Many people are intimidated by talking about SEO (search engine optimization) and even more intimidated by the thought of needing to actually implement it. As we have (hopefully) conveyed thus far, SEO is not a series of “tricks”, but rather a foundation of tactics to deliver the best content to readers and improve that content’s search engine performance.
Yes, it can get complicated; there is a reason that SEO professionals exist. But they all had to start somewhere! Below, we will outline some fundamental concepts, SEO basics, which you should grasp before delving into white hat SEO techniques. Just as you must know your ABCs before reading, you must understand these basic ideas before you can conquer search engines. However, you cannot simply learn the basics once and be done; this field is developing alongside technology and requires continuous refinement of concepts.
Obviously, you want your site to rank higher in searches relevant to your industry. That means you need to optimize your relevance (how your content fits with incoming queries) and increase your domain authority (your website’s trustworthiness as viewed by search engines). Domain authority is a proprietary score calculated based upon the quality and quantity of inbound links. This predicts your status in organic search engine results. Once you grasp what SEO boils down to, you are in a better position to evaluate the tactics which may be most useful in your optimization moving forward.
and it is important to distinguish the assets of each tactic to better tailor your results. Wind up with exactly what you want by individually addressing the fields of:
Oh that is a lot! Who knew SEO was so involved?! If you seek further information about any of these SEO “subdivisions,” or even feel prepared to tackle some of the techniques, we have got you covered.
You must know how to generally advertise well before stepping into the world of digital optimization. It can be helpful to view link building, one of the many facets of search engine optimization, as content marketing applied to external publishers. It entails reaching out to others to get your content out there. Additionally, this understanding gives you an idea of the breadth of SEO. Link building is just a small component in the entire field.
It’s not calculus, but you must know how to measure your results in SEO, interpret those results and use your analysis to employ the best strategies in the future. While you must have a basic understanding of what numbers mean and what kind of numbers you would like, there are certain tools that exist to help you keep track of some of your website metrics. Most commonly, implementers of SEO like Google Analytics. You still must understand the kind of reports you want to see, but this will give you access to more knowledge and articles on SEO.
So, there you have it. The building blocks of good SEO. Once you have a good working knowledge of SEO theory, implementing various techniques and strategies will seem far more approachable. Contact us today for more tips on getting started.