What Is SEO? Search Engine Optimisation Made Easy
What Is SEO?
Let’s start from the very beginning.
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. Simply put, it’s all the work you do to get your website to rank high(er) in search engines.
See how I used the term “work” and not “tricks” or “hacks”? That’s because SEO is not about cheating or manipulating the algorithm - it’s about optimising your page so your target audience can easily find it.
The reality is that SEO takes time, patience, and work. A LOT of work. And the worst part? It can take MONTHS before your SEO efforts show any results.
At this point, you might wonder: “Is SEO even worth it?”.
Why SEO Is Important
Ranking high in search results is not a goal in and of itself; it’s only a means to increase traffic to your website. That traffic can then be converted into paying customers and increase revenue - which is an actual business goal.
In other words, SEO = higher ranking. Higher ranking = more traffic. More traffic = more customers. More customers = more revenue. Therefore, SEO = more revenue.
So, SEO will bring you more traffic. But how much of it?
Well, traffic potential varies from niche to niche. However, research shows that (in general) organic traffic accounts for 60.68%. That’s almost ten times the amount of traffic coming from social media!
However, not all rankings are equal. There’s an unequal traffic distribution based on where you rank in the search results. In other words, the first few results will get most of the traffic.
To get more specific, the first result gets around 30% of the total traffic, the second around 15%, the third just above 10%, and then all the other results only get crumbs of the total traffic. (source: Backlinko)
In other words, the higher you rank, the more visitors you’ll get.
So, let’s do a quick recap:
Businesses get more than half of their traffic from search engines. SEO leads to higher ranking, which is tightly correlated to the amount of clicks (and ultimately visitors) you get. However, SEO is a long-term strategy that might take months to generate results.
The question is: “Can you buy your way to the top?”.
And the answer is: “Technically, you can. But there’s a catch!”.
SEO vs PPC
If you take a look at search results, you’ll see that PPC ads (aka pay-per-click ads) are displayed BEFORE organic results.
Here’s an example:
So you can technically buy your way to the top of search engine result pages (SERPs), right?
Yes, you can, but here’s a hard truth: People don’t like ads. And Google makes it clear when it’s displaying ads or organic results.
In fact, research shows that 94% of users skip the PPC listings entirely and go straight to the organic results.
In other words, ranking higher organically is cheaper and brings more traffic.
Now, I don’t want to shit on PPC because I think that they both have their place in an online marketing campaign. Unfortunately, discussing the pros and cons of each is beyond the scope of this article.
For now, just keep in mind that, in the long run, SEO brings more traffic for less money.
How Search Engines Work
Understanding how search engines work is key to understanding how SEO works. It’s like learning the rules before you start playing.
So, without getting too technical, here’s what you need to know.
Search engines have a massive (I mean, really massive) index where they store all the available web pages.
When you make a search, they show you all the relevant pages they know about, ranking them based on what they believe to be the best one.
To determine ranking, Google uses a sophisticated algorithm that considers countless factors.
However, there are three main ones (in order of importance) you should be aware of:
Relevance
→ This is single-handedly the most important ranking factor. If a page is irrelevant to what the user has searched for, it won’t rank.
→ To determine relevance, Google will scan your page and understand the content.
Trustworthiness
→ If multiple relevant pages are available on a single topic, the algorithm will rank them based on the website’s trustworthiness.
→ To determine that, Google looks at whether other important websites in your space link back to you.
User Experience
→ All other things being equal, Google will reward websites that offer a better user experience to their visitors.
→ Having a good user experience means having a fast website, not spamming the user with banners, making your website accessible, and so much more!
With this in mind, let’s look at how SEO actually works.
Understanding How SEO Works
Given what we’ve just said, SEO is broadly broken up into three main categories:
Technical SEO
→ All the work you do to your website to make it better is often called Technical SEO.
→ This usually gets tackled first because it’s an easy way to see fast results and will also pave the way for the other steps.
On-page SEO
→ All the work you do to the content of your website is often referred to as On-page SEO.
→ As mentioned previously, if you don’t have relevant content for what people are searching for, you won’t rank.
Off-page SEO
→ All the work you do outside of your website to make it rank higher is often called Off-page SEO.
→ This usually gets done after the previous two because it’s much easier to get backlinks to content pages than for products/services pages.
Based on that, here’s a 30,000-foot view of how an actual SEO campaign would work:
Work on the website.
→ 1. The first step is to do some work on the website to ensure no mistakes prevent it from being discovered by Google.
→ On top of that, if the website has a bad UX, it will get fixed to make ranking easier.
Keyword research.
→ Once your website is good enough, it’s time to conduct keyword research to see what people are searching for.
→ This usually gets carried out with a tool like Ahrefs or Semrush, and it helps you understand what keywords are being searched the most on a monthly basis.
Update existing pages and create new ones.
→ Once you know what people are searching for, it’s time to optimise your pages for that keyword(s).
Build backlinks.
