What is the first thing you do when you need an idea? Or you need help with some information? Faced with a problem, challenge or even a choice, these days the answer to it all is – Google.
And so, it is a cold harsh truth that every business needs a presence on the internet to survive. And since there are a million of options, it is important that a business practices good SEO to be visible to its potential customers.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is one of the most essential elements of Digital Marketing. It is the process of making your website visible to potential customers by making it appear high on search engine result pages.
Good SEO helps rank your website on the the search results of a keyword and successful SEO aims at making your website rank as high as possible (at least the first page).
Years ago, it was easier to rate #1 on Google, but now, it takes a lot more effort. Currently, there are way more aspects involved in making use of SEO the right way. It has come to become a sort of mandatory marketing tactic if you want your website to be found through search engines like Google.
To begin with, let’s look at what a search engine is and how it works. In simple terms, search engines are nothing but an evolved form of ‘classifieds’. When a user searches for something on a search engine, thousands of websites appear which are termed as relevant search results.
Other than these organic and natural results that appear due to good SEO practices, some other results appear as ads which are paid for by the business and are termed under Search Engine Marketing (SEM).
As of today, there are more than 330,000,000+ websites that are registered on the internet. About 90% of the internet users these days rely on search engines to find out what they want instead of directly going to a particular website. There are various search engines available for use, but 83% of internet users rely on Google. It is important to note that 94% of the people click only on the websites viewed on the first page of the search results.
Also, that these people are crucial to businesses since they are actively looking for products or services that they offer. Hence, they are the ones that are most likely to visit our website and convert into our customers / subscribers.
That is why SEO is so important and sought after to help your website rank better. If your website does not appear on the first page of a search result, it’s alright to say that, to consumers, the website doesn’t exist.
So how do we make sure our website appears on the first page? It is essential for us to know how a search engine determines your position and what we can do to improve it. Here’s a little trivia!
Previously, the correlation between keyword used for search and the keywords that are available on the website are what decided the page ranking. But in 1996, it was found that more keywords on a website did not have to mean more relevancies with the search terms.
What was more important was to see if these websites were cited more often than the other websites. That is, if they were backlinked or referred to by other websites. That is how Google was born.
Most available search engines today follow this model. They still look at the keywords available on your website but rank its relevance based on the number and quality of backlinks to it from other websites. So basically, keywords help Google ‘see’ your website and backlinks on the other hand, lets Google ‘trust’ it.
The search listings that we get to see constantly change based on what people do on the web and are hence called ‘organic’ or ‘natural’ results.
Other than these two search engine aspects of finding and ranking pages, there are two corresponding components to SEO; namely On-page SEO and Off-page SEO.
On-page SEO is where in you ensure that your website is full of keywords that are relevant to what your site offers. In the case of Off-page SEO, you work to generate backlinks to your website that originate from other sources. Every time another website mentions and points their readers to your content, you gain a backlink to your site. These backlinks can be created using articles, social media, blog posts, etc. It is important to note that the more influential or legitimate the website is that links back to you, the more affect the backlink from that site will have on your search result ranking.
Since almost everyone these days relies heavily on search engines to find anything online, SEO is the most effective way to send traffic to your website. Good SEO takes time. So, the sooner you start, the sooner you move up on the search results ladder.
Introduction to On-Page SEO
On-Page SEO is basically signals sent by webmasters to search engines. These signals ensure not just quality of search results but also make sure they are relevant to the search terms used.
Hence, these signals along with various algorithms help search engines in ranking websites. On-page SEO is correlated more with relevancy than quality. This is because, as a website owner, we can make sure the webpage is relevant by using the right content and keywords but its quality can be assured stronger only through backlinks and other Off-page optimization methods.
Some On-page SEO factors include
- Page load speed – How long your website takes to open once clicked. The higher the load speed, the better the SEO ranking.
- Title tag – Title of website that appears on the browser bar must be relevant.
- Meta description – The description that appears below URL on search results page of a search engine should have relevant keywords.
- H1 & H2 heading tags – Title of the post that should be keyword enriched.
- URL Keywords – URL should be rich in quality keywords to help improve CTR.
- Content – Content on website should be rich in suitable and quality keywords that potential customers use while searching on search engines.
- Latent Semantic Index – Include keywords relevant to main keyword in content.
- Image ALT tag – Description and file name of images placed on the website.
- Internal Links – Relevant and important links available within your website.
- Content Length – Long form content performs better than short form content.
Introduction to Off-Page SEO
Off-Page SEO is any sort of optimization that is done outside of your website. Such optimization is generally done by your users unlike in case of On-page SEO wherein relevancy signals are sent by webmasters. Off-page SEO is correlated more with quality than relevancy. Very often, Off-page SEO happens by itself when your website has quality content that is read and shared and its users are taken care of.
Some basic Off-page SEO factors include
- Backlinks – Hyperlink from another website to yours.
- Social shares – Your website content shared on social media and other blogs.
- Brand searches – When brand keywords are used to reach your website instead of organic search keywords that drive traffic to your website.
- User behavior – Time spent by user on your website, Bounce rate, Pages viewed, Session, etc.
- Quality backlinks – when your website is referred by other websites, it helps increase popularity of your website.
“If SEO were an Olympic sport, it would be race walking. Everyone is after that first place slot – but it’s a long, slow, and strategic path to getting there.”
SEO can sound tricky and hard, but even the most basic SEO practices can take you a long way. It can help in avoiding all the clutter and to showcase your website among potential customers resulting in high visitors and in turn, conversions and sales.
