Everything you need to know for starting your SEO journey

(A complete definite guide for enhancing your business or your career)

This article will help you in gaining a complete knowledge of the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) process step by step, in and out covering all the major aspects.

So, let’s start with the simple definition of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

 

What is the definition of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in digital marketing?

SEO is an iterative or continuous practice of optimizing your website so that you have a surge in traffic on your website organically (without investing a single penny for it), both in quantity as well as quality.

For better ranking in the SERP (Search Engine Result Page) through organic means with the help of SEO, you need to understand the users’ first that are using the search engine for finding an answer to their query.

Now, are you wondering, SEO stands for website optimization for the search engines as per the acronym then how are users associated with it?

Well, SEO is about both the people and the search engine, despite the literal meaning of the term.

If you want your website to rank on the first page, you need to understand the audience first as mentioned and the following questions will help you in the process.

 

• How to define your target audience?
• What are the answers they are expecting?
• What are the keywords they are using while searching for the query?
• What are the types of content they would like to consume?

 

As per the 99firms reports, the search engine Google processes around 70,000 searches/second which makes 5.8 billion searches/day and about 2 trillion searches/year.

Once you have the answers to the above questions you will be well aware of the information from the audience side.

Although, now you have complete information on the audience, this is just half of the SEO journey covered.

The other half consists of making the content as per the search engine guidelines in such a way that they are easily crawlable by the search engine bots.

 

How do search engines decide the ranking of the web pages?

Search engines are like huge platforms that have the answers to almost every question and solution to almost every problem. 

Well, there are millions and also billions of content available for your single query and thus the search engines go through every single piece of content out there through various ways and bring you the most relevant content from the vast options.

As per the reports of internet live stats, there are over 1.6 billion websites on the internet around the world as of now and the number just keeps on growing.

 

For deciding the ranking search engine goes through the following 3 basic processes

• Crawling 
• Indexing 
• Matching 

 

What is the definition of the term “crawling” in terms of SEO?

Crawling is the process where search engine’s web crawlers (bots) go through every website that is available on the web/internet and then crawl through every section of the website from every perspective such as code/content/URLs, etc to determine what it is about.

 

What is the definition of the term “indexing” in terms of SEO?

Indexing is the process where search engines store the data found during the crawling process, and once the data is indexed it’s ready to be displayed to the audience according to the searched query in the search engine.

 

What is the definition of the term “Matching” in terms of SEO?

In the matching process, every content from the vast library of indexed data is matched with the searched query inputted by the user and then the most relevant answer to that query is displayed on the first page.

 

As per the gs Statcounter’s April 2020 reports, the most dominant search engine in the market worldwide is Google which owns 91.89% following Bing, Yahoo, and Baidu which has 2.79%, 1.87%, and 1.1% respectively of the world search market.

Thus if we see from the SEO perspective the most important platform to optimize your website/content for, is Google search engine as compared to the other search engines in the market worldwide.

Now, let’s proceed further with the two of the methods/approaches for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) that everyone should be aware of.

 

• White – hat SEO (Ethical SEO)

• Black – hat SEO (Unethical SEO)

 

What is white hat SEO (Search Engine Optimization) strategy?

In terms of Search Engine Optimization, white hat SEO or ethical SEO refers to the strategies, techniques, planning for engaging the audience and diverting traffic towards the website by following every rules and regulations/guide as portrayed by the search engines.

 

The White-hat SEO strategy includes the following activities:

• Research/analysis of Keywords 
• Generating quality content for the audience
• Generation of backlinks
• Link building strategies
• Relevant information of your content in the structured data snippet
• Easy navigation (no redirecting to a different URL)

If you are using the above mentioned strategies for your website along with following the complete search engine’s guidelines/regulations then this will surely help you to rank better in the SERPs.

White hat SEO is aimed for making a long lasting impact for your website when it comes to being on top of the SERPs by optimizing your website for the search engines by using ethical means.

Here is the guideline/regulations you need to follow for ranking in the top search engine Google.

 

What is black hat SEO (Search Engine Optimization) strategy? 