→ Once you have relevant content in place, you can start building backlinks to increase your website’s overall authority and trustworthiness.
Go back to stage 2 and repeat.
And that’s pretty much it! This is how SEO actually works in the real world.
As you can see, there are no hacks or gimmicks. Just planning, research, and a ton of work!
SEO Myths
Before you go, I want to go over some of the most common SEO myths you can find online.
I’ve decided to include this section because I genuinely believe SEO is one of the most misunderstood industries ever.
Please take some time to review these because the mindset with which you approach SEO will have everything to do with how successful you will be at this game.
Myth #1: SEO is just a handful of tricks
That statement was true about 15 years ago. Nowadays, no trick or gimmick will increase your rankings overnight.
And even if you find a spammy technique that works, it won’t last long before Google notices it, and your website gets removed from the index.
Myth #2: SEO experts know it all
No one except a few selected people inside Google knows the billion-dollar secret behind Google’s algorithm.
If somebody tells you they have a method that works 100% of the time, they’re lying to your face.
Myth #3: SEO is only for big corporations
Let me ask you a question: Do you want your website to be found on Google? If the answer is yes, then SEO is for you.
But SEO doesn’t even have to be expensive. You could learn it and apply the notions completely for free if you wanted to!
Myth #4: Traffic is all that matters
Traffic is not a goal in and of itself. If revenue isn’t going up, the traffic you’re getting is worthless.
Focus on traffic that means business.
Myth #5: SEO is a one-off thing
SEO is a process, not an event. You need to keep working on your strategy if you don’t want to lose all your hard-earned rankings.
FAQs
Q1 - How Much Time Does SEO Take To Work?
Generally speaking, your SEO campaign will take 4-6 months to start producing tangible results. However, keep in mind that the expected timeline will depend on a number of factors.
Q2 - Is SEO Still Relevant In 2024?
Yes, SEO is still relevant in 2024. As long as people keep searching for things online, SEO will always be relevant. (And no, SGE is not replacing organic searches anytime soon - if ever!)
Q3 - Can I do SEO myself?
Yes, you can do SEO yourself. However, remember that SEO is complex, and staying updated on best practices is crucial for long-term success. If you’re willing to invest a ton of time and effort, doing your SEO is definitely possible.
Q4 - Is SEO free or paid?
Technically, SEO is completely free. You cannot pay for placement in search results (unless we’re talking about ads). However, most businesses hire an expert or an agency because SEO takes time, patience, and work.
What Is SEO?
Let’s start from the very beginning.
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. Simply put, it’s all the work you do to get your website to rank high(er) in search engines.
See how I used the term “work” and not “tricks” or “hacks”? That’s because SEO is not about cheating or manipulating the algorithm - it’s about optimising your page so your target audience can easily find it.
The reality is that SEO takes time, patience, and work. A LOT of work. And the worst part? It can take MONTHS before your SEO efforts show any results.
At this point, you might wonder: “Is SEO even worth it?”.
Why SEO Is Important
Ranking high in search results is not a goal in and of itself; it’s only a means to increase traffic to your website. That traffic can then be converted into paying customers and increase revenue - which is an actual business goal.
In other words, SEO = higher ranking. Higher ranking = more traffic. More traffic = more customers. More customers = more revenue. Therefore, SEO = more revenue.
So, SEO will bring you more traffic. But how much of it?
Well, traffic potential varies from niche to niche. However, research shows that (in general) organic traffic accounts for 60.68%. That’s almost ten times the amount of traffic coming from social media!
However, not all rankings are equal. There’s an unequal traffic distribution based on where you rank in the search results. In other words, the first few results will get most of the traffic.
To get more specific, the first result gets around 30% of the total traffic, the second around 15%, the third just above 10%, and then all the other results only get crumbs of the total traffic. (source: Backlinko)
In other words, the higher you rank, the more visitors you’ll get.
So, let’s do a quick recap:
Businesses get more than half of their traffic from search engines. SEO leads to higher ranking, which is tightly correlated to the amount of clicks (and ultimately visitors) you get. However, SEO is a long-term strategy that might take months to generate results.
The question is: “Can you buy your way to the top?”.
And the answer is: “Technically, you can. But there’s a catch!”.
SEO vs PPC
If you take a look at search results, you’ll see that PPC ads (aka pay-per-click ads) are displayed BEFORE organic results.
Here’s an example:
So you can technically buy your way to the top of search engine result pages (SERPs), right?
Yes, you can, but here’s a hard truth: People don’t like ads. And Google makes it clear when it’s displaying ads or organic results.
In fact, research shows that 94% of users skip the PPC listings entirely and go straight to the organic results.
In other words, ranking higher organically is cheaper and brings more traffic.
Now, I don’t want to shit on PPC because I think that they both have their place in an online marketing campaign. Unfortunately, discussing the pros and cons of each is beyond the scope of this article.
For now, just keep in mind that, in the long run, SEO brings more traffic for less money.