Nivetha Muralidharan says
Great content. Thanks, Deepak for sharing
felix says
I really enjoyed this especially the Factors to be considered on the On-Page and Off -Page SEO
Bhawana says
Informative post
Ayshwarya Syndicate says
Nice one
Asif says
Hi Deepak
Great post..Are you going to send series of emails regarding how to do SEO step by step..I started blogging & I want to learn to do SEO to my blog..
Gyan Ranjan says
Your article is really very important and useful for all bloggers because every blogger wants to rank their article on Google first page.
Amarjeet says
I think this post is Awesome for seo,
Rohan says
So Deepak mention the sources from where I can learn SEO and make growth in money??
Srigokulnath s says
Very nice and intersting blog that you are published.I need more blog to keep on learning post more and more about digital marketing .
Viridweb says
Backlinks have 2 categories
1. On page backlinks
2. Off page backlinks
Also the content is thee most important thing to improve website ranking..
Shan Murali says
Rich content with useful info
rahul says
Wow! bravo, it’s a very great info for beginners and your content writing hats off!
Dhamodaran says
Nice article, simple and understand able to the beginners.
Vijay says
Great content with quality information.
Destrey says
That’s really thninikg out of the box. Thanks!
Amit Sharma says
I have also started a blog and I think this post will help me to improve my OnPage and OffPage SEO.
Thanks Deepak
Jithosh says
Your each post is valuable… Thanks Deepak
Shubham Bhardwaj says
Hello Deepak,
Great post about SEO. SEO is must for rank any website. Every beginner needs this guide for their new website.
Thanks for sharing this beginners guide to SEO.
Thanks – Shubham
Nani says
Good content Mr.Deepak.
I was about to sign for a website design with SEO. Your article just reached in time.
Great help.
Nani
keyur thakkar says
Really very useful content…..
Gaurav Bhagat says
Hey Deepak,
I am following your blog from quite a long time. Can you please share strategies for building backlink from quality places and some unique way.
Thanks,
Gaurav
Dibyaranjan says
Hi Deepak Sir ,
It’s a very useful article about the importance of SEO. And you simply described how SEO help us to get more traffic on a website. Thanks for sharing this.
Sabita says
Useful info Deepak. Thanks for sharing. Just one suggestion, you could place a linkedin button for the share option alongwith FB & Twitter.
Cheers
satyam panda says
Hey deepak,
Your skills is so much impressive. Can you suggest me how to get rid from over 404 errors. Because recently I migrate my blog from blogger to wordpress.
Vijay Thakor says
Nice post, can you teach me about how to make quality backlinks
tony says
Great write up. simple and easy to understand! Kudos Mr Deepak
Susana Parker says
I’ve always found SEO information to be very tricky. There are so many terms involved that seem hard to understand, but when you’re in the blogging world they are important to increase your chances of having a successful blog.
It’s a nice post to get started in SEO. TFS!
SamChandran says
Hi, Deepak !
Excellent One!
Regards,
Sam Chandran
Arvind Dandotiya says
Thanks Deepak
Your article contains a lot of information and very helpful for beginners. Sometimes i was not able to good seo but i think tihis will work absolutely
Travel Jaunts says
Useful information however when it comes to execution consistency is so important in SEO that unless things are done on regular basis, efforts go haywire.
Swapnilagrawal says
Thank u sir it is very helpful
Nisha says
hey Deepak,
that’s great! this article is worthy for beginners in this field. you explained SEO very well.
thanks for sharing this.
dharmesh vaghela says
Nice post Sir Easy to understand SEO ON page and OFF page activities..thanks for sharing
Syed says
Very well Deepak. Keep it up.
Course Hybrid says
Thank you sir, i have gone through the article and it will really help me in my SEO journey.
varsharani G says
Hello sir, the content about SEO in this blog is very useful and easy to understand. It really helped me to clear the many concepts in SEO. Thank you so much for sharing such nice information.
Bishnu says
Sir,I really love your all article but this article is very thorough simple and easy to understand…
Please I am requesting to you make more blogs on Seo and content marketing..
Electricity Helps says
Are there any websites which can provide the facility to buy paid SEO tools in group. It should be reliable enough.
Pugazh says
Hey Deepak. The information about SEO is very useful. Thanks
MBBS Ukraine says
Say, you got a nice blog article.Really thank you! Keep writing.
Career Convey says
Wow! I am enjoyed your informational and useful article. Thanks a lot for sharing us the top trending fonts which are very important for typography design.
Himanshu Sharma says
I landed on your website from the Facebook shares and i found the information really much impressive.
Detailed post about blogging and the way you presented in it worth appreciating.
filmykatta says
Thank you for this article Deepak! Motivating and makes a lot of sense!! Look forward to reading your future articles with more details.. Keep it Up.
Himanshu Sharma says
Can SEO help someone’s new website which is not having any blog to get visitors?
Can a static website get ranked higher in Google?
venkatesh kumar says
Awesome content for a beginner and easy to understand.
ketan says
Great Sir
SERPCRIBE review says
WOW just what I was searching for. Came here by searching for Link Building
Praful says
Hello sir, Many thanks for sharing this much informative article. This is really a very nice for newbie. Thanks for sharing.
Praf
Siddesh says
Thanks for sharing Deepak Sir
Subhash says
Crisp And Simple
Akshay Anvekar says
Great deepak sir
Kiran says
Simple , to the point yet very informative
Probin Kumar Sah says
Very valuable information
Thank you sir
Waseem says
Very Nice Article For Beginners thanks For sharing..