What Is SEO And Why Is It Important: 8 Optimization Techniques
What is SEO?
More and more often you see this word and wonder what SEO actually is. You don't know what it means exactly or why it's important.
Well, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the method by which you optimize a website for search engines to understand and find it. Starting from the technical side of WEB services of website design, where you must not have errors and pages must be well defined - all the way down to the writing part of the site, all of which determine SEO optimization methods.
What does it all lead to?
To increase the quantity and quality of traffic on the site - FREE.
You may have already started researching SEO and found on many sites that the methods are outdated and that there is no need to optimise your site for search engines. The articles were probably written by lazy people who don't know this part of online marketing. Well, they don't. SEO optimization is as "alive" as it gets!
Of course, all content comes first when writing and creating a website. After all, we write for humans and not for robots, but if we add good content, why not optimize it for search engines. You have to imagine that the search engine is like a small child that we have to spoon-feed - exactly the things it needs.
Let's further discuss some concrete methods on what SEO is and how to apply them to increase your website traffic.
1. Remove errors from the site
Probably one of the most important technical issues to keep in mind when you want search engines to find you. If you have smaller pages directed from the main page, where errors are present - then the search engine stops searching and signals that there is a problem with the site. It automatically lowers your authority and credibility. So check this every time. If you know that you have moved a page or an article - make sure you redirect it properly.
2. Improves page load speed
Our patience is getting worse, all of us!
Many times you enter a website and it takes forever for a page to load. It takes so long - that you even decide to close it. You don't want that to happen to your website.
How do you make sure something like this doesn't happen?
First of all you need to be careful about the format and size of the pictures you use. An interesting article to optimize SEO images was made by Yoast SEO. In it you get more details on how to solve this problem.
3. Pay attention to the structure URL of pages
It must be relevant to the pages you are writing. Don't leave unrelated text in the structure - it confuses search engines.
For example, if you have a page discussing "auto parts", don't leave a URL that has "Services" in the description. Be more specific and provide more accurate information for search engines.
4. Backlink
One of the best ways to increase the credibility of your website is backlinking.
A backlink is a link that leads from one page of a website to another website.
When other sites send links to your site - it means you are doing something right. As I said at the beginning, we write for people, not robots. So if people come to your site, and see quality content, they will be inclined to recommend you to others. You have to imagine that just like writers quote each other, or quote different sources. Exactly the same is true of these backlinks.
Of course, as with writers - there are some well-known and lesser-known ones. If you're quoted by a big writer, it's 10 times or even 100 times more relevant than if you're quoted by a few smaller ones. It's the same with websites. An authoritative domain that sends links to your site can greatly increase the quantity and quality of traffic to your site.
What do you mean by authoritative domain?
You understand a site that has an old domain, with considerable traffic, with content relevant to search engines. The exact algorithm that determines a site's authority is handled by PageRank.
5. Internal links
You have plenty of good information on the site and you know it.
The method by which you keep the reader on the site longer - besides a good service of copywriting - and lead him to read further, there are internal links. They are the reference you make to lead him to another page on your website. This way you manage to keep a Bounce Rate as low as possible.
6. Anchor text
As I said at the beginning, search engines like to be spoon-fed.
Any link you want to attach to your site, it is preferable to anchor it to relevant text. In our browsers, it is often blue and underlined. It would look something like this: Here is a link about marketing content.
It's also easier for search engines. And for you as a reader.
7. Search engines see 90% of text only
Recently, they can also recognise images - but mainly just portraits.
How do you make sure they still understand what exactly is in the pictures you post?
For each image make sure you specify what is in it in the HTML code at alt tag. The same goes for the videos you post on the site.
8. Content is most important
It's still people who read. So the content is the most important.
In recent years, the algorithm by which search engines determine page relevance has evolved greatly. It has evolved in the sense that it can increasingly tell from the written text whether it is qualitative information and whether it is to the point or not. When you use related words, for example "banana" and "yellow", the algorithm already knows the associations and can tell that you are presenting relevant content about bananas. In short, it tries to think more and more like a human. Yes, it's still at the "trying" stage - because even Google doesn't know how 100% works yet. RankBrain.
If you have a local business, be sure to enter your business name, address and phone number prominently, accurately and consistently on the site so that you can be notified by Google.
If you apply these 8 SEO methods properly, the quality and quantity of your website will definitely increase.
Like all good things, it takes time - so don't expect search engines to notice you overnight. The indexing algorithm starts about 2-4 weeks after the changes are made.
I hope you liked the article and it clarified you with - what SEO is, actually.
Do you think other people you know would benefit from the information provided in it?
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