Introduction to SEO: How to Drive Traffic and Boost Visibility

Search Engine Optimization is the single most important piece of online marketing you will ever do. That is a very intense statement, and I stand behind it. Why? Because SEO is the key to getting your business found online. It's not just about driving traffic—it's about driving the right traffic, increasing visibility, and building credibility in the digital marketplace. With a well-rounded SEO strategy, you can create opportunities that other marketing efforts just can't match.

Introduction to SEO

What is SEO? Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has existed since the start of search engines. According to Google, the largest search engine, SEO is about helping search engines understand your content, helping users find your site, and deciding whether to visit your site through a search engine. There are three main components of SEO:

1. On-page SEO: This refers to optimizing the content on your website's pages. This includes optimizing the content in your page body, metadata, and image alt text.
2. Technical SEO: This refers to optimizing the technical aspects of your website, like site speed, URL structure, and schema markup.
3. Off-Page SEO: This refers to optimizations performed outside of your website, including building backlinks, guest blog posts, and social media marketing.

Why SEO Matters

Good SEO improves your website's visibility, which translates to ranking higher in search results. If you rank higher in search results, like on the first page of search results in Google, you're likely to see more organic traffic to your website. Organic traffic is the number of users that visit your site from unpaid search results, meaning this traffic is free.

Why do I want to be #1 on Google?

According to research by Backlinko, the number one result in Google's organic search results has an average click-through rate (CTR) of 27.6%. The first result listing is also 10x more likely to receive a click compared to the listing in the number 10 spot on the search results page. This means the higher you are in listings, the more traffic you'll get!

How Search Engines Work

Search engines use three main processes to discover and rank content:

• Crawling: Search engines use automated bots, known as crawlers or spiders, to explore the internet and find new or updated content. These crawlers follow links from one page to another, collecting data about what they find.
• Indexing: Once content is discovered, it is stored in a massive database called the index. This process involves analyzing and organizing the content based on keywords, media, and other indicators that help search engines understand what each page is about.
• Ranking: When a user performs a search, the search engine evaluates all indexed pages that might be relevant and ranks them based on several factors, such as relevance, content quality, and authority, to determine which pages appear first in the search results.

This section is informed by Moz's Beginner's Guide to SEO, an excellent resource for more insight into how search engines work on a technical level.

Google's Algorithm

Google uses a complex algorithm to determine the relevance and quality of web pages in response to a search query. Factors that influence ranking include:

1. The meaning of the query. This refers to what kind of intent is behind a search. There are four main types of search intent: Navigational, Informational, Transactional, and Commercial.
2. The relevance of content. This refers to how well your content matches the search. Google will look at signals like your keywords to determine relevance.
3. Content quality. After determining your page's relevance, Google will analyze your content's quality. Google will look for signals that demonstrate expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness.
4. Website usability. Once your content passes relevance and quality, Google assesses your website's usability. Google does not want to serve it's users a poor functioning website. Visit Google's Page Experience documentation for more information.
5. Context. Google uses contextual signals, like user location, search history, and settings, to tailor search results to the individual user, ensuring they are as relevant and useful as possible.

These factors and signals help ensure that users receive the most useful and authoritative content for their search.

Where do you begin with SEO? Keyword Research!

Keyword research is about finding what searches people complete on Google and choosing the searches or queries you want to rank for.

So, what is a keyword?

A keyword is a search term, and there are two types:

• Short tail keyword (a.k.a. head terms): broad topics with high search volumes, like "mountain bicycle."
• Long tail keyword: specific topics with lower search volumes, like "best mountain bicycle for women."

How do you do keyword research?

There are a variety of tools that can help you with keyword research. Here are a few we would recommend:

• Google Keyword Planner: A free tool provided by Google Ads that helps you discover new keywords and assess their search volume and competition. It's great for identifying potential keywords to target in your campaigns.
• SEMrush: A comprehensive tool that provides keyword research along with competitor analysis, helping you identify which keywords are working well for your competitors.
• Moz: Moz offers a suite of SEO tools, including Keyword Explorer, which provides insights into keyword volume, difficulty, organic click-through rates, and keyword opportunities.
• Ahrefs: Known for its powerful backlink analysis, Ahrefs also offers robust keyword research tools to help you understand keyword difficulty, search volume, and more.

Choosing the Right Keywords

When choosing the right keywords, it's important to consider both search volume and competition. High search volume keywords are often very competitive, making it harder to rank for them. On the other hand, low-volume keywords may have less competition, but it's essential to evaluate who your competitors are. A balanced keyword strategy includes a mix of high-volume, competitive keywords and lower-volume, niche terms. Aim for keywords that align with your content goals and are realistic regarding ranking potential.

How do you know what you're up against?

Moz created a helpful metric called Domain Authority (DA). This score predicts how likely a website will rank in search engine result pages (SERPs). Domain Authority scores range from one to 100, with higher scores corresponding to a greater likelihood of ranking. So, if you're trying to rank for 'cat toys' and the number one website for that search has a Domain Authority of 75, you may find it difficult to overtake them if your DA isn't of similar value.

How to do On-page SEO

Now that your keywords are chosen, it's time to start optimizing. Here are key elements of on-page optimization:

Keyword Density

Ensure your target keyword appears naturally in your content. A keyword density of 1-2% is generally effective, but always prioritize readability and avoid keyword stuffing.

