What is SEO?
SEO is one of those acronyms that scares people. It sounds very nerdy, technical, and complicated.
But it is not.
Per Moz, 1 “SEO is the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search results.”
In other words, SEO is how to naturally increase the number of quality visitors to your website – without ads or gimmicks.
SEO in Four Parts
There are four parts that makeup search engine optimization are:
- On-Page SEO
- Technical SEO
- Content
- Off-Page SEO
The four parts of SEO need to work in harmony to propel your website to the front page and stay there.
On Page SEO
Eleven (11) key factors make up On-Page SEO. These key factors are on the page signals to Google about your content. These signals tell Google what the page contains and how well it does it.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO covers coding necessary to allow search engines to crawl the site. It also includes accessibility issues, mobile optimization, security, page load speeds, and more.
Content
Content is the combination of words, images, and pictures on a website. Content can be divided into two general groups: persuasive copywriting and content marketing. Persuasive content is any web page that actively seeks a sale. Content marketing gives valuable information to act as proof of the company’s authority on a topic.
Off-Page SEO (AKA Backlinks)
Off-Page SEO, also known as backlinks, is the only part of SEO that is out of the web developer’s hands. Obtaining backlinks relies on on-page SEO, technical SEO, and content working in tandem together to convince others to your website.
Russ Henneberry (co-author of Digital Marketing for Dummies) explained the importance of backlinks. He said, “The more relevant high-quality websites that link to you, the more your credibility increases in the eyes of Google.”
What SEO Service Provider Must Do
Jason Barnard of SemRush said it best. “SEO is the art and science of persuading Google to recommend your content to their users as the best solution to their problem.”
To win the SEO game, your SEO service provider must:
- Make sure Google knows who the client is and what they offer
- Convince Google that the client’s website is the most credible option
- Create high-quality original content that is usable, easy to read, and provides a clear solution
- Set reasonable expectations with their clients
- Be transparent in how they achieve lasting results
“How high you appear and how often you appear is merit-based. Google will show them [searchers] what they consider to be the best fit for their users every time.” Jason Barnard, Semrush
What SEO is NOT
SEO is …
- Not throwing a crap ton of shady links at a site for a quick pop in rankings.
- Not Using bots to click on your site to make traffic appear larger.
- Not seeing overnight results.
- Not Building out 1000 pages with AI to make your site look like it has a lot of authority
When you look at SEO, think of a car. It takes several systems to need to work together to get you where you want to go. It is the same with SEO.
The only difference is doing SEO correctly can position you to get that dream car. But not the other way around.
If you have more questions about SEO, please check out the recommended reading below. Or email us at lewis@bluecrocus.ca.