How Search Engines Work
Understanding how search engines work is key to understanding how SEO works. It’s like learning the rules before you start playing.
So, without getting too technical, here’s what you need to know.
Search engines have a massive (I mean, really massive) index where they store all the available web pages.
When you make a search, they show you all the relevant pages they know about, ranking them based on what they believe to be the best one.
To determine ranking, Google uses a sophisticated algorithm that considers countless factors.
However, there are three main ones (in order of importance) you should be aware of:
Relevance
→ This is single-handedly the most important ranking factor. If a page is irrelevant to what the user has searched for, it won’t rank.
→ To determine relevance, Google will scan your page and understand the content.
Trustworthiness
→ If multiple relevant pages are available on a single topic, the algorithm will rank them based on the website’s trustworthiness.
→ To determine that, Google looks at whether other important websites in your space link back to you.
User Experience
→ All other things being equal, Google will reward websites that offer a better user experience to their visitors.
→ Having a good user experience means having a fast website, not spamming the user with banners, making your website accessible, and so much more!
With this in mind, let’s look at how SEO actually works.
Understanding How SEO Works
Given what we’ve just said, SEO is broadly broken up into three main categories:
Technical SEO
→ All the work you do to your website to make it better is often called Technical SEO.
→ This usually gets tackled first because it’s an easy way to see fast results and will also pave the way for the other steps.
On-page SEO
→ All the work you do to the content of your website is often referred to as On-page SEO.
→ As mentioned previously, if you don’t have relevant content for what people are searching for, you won’t rank.
Off-page SEO
→ All the work you do outside of your website to make it rank higher is often called Off-page SEO.
→ This usually gets done after the previous two because it’s much easier to get backlinks to content pages than for products/services pages.
Based on that, here’s a 30,000-foot view of how an actual SEO campaign would work:
Work on the website.
→ 1. The first step is to do some work on the website to ensure no mistakes prevent it from being discovered by Google.
→ On top of that, if the website has a bad UX, it will get fixed to make ranking easier.
Keyword research.
→ Once your website is good enough, it’s time to conduct keyword research to see what people are searching for.
→ This usually gets carried out with a tool like Ahrefs or Semrush, and it helps you understand what keywords are being searched the most on a monthly basis.
Update existing pages and create new ones.
→ Once you know what people are searching for, it’s time to optimise your pages for that keyword(s).
Build backlinks.
→ Once you have relevant content in place, you can start building backlinks to increase your website’s overall authority and trustworthiness.
Go back to stage 2 and repeat.
And that’s pretty much it! This is how SEO actually works in the real world.
As you can see, there are no hacks or gimmicks. Just planning, research, and a ton of work!
SEO Myths
Before you go, I want to go over some of the most common SEO myths you can find online.
I’ve decided to include this section because I genuinely believe SEO is one of the most misunderstood industries ever.
Please take some time to review these because the mindset with which you approach SEO will have everything to do with how successful you will be at this game.
Myth #1: SEO is just a handful of tricks
That statement was true about 15 years ago. Nowadays, no trick or gimmick will increase your rankings overnight.
And even if you find a spammy technique that works, it won’t last long before Google notices it, and your website gets removed from the index.
Myth #2: SEO experts know it all
No one except a few selected people inside Google knows the billion-dollar secret behind Google’s algorithm.
If somebody tells you they have a method that works 100% of the time, they’re lying to your face.
Myth #3: SEO is only for big corporations
Let me ask you a question: Do you want your website to be found on Google? If the answer is yes, then SEO is for you.
But SEO doesn’t even have to be expensive. You could learn it and apply the notions completely for free if you wanted to!
Myth #4: Traffic is all that matters
Traffic is not a goal in and of itself. If revenue isn’t going up, the traffic you’re getting is worthless.
Focus on traffic that means business.
Myth #5: SEO is a one-off thing
SEO is a process, not an event. You need to keep working on your strategy if you don’t want to lose all your hard-earned rankings.
FAQs
Q1 - How Much Time Does SEO Take To Work?
Generally speaking, your SEO campaign will take 4-6 months to start producing tangible results. However, keep in mind that the expected timeline will depend on a number of factors.
Q2 - Is SEO Still Relevant In 2024?
Yes, SEO is still relevant in 2024. As long as people keep searching for things online, SEO will always be relevant. (And no, SGE is not replacing organic searches anytime soon - if ever!)
Q3 - Can I do SEO myself?
Yes, you can do SEO yourself. However, remember that SEO is complex, and staying updated on best practices is crucial for long-term success. If you’re willing to invest a ton of time and effort, doing your SEO is definitely possible.
Q4 - Is SEO free or paid?
Technically, SEO is completely free. You cannot pay for placement in search results (unless we’re talking about ads). However, most businesses hire an expert or an agency because SEO takes time, patience, and work.
Luca Da Corte is a freelance Framer Expert and SEO specialist. When he’s not working on some exciting projects, he curates a blog where he shares insights, resources, and experiences on everything regarding websites.
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