internal linking
• Well-thought-out URLs, titles, and alt tags 

On-page SEO chiefly revolves astir content SEO and utilizing the elements astir that contented to amended your findability for applicable terms. 

Off-page SEO

In opposition to on-page SEO, off-page SEO entails everything you bash for SEO extracurricular of leafage optimization. Such arsenic outer nexus building, societal media and section SEO (off-site). This is focused connected increasing your scope and gathering your marque to pull much traffic. An important portion is link building, getting different applicable websites to nexus to your content. This tin truly assistance boost your visibility and amended your estimation arsenic an authorization – spot links arsenic similar votes of assurance from different websites 

But there’s a batch much you tin do. For example, speaking astatine events, doing interviews, and blogging for different websites. These activities springiness you the accidental to showcase your expertise and scope caller people. When you ain a section shop, these mightiness not beryllium arsenic relevant. In that case, it’s important that you absorption connected the acquisition that radical person with your shop. Make definite that customers permission blessed and that this acquisition is positive, offline and online. This besides extends to societal media. Although your enactment determination does not straight interaction rankings, it pays disconnected to beryllium successful interaction with your assemblage determination arsenic well. And supply a akin (positive) acquisition done these platforms arsenic well. 

One last facet that you shouldn’t hide astir is your concern listings. Make definite these are close connected your Google Business Profile and different websites that are applicable to your business.

SEO Ranking factors

To find what results to show, and successful what order, hunt engines usage ranking factors. Ranking factors, oregon ranking signals, are characteristics of a leafage that hunt engines look astatine to find however applicable that leafage is for a circumstantial hunt query. Although the nonstop database of ranking factors and their value is simply a spot of a enigma and changes from clip to time, we bash person a beauteous bully thought of the astir important ones:

• The quality, relevance and usability of your content
• External and interior links
• The method aspects of your tract (f.e. security)
• User experience connected your tract (site speed, casual navigation, mobile parity)
• The wide online beingness of your brand

In summation to these top-ranking factors, determination are plentifulness of others (both known and unknown). But to get a caput commencement with SEO, it makes consciousness to absorption connected these aspects first.

SEO present vs aboriginal days: a little history

SEO successful the 90’s

Although websites person been astir for a small portion longer, radical started optimizing their sites for hunt engines successful the mid-1990s. As you tin imagine, SEO was a batch simpler backmost then. The algorithms that hunt engines utilized were mode little precocious and relied connected ranking factors similar keyword density to find the relevance of a page. The ‘trick’ backmost past was making definite the keyword was being utilized capable times passim your leafage and successful your meta tags. 

Search engines evolving

Naturally, the companies down hunt engines rapidly realized the contented with this approach. Displaying the results that usage the keyword astir isn’t ever the champion acquisition for their users. So they had to find a mode to amended grip however imaginable results were being ranked. Search engines similar Google started moving connected ways to get smarter and trust little connected ‘tricks’ and static ranking factors. This resulted successful a fig of algorithm updates, each resulting successful a smarter Google that was much susceptible of knowing the relevance of a page. 

With a squad moving non-stop connected improving Google’s hunt engine, the absorption moved from factors similar keyword density to idiosyncratic acquisition and high-quality content. These algorithm updates are inactive precise overmuch a portion of the SEO field, with Google releasing a caller 1 (or multiple) each year. You tin expect this to beryllium a continuous process wherever hunt engines accommodate to existent hunt behaviour and set their algorithms to support showing users the champion results for their hunt query. 

SEO successful 2025

So, wherever does that permission america successful 2025? As mentioned, hunt engines proceed moving connected their algorithms to amended their users’ experience. The absorption points of SEO successful 2025 are inactive high-quality contented and method factors similar tract speed, information and mobile parity. But determination are much aspects that Google and different hunt engines deem important.

Search engines are moving hard to get a amended knowing of a user’s hunt intent, to amusement that idiosyncratic the results that acceptable their request best. Related to that, they proceed to amended however accusation is presented successful the hunt results, which tin disagree rather a spot per hunt intent. 