Black-hat SEO or also known as unethical SEO is an practice of making your websites rank higher in the search engine ranking pages (SERPs) by opting for the strategy, techniques, planning which are against the guidelines/regulations of the search engines.

The practice routine for optimizing your website for higher rankings followed through the black hat SEO strategy could make your website useless/spam for the searchers.

Search engines will also impose penalties on your website for not following the optimum guidelines and which can cause your website to completely disappear from the search engines.

 

The Black-hat SEO strategy includes the following activities:

• Stuffing keywords with no relevant value
• Separate content for user and the search engines
• Redirecting to different URL
• Content with no added value for searchers
• Paying for links rather than organically earning it
• Providing misleading information in the structured data snippet
• Spam commenting on various blogs comment’s section

So the above strategies are not recommended to be applied for your website unless you want your website to disappear from the SERPs rather than being on the top list of it.

 

Now, as you know the right approach to the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) of your website, we will proceed further to the types of SEO practices.

 

What are the types of SEO practices in digital marketing ?

When it comes to optimizing your website for the search engines, there are various practices enterprises need to implement for their business website for acquiring the top position in the SERPs.

But these number of different SEO practices are segregated into 3 types:

• On – page SEO
• Technical SEO
• Off – page SEO

 

What is the definition of “On-page SEO”?

On-page SEO also known as On-site SEO is the process of optimization/making necessary changes on the website’s web pages for gaining the top position in the SERPs.

The optimization associated to On-page SEO are as follows:

• H1 tags
• Title
• Meta-description
• Urls
• Images
• Content optimization
• Internal links
• Schema-markup, etc

In simple words, it relates to the efforts made on the website itself as per the search engine’s guideline for making it easily consumable by the user.

 

What is the definition of Technical SEO?

Technical SEO refers to the optimization of the website as well as the server which makes it easy for the search engine crawler bots to crawl seamlessly through the website.

The optimizations associated with the technical SEO are as follows:

• SSL for the website
• Mobile optimized website
• Fast loading speed
• Fixing up the duplicate content
• An complete website map (XML)
• Audit for robot.txt files
• Structured data markup
• Registering on the search engine’s webmaster tools

 

What is the definition of Off-page SEO?

As the name suggests, Off-page SEO is the effort we take outside the website boundary for improving the website’s ranking in the SERPs. 

The optimizations associated with the technical SEO are as follows:

• Building links
• Awareness on the social media 
• Provide your view on other relevant blogs
• Guest posting
• Posting on various forums 
• Including  videos and images
• Taking help of influencers 
• Documentation
• Trust building (PA and DA)
• Make use of RSS feed

Now, as we have covered most of the major aspects associated with SEO let’s create an effective strategy for your website.

Although each and every detail mentioned above are equally responsible for making your website reach among the top rankings, we have summoned it in the form of simple SEO strategies that you can implement for your website swiftly and experience a positive impact on your rankings.

 

Simple SEO strategies for improving website visibility on search engines 

(Easy to learn and implement effective SEO – Tutorial)

Now, as we have discussed every major aspect of SEO with an enlightening knowledge that every individual must be aware of before starting his/her SEO journey, 

It’s time to create a list of simple SEO strategies that can be easily implemented for improving website visibility on search engines and are even practiced by the well-known SEO strategists such as Brian Dean and Neil Patel.

Let’s put some light on those profound and prominent SEO strategies that can enhance your website to appear in the top lists of SERPs.

 

Here is the quick checklist of simple yet effective SEO strategies you can start right away:

• Generate a set of keywords
• Analyze the search engine’s first page (for the keyword you want your website to rank for)
• Create quality content that is easily consumable by the user
• Design your content appearance to be sleek and compelling
• Quality backlinks for your website
• Match your content with the search intent
• On-page SEO optimizations
• Keep enhancing your content from time to time 

So here is the complete SEO guide in a nutshell that every beginner must need to know about to start his/her SEO journey.

We recommend you to read every bit of it for a better SEO of your website and thus a positive impact towards its search engine ranking.

We would be happy to hear from you about your SEO experience 

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