What Is SEO? A Beginner’s Guide
- Jim Paige
- Jun 4, 2024
- 6 min read
Updated: Mar 4
Search Engine Optimization – SEO – is both the art and science of getting your web content in front of the right people. Its aim is to increase the visibility of your website amongst your target audience. To do that, you need to fine-tune your web pages by optimizing content for another key audience – search engines. With around 80% of global search traffic, that audience consists mostly of Google.
There’s a common myth that SEO is about producing content to please Google’s algorithm, and not people. In reality, SEO helps search engines like Google to understand your content, so they can serve it to the right people.
From a marketing perspective, high-quality, optimized web content pleases both search engines and humans by making it easier to categorize and discover. To help you get started, here’s a beginner’s guide to SEO – what it is, and how it works.
What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the optimization of web pages to improve their visibility and ranking on search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo. The main goal of SEO is to increase the quality and quantity of organic (unpaid) traffic to a website through improved search engine rankings.
SEO is often talked about alongside Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Pay-Per-Click (PPC). Knowing the differences between these terms can help you choose the right digital marketing strategies for your goals. For clarity, here’s a summary of each one:
SEM: Search Engine Marketing is a broad term that includes SEO, together with other digital marketing tactics, to promote a website and increase its visibility on search engines. SEM includes both paid and organic methods of driving traffic to a website, such as SEO, and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising.
SEO: Search Engine Optimization is the optimization of website content to improve its ranking on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) for specific keywords and phrases. SEO involves both on-page and off-page techniques, such as optimizing written content, improving page-loading times, and building backlinks from one website page to, and from, a page on another website.
PPC: Pay-Per-Click advertising is a type of online advertising where businesses pay a fee each time a user clicks on one of their ads. PPC ads appear on SERPs, and websites. They are triggered by specific keywords or phrases. PPC ads can be highly targeted to drive traffic to a website or promote a specific product or service.
What are the different types of SEO?
There are 3 main types of SEO: On-Page SEO, Off-Page SEO, and Technical SEO. Here’s a summary of each type:
On-Page SEO involves optimizing the content and HTML source code of a website to make it more search engine friendly. Activities include optimizing title tags, meta descriptions, headers, images, and internal links.
Off-Page SEO refers to activities performed outside a website to improve its ranking on search engines, such as link building, social media marketing, and guest blogging.
Technical SEO involves optimizing the technical aspects of a website to improve its visibility on search engines. This covers areas such as website speed, mobile responsiveness, website structure, and security.
Blog writing is an important part of your SEO strategy. Discover the benefits in my blog: 10 Benefits Of Blogging For Your Business.
Local versus global SEO
SEO falls into 2 broad categories: local and national. Here’s how they differ:
Local SEO focuses on improving a business’s visibility in local searches, especially for users seeking products or services in a specific geographic area. This strategy is essential for brick-and-mortar businesses or those that serve a specific local clientele.
Local SEO involves optimizing various elements, such as Google Business Profile, online reviews, and location-specific content. It helps businesses appear in local maps and local search results. For example, if someone searches for ‘coffee shop near me’, local SEO aims to ensure that nearby coffee shops appear prominently in the search results.
Global SEO, on the other hand, is aimed at a much broader audience. It’s most relevant for businesses that operate in international markets or have a wider online presence. The focus here is on optimizing the website and content for broader, more competitive keywords that aren’t necessarily tied to a specific location.
Global SEO involves comprehensive keyword research, content creation, link building, and technical optimization to rank well for terms that can attract a national or international audience. A national e-commerce site selling electronics might optimize for keywords like ‘buy laptops online’, for example.
Could you use AI to support your SEO efforts? Discover all you need to know in my blog on AI blog writing.
Why is SEO important for your website and business?
SEO is important for your website and business for a number of reasons:
It helps attract your target audience
By optimizing your website and content for relevant keywords and phrases, you’re more likely to attract your target audience and convert them into leads and sales.
It boosts brand visibility and awareness
Ranking higher on the SERP increases your brand visibility, and increases awareness amongst potential customers.
It builds trust and credibility
Websites that appear higher in search results are perceived as more trustworthy and credible, helping you build trust with your target audience.
It improves user experience
SEO focuses on making your website more user-friendly and easy to navigate, improving the user experience and encouraging visitors to spend longer on your site.
It generates long-term results
SEO is a sustainable, long-term strategy that generates results over time, unlike paid advertising, which stops generating traffic as soon as the budget runs out.
It provides valuable insights
SEO data provides valuable insights into your target audience. Their search behavior and preferences enable you to make data-driven decisions that shape your marketing strategy.
It amplifies other marketing efforts
SEO works alongside your other marketing efforts – such as paid advertising, social media, and email – helping to amplify the effectiveness of your overall marketing strategy.
It keeps your business competitive
Businesses that don’t prioritize SEO risk falling behind their competitors by missing out on web traffic and market share.
It cuts marketing costs
Compared with other forms of digital marketing, such as paid advertising, SEO – especially optimized blog content – is a cost-effective way to drive traffic and generate leads.
It increases ROI
By improving your website's visibility and attracting target audiences, SEO helps generate a higher return from your marketing budget.
Making small improvements to your website’s SEO can have a huge impact on its performance in search engine rankings. But how does SEO work?
How SEO works
Search engines use complex algorithms to determine which web pages deliver the best content for the user intent or search intent. There are 4 main types of user intent:
Informational intent: Users want to know something. For example, if someone searches for ‘what is a business blog’ they want to know what a business blog is (and mostly likely why they might need one). Content designed to meet informational intent should be educational, such as articles, guides, tutorials, or answers to specific questions.
Navigational intent: Users want to go to a specific website or page. Searches such as ‘google sign in’ show a clear intent to navigate to a specific web page. Content that matches navigational intent includes login pages, and brand-specific content.
Transactional intent: Users want to buy something. The search goal is to acquire a product or service, such as ‘buy rail tickets’. Content designed for transactional intent includes product pages, e-commerce platforms, and anything else that facilitates a transaction.
Commercial intent: Users want to do research or a product comparison. For example, a search for ‘best energy provider’. Content designed to satisfy this intent includes product reviews, comparison guides, and any content that helps users make informed choices about a potential purchase.
Understanding and optimizing for these distinct user intents is an essential part of a comprehensive SEO strategy. That’s because optimized pages are easier for search engine algorithms to crawl, index, categorize, and rank.
Supercharge your SEO
So what is SEO in relation to blog writing? A high-quality, optimized business blog can supercharge your SEO efforts in a number of ways:
Signal content value to search engines through user engagement with blogs.
Aid search engine crawling and indexing with internal linking between pages.
Help attract target audiences in niche topics using specific long-tail keywords.
Provide fresh content and updates using strategic keywords.
Meet the user intent by give valuable answers to common questions.
Satisfy search engine preferences for fresh content with regular blog updates.
Improve site authority with backlinks from reputable sites to your blog.
Need blog content that’s optimized for search engines? Let’s talk! Book a call