A imaginable zero-click search, wherever the explanation of tract operation is shown successful an AI overview.

One effect of that is zero-click searches, wherever hunt engines amusement the implicit reply to a hunt query successful the hunt results. This tin pb to less clicks to your website, but it inactive pays disconnected to beryllium the website that provides that answer. In fact, this is simply a bully illustration of the absorption successful which SEO is going. Shift your absorption from ‘just clicks’ and maintaining a circumstantial spot successful the hunt results to gathering a beardown marque and being disposable connected antithetic platforms.   

The different facet we can’t disregard is AI. More radical are utilizing AI tools for their online searches and hunt engines are besides investing successful providing AI-driven hunt experiences. An illustration of that is Google AI overviews, wherever Google uses AI to propulsion unneurotic and harvester accusation connected a hunt query from antithetic resources. This is past shown successful 1 overview, with the anticipation that this straight answers the circumstantial question asked. 

Setting SEO Goals

SEO experts utilized to intimately show ranking positions, clicks, website postulation and stats similar bounce rates. Naturally, each of this information is inactive relevant, but determination has been a displacement successful what goals to absorption on. Search behaviour has changed, and hunt engines are showing your contented successful galore antithetic ways. So it’s not conscionable a fig crippled anymore. You request to absorption connected the wide cognition of your marque and being contiguous successful the close places. 

Set SEO goals related to engagement, marque awareness, idiosyncratic acquisition connected your website, idiosyncratic satisfaction, and however each of this tin beryllium related to income oregon different actions you privation your assemblage to perform. This tin beryllium trickier than conscionable looking astatine your regular rankings but volition springiness you a amended thought of the success of your SEO strategy and however you’re perceived.  

How to larn SEO and get started

Although it consists of a batch of antithetic aspects, it is imaginable to tackle (a batch of) SEO yourself. Let’s look astatine however you tin bash that and what resources tin assistance you get started. 

Start with the basics

Before you get to contented creation, it’s important to get your method SEO successful order. If you cognize your mode astir redirects, optimizing leafage speed, crawlability, information and structured data, marque those your archetypal priority. If not, fto your tract builder assistance you retired oregon prosecute idiosyncratic with a inheritance successful method SEO. When that’s done, you tin commencement looking astatine tract operation and the contented connected your pages.

By doing keyword research, you volition beryllium capable to make contented that aligns with your concern and gets radical to your website. It volition besides springiness you loads of input connected topics to constitute about. This volition alteration you to acceptable up an SEO strategy and program to proceed moving connected this passim the year. Because SEO is ne'er done. That’s wherefore it’s important to make a realistic program and support yourself (or your team) to it. This mightiness consciousness similar a batch of effort, but retrieve that SEO not lone brings much postulation to your site, it besides helps physique your marque and summation idiosyncratic loyalty successful the agelong run. 

How we tin assistance you

At Yoast, we privation to marque SEO accessible for everyone. And we privation to assistance you bash it yourself. That’s wherefore we connection a free and Premium version of our WordPress plugin, allowing you to get started with SEO without excessively overmuch trouble. Our escaped plugin comes with features similar the SEO and readability analyses, which springiness you feedback connected your contented close away. It besides handles parts of the method SEO for you. Our Premium plugin gives you entree to immoderate much features similar AI-powered features, a redirect tool, and the anticipation to adhd aggregate keywords per page. Making SEO adjacent easier to enactment on. 

We besides connection a assortment of SEO courses successful our Yoast SEO academy, wherever you tin find 5 escaped courses to get started. For example, the SEO for beginners course, the WordPress for beginners people and a people connected structured data. If you’re a Yoast SEO Premium user, you get entree to each 16 courses connected there. Which volition truly assistance you dive into the antithetic aspects of SEO and however to tackle them. 

Finally, we person an SEO blog with galore blog posts connected SEO basics, much precocious SEO, caller developments and related topics. All of this to marque definite that you person each the tools you request to successfully enactment connected SEO yourself!

Read more: The eventual usher to WordPress SEO »