I know you must have heard about SEO and you’re wondering what in the world it is and how can it help your business, Don’t worry, I walk you through it.
So, What is Search engine optimization (SEO)?
SEO is the process of improving the ranking of a website or a web page in search engine results pages (SERPs). SEO targets unpaid traffic (known as “natural” or “organic” results) rather than direct traffic or paid traffic. Unpaid traffic may originate from different kinds of searches, including image search, video search, academic search, news search, and industry-specific vertical search engines.
As an Internet marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engines work, the computer-programmed algorithms that dictate search engine behavior, what people search for, the actual search terms or keywords typed into search engines, and which search engines are preferred by their targeted audience. SEO is performed because a website will receive more visitors from a search engine when websites rank higher on the search engine results page (SERP). These visitors can then potentially be converted into customers.
Benefits of SEO
There are many benefits to SEO, including:
- Increased website traffic: SEO can help to increase the number of visitors to your website. This can lead to more leads, sales, and customers.
- Improved brand awareness: SEO can help to improve your website’s visibility in search engines, which can lead to increased brand awareness.
- Increased credibility: A well-optimized website can make your business appear more credible to potential customers.
- Cost-effective: SEO is a cost-effective way to market your business. Once you have implemented the necessary SEO techniques, you can continue to see results without having to spend additional money.
How to do SEO the right way
There are many things you can do to improve your website’s SEO, including:
- Create high-quality content: The most important factor in SEO is creating high-quality content that is relevant to your target audience. This content should be informative, well-written, and easy to read.
- Optimize your website’s title tags and meta descriptions: Your title tags and meta descriptions are the snippets of text that appear in search engine results pages. These snippets should be descriptive and include the keywords that you want your website to rank for.
- Use keywords throughout your website: When you are writing content for your website, be sure to use the keywords that you want your website to rank for. You should also use keywords in your website’s headers, footers, and navigation menus.
- Build backlinks to your website: Backlinks are links from other websites to your website. These links can help to improve your website’s ranking in search engines. You can build backlinks by guest blogging, submitting your website to directories, and participating in online forums.
- Keep your website up-to-date: Search engines prefer websites that are updated regularly. Be sure to add new content to your website on a regular basis.
Free SEO Tools
There are many free SEO tools available that can help you improve your website’s ranking in search engines. Some of the most popular free SEO tools include:
- Google Search Console: Google Search Console is a free tool that helps you monitor your website’s performance in Google Search. You can use Google Search Console to see how many people are visiting your website, what keywords they are using to find your website, and how your website is ranking for those keywords.
- Google Keyword Planner: Google Keyword Planner is a free tool that helps you find the right keywords to use on your website. Keyword Planner can help you find keywords that are relevant to your business, that have a high search volume, and that are not too competitive.
- RankMath: RankMath is a WordPress plugin that helps users improve their website’s ranking in search engines. It offers a variety of features, including keyword research, on-page SEO, backlink analysis, and competitor analysis. RankMath is a freemium tool, which means that it can be used for free with limited features. However, if you want to unlock all of its features, you will need to purchase a premium plan.
- Answer the Public: Answer the Public is a free tool that helps you generate keyword ideas. Answer the Public will show you what people are asking about your topic, and it will also show you long-tail keywords that you can use on your website.
- SEMrush: SEMrush is a free tool that provides a variety of SEO tools, including keyword research, backlink analysis, and website audits.
- SpyFu: spyfu is a keyword research tool that helps you find the right keywords to use on your website. It also provides data on your competitors’ paid advertising campaigns, so you can see what keywords they are bidding on and how much they are spending.
- Ahrefs is a more comprehensive SEO tool that offers features for keyword research, backlink analysis, and website audits. It also provides data on your competitors’ organic search traffic, so you can see how they are ranking for different keywords.
These are just a few of the many free SEO tools available. Using a few tools from the above list can improve your website’s SEO and increase your chances of ranking higher in search engines.
SEO is a complex and ever-changing field. It is important to stay up-to-date on the latest trends and best practices. You can do this by reading industry publications, attending conferences, and hiring an experienced SEO consultant.