Search engine optimization or SEO is one of those topics that can make some business owners feel like their heads are going to pop trying to learn everything they can about it to take advantage of their web content. There is a lot of information online about SEO, and it can seem pretty overwhelming when getting started. The guide to SEO that Google has created for beginners is 32-pages long, and that is pretty daunting to any beginner even if it’s laid out in an easy to start fashion. Here are a few basic concepts to get you primed for having a better understanding of SEO.
Search Engines
Search engines are the tools that are used by users to find the results that they are looking for when performing a search. This is what determines the ranking of every website that is relevant to the user’s entry into the search engine. It is up to the search engine to find quality information based on this search. Users that find that a search engine is pulling up poor results will switch search engines, so it is in the search engine company’s best interests to carefully evaluate the individual websites that populate their results lists. There is a very specific algorithm that each search site will use to decide where in the results list your content should be displayed.
There are some factors that go into this algorithm that you have no control over, but this just means that you need to focus more on the topics that you can control. A search-engine spider will typically collect a few things from your website including your title tag, your description tag, your keywords tag, your headings tags, and any hyperlinks that you have in your content. Some of these spiders will also collect some of your paragraph text. High-quality content and hyperlinks are half of the battle in improving your SEO ranking for search engines. Putting up poor quality information, not using your tags correctly, or improperly using keywords in your content can decrease your SEO rankings. Authority and relevance are both important for search engines to find your website.
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Authority
Authority is one concept that is used by search engines when determining where your site should show up in the search engine’s result list. Authority can be measured for your whole domain or a single page located on your website. Authority is one of those things that can be difficult to calculate how a search engine will rank your content. There are a few ways to work on improving your authority, and it all comes down to quality. You need to get links from quality sites that are relevant to your website, engagement metrics, and social references. The key takeaway for you is that showing your authority through quality information that others may reference in backlinks is the way to go to get noticed by search engines. In this concept, it can be the quality of your material over having a large number of meaningless posts. Keep in mind that your popularity in getting your content viewed will help your authority.
Relevance
Relevance and authority go together well because they have the same underlying idea of building trust for users. The relevance of your site for the inputted search keyword that the user is looking for is also examined. Therefore, both the location and frequency are important when it comes to planning your content. For instance, if your site mentions a particular keyword several times and the keyword is located in your title tag, your page will be seen as relevant to the person’s search. The keyword has a prominent location and the right amount of frequency. If the keyword is not located in your title tag or throughout your content, your ranking in that search will be lower because the search engine will determine that your content is not as relevant to what the user wants to find. This does not mean that you should put keywords into your content without thought and precision. Putting in too many keywords can be viewed negatively as keyword stuffing, so make sure that your keyword fits into your content naturally. Your ranking can drop when you use tactics like keyword stuffing.
These concepts are pretty basic, but will help you to get started on figuring out how best to get your content ranked higher than your competitors. You know that when you do a search that you are using going to focus on the first few pages of results, and in some cases, you may not even pass the first page if enough high-quality results are shown, so you can image that others will do the same in their searches. Improving your SEO and search rankings will improve your visibility. More visibility for your website content equals more attention from potential customers.
Ready to unlock the power of content marketing? Check out my guide to boost your brand’s online marketing success!