How SEO Works

SEO optimization: buzzword and on everyone's lips. Where are you currently in the optimization process? Hopefully not on the verge of madness.

I remember when I heard the term "SEO" for the first time in 2002. The word felt so strange on the tongue back then, and few insiders knew what it was all about. If I had known then what I know today, then I would have done many things differently. It's not a sorcery ... For a more detailed definition of seo aslo refer to this article.

Gained SEO insights

At that time, I paid SEO agencies a fortune to get us a good ranking. And for a while, that worked fine, but abruptly stopped as search engines began to evolve. However, the

agencies left me long in the belief that what they were doing was highly complicated. Soon after, I realized that these so-called "tricks" that the agencies used are not a very

sustainable approach to good ranking.

Over time I learned 3 things:

1. Search engine optimization is not witchcraft

2. It takes time to learn the subtle language of search engine optimization, but you can learn the basics in minutes

3. Important : If you want to achieve top results in the Google ranking, you have to deliver a convincing end product to your customers. High-profile meta tags and keyword placements are secondary

So the best thing to do is turn the keyword salad strategy right upside down. Create useful and exciting contributions for your readers. If you want to increase activity on

your website and ultimately sales, then you need to follow these simple steps.

The 5 steps:

1. Learn to understand website traffic

2. Research work: How do I find the right keywords?

3. Design content

4. On Page SEO: Optimize your coding

5. Off-page SEO: Website relevance

1. Understand website traffic

Many marketers see SEO only as a (free) traffic boosting tool. While it's true that organic traffic is the end result of good SEO tactics, the idea behind it is different:

Actually, SEO serves the purpose of making it easier for people looking for your company or products to find you. For this to happen, you need to adjust the content of your website to

what people are typing in the search engines.

An example:

Lora from Edinburgh sells handmade bags. On her blog, she shows how she makes these (very nice) bags by hand. She often writes about the different materials she uses. With a

niche and a search volume and keyword competition for handbag materials relatively low, Lora has long been ranking high on Google for those particular keywords. Why?

Because she has been writing about her materials for years and in detail.

But right here lies the dog buried. Do you notice why?

Because the people who Lora targets with her keywords are not potential buyers , but probably people who make handbags themselves. Although Lora has a lot of traffic and

clicks on her website, none of the leads will become a customer because people do not want to buy.

2. Research: How do I find the right keywords?

Research work is tedious, but also an essential part in the search for the right keywords.

You want to find keywords that:

• Record a high search volume (many people are looking for it)

• Have little competition (few companies use the keywords)

• Support your website content (keyword relevance)

There are many tools to help you find the right keywords. The most popular tool is the Google Insight Keyword Planner . This provides results based on actual Google searches.

If you're signed in with an AdWords account, the tool will also automatically suggest matching keywords for the linked page.

But before you start writing, you should decide what type of keyword you want to use. Get acquainted with the "The Long Tail Keyword."

What are long tail keywords?

Long tail keywords are relatively specific and therefore not so often searched and as a result less competitive, but these can be used more effectively when it comes to your

online marketing. These include, for example, combinations of multiple keywords.

For example, although Exlibris counts thousands of visitors with the keyword "DVD", millions of users come to the site looking for individual DVD + titles (DVD finds Dorie, The Return of

Xander Cage DVD, etc.). Individually, the titles would of course never reach the search volume of the keyword "DVD", bundled, however, their volume is greater than that of

the one keyword.

How can you use long tail keywords?

All in all, longtail keywords should account for about 75% of the traffic. So if you do keyword research, do not just focus on those with high search volume. Write down some

less popular but relevant phrases and integrate them into the overall strategy.

3. Design content

Design the appropriate content after selecting the right keywords. Search engines send out bots that automatically "crawl" through websites and "read" content. They

automatically arrange what it's all about and then decide which page will be linked to which keyword. You can influence the "decisions" of the bots by optimizing your content

with keywords or long tail keywords.

