Mastering The Basics Of SEO: Your Ultimate Guide

SEO is the process of optimising a website so that it ranks higher in search results, be it search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo, which ranks websites based on their content. The goal for any company is to have its content show up at the top of search results for relevant keywords. Whether you’re trying to rank for a specific keyword or improve your general SEO ranking, there are several ways you can boost your website’s visibility.

If you are searching for the basics of SEO for your website, Zeal Digital has got you covered.

In this blog, we cover the essentials of SEO and how you can start improving your company’s website.

Understanding Search Engines And How They Work

When a user enters a search term into the search engine, what happens? It crawls through the internet searching for content on that search term. The first place it goes is related results on the same topic.

And how does a search engine affect the success of an SEO campaign, you ask? Well, search engine rankings are one way that people find information on the internet and they place much weight on these rankings.

That said, many factors go into how rankings change, and having a good strategy of how to handle them will be crucial in helping you rank well in Google and other search engines.

Next comes On-page & Off-page SEO – it’s very important as far as mastering the basics of SEO is concerned.

What Is On-Page SEO?

On-page SEO: Optimising your website’s content for the search engines

You may be wondering what exactly is on-page SEO? Well, it is the process of optimising your website’s content for search engines. This means you are directly working on your website. It is when you refine a page’s content, tags, and internal links to enhance search visibility and augment traffic. This includes:

• Title tags and meta descriptions
• Header tags and keyword placement
• Content optimisation and internal linking

Factors Of On-Page SEO

• Content: As it is always said, “Content Is King”. SEO without content is like raw food. It might look good but you cannot consume it without cooking. Similarly, there should be proper content in your website to optimise it on page.
• Keyword Density: Keyword density is the number of times your keyword is appearing in that content. Keyword density ideally should be 2% to 3% of the content.
• Meta Tags: Meta tags include Meta Title and Meta Description. This may not be an important factor but including it will be good for your on-page SEO. Optimise the meta tags and include your target keyword in them.
• Image Alt Tags: Every website has some images, be it a logo or a general image. Image needs to have a proper alt tag. This will help the crawler to know what the image is all about. Also, try to rename the image to a more specific name instead of just keeping something like IMG201977
• Heading Tags: Heading tags are used to give title to the subject you are talking about. Content should have the heading tags in order. Every content should have only a single H1 tag and the remaining can be added in different heading tags accordingly.
• Internal Linking: Internal linking is any link that is going from one page of your website to another page. It takes place within your website. Internal links can be useful for users to navigate to your website easily.

Benefits Of On-Page SEO

1. Improved user experience: On-page SEO helps to create a more user-friendly experience for visitors on your website, which can help increase the amount of time they spend on your website.

2. Improved visibility in search engine results pages: On-page SEO helps increase your visibility in SERPs so that you can show up in more relevant searches.

3. Increased organic traffic: By optimising your website for search engines, you can increase the amount of organic traffic to your website.

4. Improved ranking: On-page SEO can help improve your website’s ranking in search engine results pages, which can help you get more clicks and higher conversions.

5. Improved brand awareness: Optimising your website for search engines can help you create a more recognisable brand online, which can help you increase your visibility and reach a larger audience.

Off-Page SEO

Off-page SEO: Building authority and backlinks to build your website’s authority

Off-page SEO is the process of building authority and backlinks to build your website’s authority. This means you are working outside your website. This includes things like:

• Creating valuable content that other websites want to link to
• Guest blogging and influencer outreach
• Social media and community engagement

Factors Of Off Page SEO

External linking: External linking is any link that is going outside your website. External links are helpful to improve the domain authority of the website.

Social Bookmarking: Social Bookmarking is when you save a specific website page in a social bookmarking platform. It can be used to view later and can also help create a backlink.

Image submission: Image submission is when you are submitting an image of your business or related to your business on the sites. These images help to attract more customers to your website.

Guest Posting: As the name suggests this includes posting on other websites. This means you will be writing and submitting your post on another company’s website.

Blog Submission: In blog submission, you are submitting your blog on various blog submission sites and give the link in the blog to your website.

Article Submission: In this, you submit an article related to your business on article submission sites. Article submission is formal content as compared to the blog.

Directory Submission: This includes submitting the URL of your website to various directory sites so as you get backlinks and also improves Domain Authority of your website.

Local Citation: Local citation includes adding your business details in the citation websites. Details like name, contact number, email and address are all included in local citation.

And what about technical SEO? Surely it’s important along with other aspects of search engine optimisation?

