In this post, we will discuss the SEO fundamentals to rank on page 1 of Google. SEO stands for search engine optimisation and is a form of digital marketing.
The process helps a website rank high in search engines, when users type in keywords to look for a topic, product or solution that a business provides. Essentially, SEO is the process of optimising a website so that it appears on page 1 of Google without paying for ads.
The goal of SEO is to increase the online visibility of a website and attract organic traffic via higher rankings in search engine result pages (SERPs).
SEO is Part of Inbound Marketing
A part of marketing strategy, SEO falls under, what is known as, inbound marketing. In the simplest terms, inbound marketing is the process of helping potential customers discover your company.
In digital marketing jargon, inbound marketing helps to capture users with search intent. Users with search intent refers to people looking for a specific piece of information on a topic, a product, service or solution.
Inbound marketing employs many forms of pull marketing including content marketing, SEO and social media marketing to attract users to discover a business or brand.
From an SEO perspective, when a business engages in inbound marketing, it optimises its digital assets (website) with high quality content. A website with good content allows a search engine, such as Google, to assess and rank the website on its results pages.
When users make a Google search and discover a website through organic search results, they enter a website by clicking through the search result link. This is an inbound process, hence the term inbound marketing.
Understanding SEO fundamentals and optimising a site are essential to enjoy the results of inbound marketing.
The Importance of SEO
Customer behaviour has changed significantly in the digital age. Most customers will perform online research before they make a purchase. As such, SEO is one of the most effective forms of digital marketing, as it is an organic form of discovery for the prospect.
When prospects discover a business because of their search efforts, they feel the result given by the search engine is objective and unbiased, unlike an ad which they feel is paid for.
Studies and research have shown that businesses that show up on the first page of results get 92% of consumer traffic. 75% of people never scroll past the first page in search results and 90% of people ignore Google ads.
Some forms of digital marketing like paid ads can be very effective in bringing traffic and results in a short time. This is known as paid traffic. However, one limitation of running paid ads is that it requires you to continually spend money to maintain results. Once stop running the ads, the traffic will stop coming in.
On the other hand, SEO is focused on bringing in organic traffic that is not paid for. It is a strategic form of digital marketing that has long-term benefits and is relatively low-cost over time. When set-up and done right, cost per customer acquisition is very low over time and a brand can build authority and credibility within their market space.
SEO and Google
Most SEO practices are focused on Google search because they currently take up 92% of the market share. Essentially, if you can rank well on Google, you will generally rank well on other search engines such as Bing and Yahoo.
Since Google is the market leader and has more sophisticated search algorithm, it is important to understand how Google ranks websites.
Google employs over 200 factors in determining where your website should rank for specific keywords or phrases related to your business. These factors are known as ranking signals.
Many of these signals are not publicly known although the professional SEO community have made educated guesses. Google’s webmaster guidelines provide a framework on SEO best practices, and they regularly offer insight in their blog and “hang-out” sessions.
COMPONENTS OF SEO FUNDAMENTALS
SEO is quite a technical subject and covers a vast array of topics. There are many methods, techniques and strategies involved in ranking a website on search engines.
While Google’s exact rankings signals and the distribution of importance of these SEO factors are not known, experienced SEO professionals know that there are five components of SEO fundamentals that when implemented correctly can help your website rank on page one of Google.
These SEO components include:
- SEO Strategy
- Keyword Research
- Technical SEO
- On-page SEO
- Off-page SEO
In this blog, we will discuss each of these five SEO components in detail and how each component contributes to the overall efforts of an SEO campaign.