This is particularly the case when preparing content that bots cannot read. Bots can interpret texts, but they cannot watch pictures, videos, or listen to audio files. So you

need to describe that content so that the bots "understand" it and you can rank.

Please keep in mind that search engine optimized writing usually makes your content boring or incomprehensible. And that will not help you convert visitors into customers. So

it's much better if you focus on the readers and make the content easy and useful. Bot optimization is secondary.

Please note for the preparation:

• Title : Create catchy titles that arouse readers' interest. You do not want to post a great post that nobody wants to read just because the title is boring.

• Links : Links to trusted sources that complement the content you provide.

• Quality : Publish high quality and unique content. If visitors on your page find content that's otherwise hard to find on the net, you'll sooner or later generate

more traffic. However, do not steal content. The search engines can punish this with a worse ranking.

• News and News : Keep your content up to date, even if your field of activity does not change. The world is constantly changing. This way you stay visible in the

network.

4. On Page SEO: Optimize your coding

When the first content is available, you should think about code optimization. Search engine bots not only read the text, but also the encoding of your website. Your website

contains several sections that you can optimize. .

a. Title Tags

Title tags are used to show search engines and visitors as accurately as possible what your website (including any subpage) is about.

b. Meta Tags

The meta description does not have much impact on your search engine ranking, but it shows visitors what your website is about.

c. Headings

Please note: The more detailed the content, the higher the number of the headline. Use only one H1 tag per page. H2's, H3's and H4's, however, you can use as many as

necessary. Your headlines should include page-relevant keywords.

d. Internal links

If, for example, you create content on your blog or the specific websites, you should also refer to other pages within your website.

e. Sitemaps

Sitemaps are navigation systems for search engines and give bots instructions on where the respective pages are located on your website. They make sure the bots find the

pages.

f. URL structure

The search engine bots are best able to read your URLs if they are neatly structured.

g. Images

Always add alt attributes and use relevant text / keywords that best describe the image.

5 Off-Page SEO: Website relevance

With the help of off-page optimization, you can increase the relevance of your website. This depends to a large extent on incoming links (inbound links). Off-page SEO

measures ensure the creation of high-quality and topic-relevant backlinks. This is also called "linkbuilding".

Inbound links

Links are the most important part of SEO. The more relevant, high-quality websites link to your website, the higher your website will be. Links are so important for the

following reason: Every user can do research and provide content. However, it is incredibly difficult to convince hundreds and thousands of foreign websites of their own

quality that they also link to your content.

Search engines see it this way: The more trustworthy, non-spammy websites refer to your website, the more relevance your site has for this topic.

Please note in terms of coding:

Links within pages (within web content) are more relevant than links in sidebars or footers

Links from relevant pages rank highly - irrelevant websites, however, not

Anchor texts are most important in terms of link building: If you want to rank for "red parrot", then the anchor text should also be "red parrot"

Please avoid:

Links from sites classified as spam or irrelevant sites

Intentional interlinking (I link you and you link me ...) is not very effective

If you get caught buying textlinks, search engines can completely exclude you from all search results

Conclusion

If you implement all the advice given here, you will generate more website traffic. You still have to be patient, because it takes some time for search engines to register

changes and update the results. After all, they have to scan billions of websites. It also takes time to figure out what works for your website.

There is no universal recipe. We also recommend avoiding grey areas and intentionally fooling the search engines. Be careful with offers that promise you faster success

without much effort. If caught you will be punished. Not worth it.

The better approach?

1. Find out what people are looking for

2. Provide the answers on a suitable platform on your site ( blog )

3. Optimize content so that potential customers find you too.

This is not only clever SEO optimization, but follows the rules that make search engines. The goal of search engines is to filter out the best websites on the topic. So, if

you work hard to provide the best content, and then skillfully promote it, the search engines will better rank your page. Keep an eye on the items in this article and be

patient. if you pull it, then it's worth it.