Benefits Of Off Page SEO

1. Increase in Rankings: Off-page SEO is an effective way to increase the visibility of your website in search engine results pages (SERPs). By improving your off-page SEO, you can increase your rankings and improve your website’s online presence.

2. Generates Quality Backlinks: Quality backlinks are essential for SEO success. By leveraging off-page SEO, you can build high-quality backlinks to your website, which will ultimately increase your website’s authority and rankings.

3. Improved Brand Awareness: Off-page SEO can help you build brand recognition and awareness. By participating in social media and other online activities, you can build relationships with potential customers and spread the word about your business.

4. Increased Traffic: Off-page SEO can help you drive more traffic to your website. By engaging in activities that promote your website, such as creating quality content and participating in social media, you can increase the visibility of your website and drive more visitors.

5. Networking Opportunities: Off-page SEO can provide you with the opportunity to network and connect with other professionals in your industry. This can help you build relationships and learn from other experts.

Technical SEO: What’s that?

Technical SEO is the process of optimising websites so they can rank higher in search engines by following best practices and getting rid of any technical barriers that might be present. Technical SEO is for the search engine crawlers to check and index your website. It is always best to keep your website understandable for these crawlers so they can rank your website in SERP.

Factors Of Technical SEO

Here are some factors that you need to keep in mind for your website’s technical SEO:

• Site speed and mobile optimisation: Google is beginning to penalise websites that are slow and difficult to navigate on mobile devices. Website speed is a technical factor which you should improve as a priority.
• Schema markup and structured data: Schema markup is a markup language used to add structured data to websites. Structured data helps search engines like Google and Bing understand the content of your website.
• XML sitemaps and robots.txt files: XML sitemaps help you understand your website’s technical SEO and make it easier for search engines to find relevant information. Robots.txt files on the other hand are used on websites that have multiple pages served from different domains and show search engines which pages are not meant for crawling.
• Responsive Design: Designing your website as all-device friendly will help you improve your ranking. This means your website should be easy to use on a desktop, mobile or a tablet as well. Google now ranks your website on mobile if your website has a responsive design.
• Geotagging: This can be useful for local searches. You can get customers in your nearby area by doing this. This will get you local traffic and will also increase the SEO of the website.

Benefits Of Technical SEO

1. Increased Visibility: Technical SEO helps to ensure that your website is properly indexed by search engines, allowing it to appear in relevant searches. This helps to increase the visibility of your site and its content, enabling you to reach a larger audience.

2. Improved User Experience: Technical SEO helps to improve the user experience by making sure that your website is easy to navigate, loads quickly, and is optimised for both desktop and mobile devices.

3. Increased Crawlability: Technical SEO ensures that search engine crawlers can access and index all the content on your website. This helps to ensure that all your content is properly indexed and helps to improve your rankings.

4. Reduced Bounce Rate: Technical SEO helps to reduce the bounce rate of your website, as it ensures that users can find the content they are looking for quickly and easily.

5. Improved SERP Rankings: Technical SEO helps to improve your website’s rankings in search engine results pages. This helps to increase the amount of organic traffic to your website and can provide a significant boost to your business.

If you’re struggling to rank for specific keywords or potential customers can’t navigate your website easily, then you might have some technical SEO work to do. If you’re not sure if you need technical SEO work, then talk to your web developer. If they don’t know, then simply get in touch with an SEO service provider near you like Zeal Digital.

Measuring Success: Tracking Your Website’s SEO Performance

There is no one-size-fits-all answer for what success looks like in SEO. There are a variety of things that can be measured and analysed to help you determine whether your target audience is engaging with your site and what kind of content they are engaging with. However, there are some tools that you can use to accurately measure the success of your SEO strategy.

• Google Analytics and Search Console: These are two tools that can help you analyse how people are engaging with your content. They will measure how many visitors you’ve gained, what keywords people are using to find your site and what devices they’re using to visit. Not only that, but they also show where audiences from around the world are coming from and how long they spend on your site.
• Key performance indicators (KPIs): These are metrics that help you analyse how well your website is performing. They look at things like bounce rate, the number of pages visited and other factors like that. So, make sure to use these metrics to track your SEO strategy’s performance.

Conclusion: Taking Action

SEO is an important strategy for any brand. However, it can be a time-consuming process which is why it’s important to know the basics of SEO. We hope you found this article to be helpful.

If you need the best SEO services for your website’s success, call the experts at Zeal Digital!

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