Metadata

Include your keyword in the title tag, meta description, headings, image alt tags, and URL. This helps search engines understand the topic and boosts visibility.

• Title Tags: Include the primary keyword and keep it under 60 characters for better visibility in search results.
• Meta Descriptions: Write compelling summaries under 160 characters, incorporating keywords naturally to attract clicks. Meta descriptions are not as heavily considered for ranking, but they will be most important for persuading users to click on your website rather than a competitor's in the SERP.
• Headings: Use H1 for the main title and H2-H6 for organizing content, ensuring keywords are used naturally. Well-structured headings improve both user experience and search engine comprehension.

Internal Linking

Link to other relevant pages within your site. This helps users navigate and also signals to search engines the relationship between pages, improving overall SEO.

How to do Technical SEO

Here are the key elements of technical optimization:

Site Speed and Performance

A fast website is crucial for both user experience and SEO. Faster sites tend to rank higher because they provide a better experience, leading to lower bounce rates and higher engagement. To improve your site speed, consider optimizing image sizes, reducing server response time, leveraging browser caching, and minimizing JavaScript and CSS files.

Mobile Optimization

Mobile-friendliness is essential as more users access the web via mobile devices. Google uses mobile-first indexing, meaning it primarily uses the mobile version of your site for ranking. Ensure your site is responsive, with fast loading times and easy navigation on smaller screens, to improve both user experience and search visibility.

Crawling and Indexing

To ensure search engines can effectively crawl and index your website, use a clear URL structure, create an XML sitemap, and utilize robots.txt to guide crawlers. Check for crawl errors in Google Search Console and ensure that important pages are linked internally. Proper crawling and indexing are vital for your content to appear in search results.

How to do Off-page SEO

Now that your website is optimized, it's time to consider what you can do off-page to increase your ranking chances. Off-page optimization will directly impact and enhance your authority.

Link Building

Link building involves acquiring hyperlinks from external websites to your own, which helps increase your website's authority. Quality backlinks are like endorsements, signaling to search engines that your content is valuable. Strategies to build links include:

• Guest Blogging: Writing posts for other sites to gain backlinks.
• Broken Link Building: Finding broken links on external websites and suggesting your content as a replacement.
• Content Promotion: Promoting valuable content through outreach to relevant websites for backlink opportunities.

Social Media's Role in SEO

Social media can indirectly boost SEO by increasing brand visibility and driving traffic to your website. When users share your content on social media, it can lead to more exposure, increased backlinks, and enhanced credibility. Although social media shares are not a direct ranking factor, they can improve your website's overall online presence and indirectly contribute to higher search rankings by increasing engagement and attracting more external links.

Measuring SEO Success

Now that you have optimized everything you possibly can, it's time to see how your efforts stack up. Let's answer some questions that are probably going through your head.

Did my website traffic increase? First, you'll want to take a look at your organic traffic in Google Analytics to see the total number of visits to your site from your search. This can tell you right away how things are going. If you see an increase, that's great!

Did I start ranking for my keywords? Second, you'll want to use a keyword tool to check your rankings. The tools we mentioned earlier, like Moz, will show you your current ranking week by week for the keywords you're tracking.

Am I getting a good click-through rate on my site? You know how much traffic your keyword gets, so you may wonder if you are capturing a good chunk of this traffic. You'll want to look at your click-through rate to answer this question. You can find this metric in Google Search Console. If your site is seen 1,000 times in the SERP and 100 people click on it, your CTR is 10%.

Are people having a good experience on my site? To answer this question, you want to look at your bounce rate. You can find your bounce rate in Google Analytics. Bounce rate is the percentage of people who land on your site and leave without engaging. If you're seeing a high bounce rate, this may mean that your content doesn't match what users are looking for from that specific search query, or you may have some technical difficulties preventing users from having a good experience.

How Long Does It Take to See SEO Results?

Many factors will impact how quickly you see results, such as the age of your site, your strategy, and the competition. SEO is ongoing and always changing. You may start seeing small changes in the first couple of weeks, but it may take three to six months to see results.

Common SEO Mistakes

Some of the most common SEO mistakes we see that hold websites back are keyword stuffing, low-quality content, and technical SEO issues.

Keyword Stuffing

Keyword stuffing is when you overuse your target keyword to the point of becoming unnatural and difficult to read. You may have encountered this before, as it was a common tactic before Google made changes to its algorithm.

Low-Quality Content

Low-quality content can really hurt your website's chance of ranking, so it's imperative to fix it. Google published its E-E-A-T framework for how its reviewers judge content. E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Google developed this standard to further protect users from harm, especially for content that covers "Your Money or Your Life" topics. These topics affect a user's well-being. Revising your content to follow this framework can help ensure better quality.

Technical SEO Issues

When we encounter sites that aren't performing well, we always start by checking them on Google's Page Speed tool. This tool will tell us right away if there are technical errors that need to be fixed. We also look for an XML sitemap to ensure Google can easily interpret the site. Lastly, make sure pages are not marked as "no index." Google cannot crawl or read webpages that are marked as no index.

It's Time to Conquer Your SEO Goals

A successful SEO strategy requires a well-rounded approach that includes on-page, off-page, and technical optimizations. By understanding how search engines work, performing thorough keyword research, optimizing your website's content, and building high-quality backlinks, you can improve your site's visibility and drive organic traffic. Remember, SEO is an ongoing process that requires consistent monitoring, updates, and adjustments.

Ready to take your SEO to the next level? Contact us today!