What Is SEO?
Let’s start with SEO basics. Think of this as SEO for beginners.
SEO stands for search engine optimization. This is how search engines, like Google, find your business.
Each business with a website is seeking to get more exposure and traffic. If you are frustrated with where your business is showing up, you’ll want to get a higher ranking.
SEO is the way to get your website to show up in searches. It helps your target audience find your business. This leads to more traffic, more leads, more sales—and a boost in profit for your business.
Stronger SEO efforts help your business show up in organic searches. As a savvy business owner, it’s vital to have your finger on the pulse of the ever-evolving environment of SEO. Although effective SEO takes time and dedication, with our expert tips, you can accelerate your progress toward achieving your goals.
What is the Ultimate Objective of SEO efforts?
Let’s examine SEO basics by starting with the end in mind.
The ultimate purpose of search engine optimization is to help targeted prospects and customers find your business.
As you explore SEO basics, it’s tempting to chase after every possible way to get traffic. But, the most important thing is to remember your ultimate goal.
Google is constantly adjusting and changing algorithms. SEO buzzwords appear like comets in the sky. If you chase after fads, this can hurt rather than help your business.
What Can SEO Do For Your Business?
Think about SEO basics to help you stand out as the best company to choose.
Many companies find that SEO has a dramatic positive impact. They have more leads by helping people find their business, become aware of problems, investigate options, complete actions, and build brand awareness.
SEO represents a way to communicate with customers and Google is responsible for most of the search engine traffic across the globe.
Google looks for websites that have relevant, high-quality information as it relates to queries. High-quality information is often related to links – such as those from trusted places such as reputable news sites and academic sites.
Google constantly updates its algorithm with various measures such as how long people stay engaged on your site, the site’s loading speed, and original content.
Evaluate each part of your business’s practices. Look for ways to drive targeted traffic to your small business.
What Is Keyword Research—and Why Does It Matter?
Keywords are essential for SEO basics.
What is a keyword? It refers to what people search for. This sounds like it should be simple—but in fact, it’s quite intricate.
If you understand what people are searching for then you should know the keywords to feature on your website. But there is much more to it.
If you’re starting with SEO for beginners, keep a few things in mind.
- Search Volume. How many people are searching for a specific keyword? The bigger the audience, the more people you could reach.
- Relevance. Are the people looking for a specific keyword, your target audience? For instance, you may have students researching a topic rather than a head of a Fortune 500 company who is ready to purchase.
- Competition. In any market, some competitors also seek ranking on the same keywords. The more you understand the competition, the more you’ll spot opportunities to outpace the competition and rank for specific keywords.
Think Like Your Customer
To fully understand keyword research, think like your customer. Ask questions as they would ask, such as:
- What are the key problems they have?
- What are they asking to describe their problem?
- What else are they buying to solve their problems?
- What do they rely on to build trust?
Use different tools to expand your thinking and refine your list. SEM Rush and Spy Fu are popular tools for evaluating the best keywords to crush the competition.
Let’s look next at how to use keywords effectively.
On-Page Optimization: What You Need to Know
While you may feel like you’re just getting started with SEO for beginners, on-page optimization puts you ahead of the curve.
- Title tags are like a headline for organic search results. This is not the same as the headline of a post – but is what shows up when people search for your topic.
- Meta descriptions are not seen on your site, but it is what Google uses to work like good ad copy. Emphasize clear benefits and inspire with a call to action.
- Page content is important. Google tracks uniqueness and values original content. Develop content that is highly engaging and that has high sharability.
- Images and explanations matter. People like to see images — and you can help search engines by marking images with what are called alt attributes. This is a coding language that explains the image and helps search engines understand what is on the page.
- URL counts. Use short and descriptive URLs to help users find your business.
This is just a starter kit – and there are a lot more ways to elevate each page of your website. For help with more advanced techniques, talk with the team here at TechnaDigital.
How to Think Like an Information Architect
To practice SEO for beginners, look at how the pages of your website are organized. This is how to think like an information architect.
The organization of your pages helps users find the information they want. It also helps search engines understand the value of your content.
One of the best ways to achieve this is by having internal links between pages on your website. To put this into practice, consider three things.
- Identify your top pages
Use specific tools to understand which pages are most linked to. Check out tools like Moz, Ahrefs, and Majestic SEO.
- Link to your top pages often
Think of your top pages as the most valuable pages on your site. Use navigation elements and link to these pages frequently.
- Create a flat site structure
Flatten your website by keeping most-linked pages with as few clicks as possible to your home page.
If you haven’t thought about this before, don’t panic.
Map out your business site’s information architecture. You can develop a site structure to feature your top content—and help your site show up on Google.
What’s The Story About SEO Content and Link Building?
As you explore SEO basics, look at the huge value of link building. Link building relates to what people in your field are looking for, talking about, and sharing.
For instance, explore what potential leaders are saying in your field. Look at the type of content they share, the problems they discuss, and how they connect with the audience.
If you notice certain trends, you can use these insights to elevate SEO content and refine the link strategy for your site.
Start by understanding your target audience. Evaluate what they are seeking, sharing, and finding valuable. You’ll have a powerful way to connect with your niche.
As you develop sharable content, look for ways to solve the problems your clients, customers, and prospects experience. Solve tough problems in ways that are easy to understand, and simple to implement.
As you can see in this SEO for beginners, you’re starting with the end in mind. Start creating valuable content that people want to share.
Roll Up Your Sleeves for Technical SEO
While this extends beyond SEO basics, technical SEO has a huge impact on your search engine results.
We at TechnaDigital have a passion for technical SEO, and we understand that it may not be everyone’s area of expertise. So, if you need assistance with technical SEO, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We would be more than happy to take care of it for you and help you achieve your desired results.
Technical SEO is just like the name sounds— highly technical. The reason why it’s so important is that it dramatically affects your site’s ranking.
Some of the big elements include:
- Mobile Friendliness
With more people searching from phones, having a mobile-friendly site is increasingly important.
- Page Speed
How fast does your site load? This isn’t just important to Google. It’s a big deal for consumers. People tend to get bored and move on if a site is slow to load.
- Header Response
Headers are how a search engine finds what is on your site. If your site has loads of “page not found” also known as “404” pages won’t get indexed.
In technical SEO, some of the big issues are redirects, broken links, duplicate content, site maps, tags, and site security. If you don’t love all the technical nitty-gritty, we’re here to help.
Ready To Grow Your Business with SEO?
As a business owner, it’s important to delegate so you can focus on running your business.
SEO helps your business stand out above the competition.
The ultimate goal? Make it easy for customers and prospects to find you. At Techna Digital, we are here to help you use SEO to boost traffic and grow your business.