With the rise of the internet and online marketing, there has been an increased number of websites online. People from all over the globe are creating websites on several search engines such as Google, Bling. According to statistics over 175 websites are created every minute. This makes it around 252,000 websites every day. As a result, a lot of traffic overload online and a lot of websites feature one single thing. As such, information has become hard to find. This is the point at which Search Engine Optimization (SEO) becomes important – FUNDAMENTALS OF SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO) TO A BEGINNER
WHAT IS SEO?
SEO, in full Search Engine Optimization, is a term used to refer to the practice f optimizing web content so as to enable it appear higher on the search results scale within search results. Optimized websites are usual among the first five search results you see after searching using any search engine. SEO can also be understood as the process of improving the quality and quantity of website traffic.
HOW SEO WORKS
Search engines such as Google, bling use robots crawl webpages on the internet so as to determine what content they contain and their subject matter. Robots scan codes, picking up the written text, images, videos, on the webpage to gather all the information. Once they have gathered enough intel and identified them as very important to the internet users, they add these new web pages to their index/ the index is what is actually optimized. Important to note however is that search engines such as Google do not wholly reveal the specifics of the process. It is therefore impossible to tell what exactly influences indexing and ranking.
COMPONENTS OF SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
Components refer to the constituent and most important parts of something. SEO components may include: key words, quality content, image, strong external links, meta tags to mention but a few.
Key words: these are the words or phrases searchers enter into the search engine search bar, sometimes they are known as search queries. To ensure a strong SEO, one must have the right keywords on the wensite headings. The first paragraph of your content should also have the key words. This is helpful in attaining relevant traffic that can translate into clients.
Meta tags: These are areas in an HTML code that contain information about a website. However, these should contain the keywords for your website where search engines look to see where your website is about.
Strong external links: As opposed to internal links, external links are those whose URL is on a different site. A strong external link will make search engines consider your website to contain valuable information hence ranking it higher on the search results scale. It is important to avoid internal links which are it related to yours. For example, if a link is about health and livelihood, it shouldn’t be linked with yours which is about dogs and cats.
Images: It is no doubt that images are an important part of a website. Visitors to the internet tend to link seeing high quality images on a website as it helps them understand what the content is elaborating. Where a site sells hoods, it is critical that website designers should in life images of the products to enable web traffic see how the product looks like.
Social Media: in this dot com age, social media has no doubt become as important as oxygen itself. A lot of businesses and brands rely on social media as almost half of the people worldwide are on social media. Likewise, web pages need social media platforms where they could keep users updated on their content. The use of G-mail subscriptions can also be encouraged. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram to mention but a few are one of the most important being on social media will attract more website visits.
Quality content: Lastly but not least, quality content is equally as essential as social media. Website developers and writers should strive to offer valuable and accurate information which they should. Keep updating with time. This will distinguish the website as a professional or expert in the field and increase trust among internet search users.
IMPORTANCE OF SEO – FUNDAMENTALS OF SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO) TO A BEGINNER
The vitality of SEO cannot be argued as below are some of the strongest points in
SEO plays a key role in online marketing. It is important for the growth of one’s brand business and establishment. The higher the business website, brand website ranks, the higher the chances of being found, visited or discovered by potential clients, sponsors and partners. This leads to an increased purchase rate of products the optimized website is selling and brings the services closer to the business community. This leads to the drastic growth of any business, brand or advert.
SEO plays a fundamental role in increasing visibility and rankings. Internet users are more likely to select one of the top most suggestions that the search engines show them while searching for information, products or services. Thus SEO creates exposure and visibility to an audience (internet users). It is said online is the new way of doing things therefore users are more likely to rate your services high and use them more.
With SEO, there is an increase in web trafficking. A website being on topmost of the search result scale automatically implies that there will be more website visits. It is crucial to note that most websites especially news portals, entertainment news, showbiz and adult-related content depend on website visits to and from the internet. Thus SEO increases website visits consequently contributing to more earnings.
Additionally, with the increasing creation of new websites on the internet, it has become common knowledge that some websites supply false information and spread hateful propaganda. This has bred mistrust among internet users. However the use of SEO increases the credibility and worthiness of a website. Users tend to trust more, websites with a higher SEO scale than those with a low SEO scale.
SEO offers better user experiences. This is because SEO helps organize your website and makes it easier for users to navigate. It also makes it easy to find information, products or services. This improves the overall image of the webpage thereby increasing the influx of traffic.
HOW TO GET YOUR WEBSITE ON GOOGLE – FUNDAMENTALS OF SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO) TO A BEGINNER
A number of steps can be undertaken to make Google easily recognize your website thereby increasing your website’s chances of being indexed. These include submitting your site to Google, creating a link tail, managing meta tags well as explained below.
Step 1: Submitting your site to Google
This involves submitting your site map to Google Search Console. By so doing, Google will be prompted to speed up the indexing of your website. While submitting your site to Google speeds up indexing, this does not mean that your website will not be found by Google but rather may cause a delay.
Step 2: Lay a link trail.
Having submitted your site to Google, one should go ahead ans trail his website to ensure that the site appears on the top of the search results and users click on it. One way to do so is by posting the website URL on all your social media platforms. This will create more visibility and ensure that the links are clicked on. Similarly, one can write for other publications or blogs within the website.
Step 3: Selection of the perfect key words.
Keywords, as mentioned earlier pay a crucial role in SEO and website visibility. These are phrases or words that are typed into the search box and match your blog post. Key words which have higher visibility potential are usually 3-5 words while those with ore have lower likelihood of being visible. For instance if searchers are usually typing ‘World War III’ and your website is political, you should incorporate the words ‘World War III’ in all your blog posts. This will increase your chances of appearing on the first search results.
Step 4: Meta tag management.
These are the words that appear below the search results give the searcher a brief on the contents of the webpage. It’s important that one includes very good keywords in the meta tags as this will help Google identify the relevance of the information with the search query hence improving visibility.
Step 5: Optimization for mobile use.
According to statistics, mobile accounts for about half of the internet traffic. This makes it dire that as a website owner and developer, you should make your website as mobile-friendly as possible. Not only should the pages be Pc friendly but also mobile-friendly as Google considers mobile-friendliness to include a site on the top results,
Step 6: Location inclusion
Lastly, one should include his or the location of his or her business. This can be done by claiming the business on Google and filling out your profile with all relevant information, including business name, address, phone number, website, hours of operation and location. This will make Google direct potential clients from the same locality to your business.
FUNDAMENTALS OF SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO) TO A BEGINNER HAVE FULLY BEEN DISCUSSED HERE IN CASE OF ANY INQUIRIES AND HANDS ON TRAINING REACH US ON [email protected]
