A well-optimized page increases ranking potential and keeps visitors engaged. It covers topics like how to use tools such as Google Search Console to analyze performance and optimize your site using specific keywords. You’ll also find insights into crafting effective meta descriptions, title tags, and strategies to make your website more mobile-friendly. In this section you’ll learn the basics of SEO, like how search engines work, key Google ranking factors, creating an SEO-friendly website, and more. This guide will walk you through the essentials of SEO, covering its history, core concepts, and the techniques you need to boost your online presence. You’ll also discover the critical role search engine optimization plays in digital marketing and how it continues to evolve alongside advancements in AI and technology.
Google SEO Basics: Keyword Research
Some examples of SERP features are featured snippets (or answer boxes), People Also Ask boxes, image carousels, etc. New SERP features continue to emerge, driven largely by what people are seeking. Internal linking refers to linking one page on your website to another. It helps establish site architecture, distribute link equity, and provide a better user experience. Look for authority websites where you could contribute, resources lists that you could be part of, or ideas to create content that you could use as part of a digital PR campaign.
…then “pogosticks” back to the search results to find something that actually helps them. So whether you’re new to SEO, or a seasoned veteran, I hope you get a lot of value from the techniques in this post. Simultaneously, it’s essential to choose topics that have business relevance for you. Without this alignment, even with effective SEO, you may not draw in potential customers.
Putting your focus keyword in the title tag (and, to a lesser extent, in the meta description) is very important. If you check the keyword “vacuum cleaners” a lot of people are searching for it (223,000 average monthly search volume). However, if you look at the search results, you’ll notice that all the pages ranking for “best squat rack” are reviews and buying guides, not product pages. In other words, Google considers it a commercial, not a transactional keyword. Long-tail keywords tend to have lower difficulty and higher conversion rates. It’s because the query is more specific, so there’s a higher chance the user is further down the buyer’s journey.
Title tags, meta descriptions, H1 tags, and alt text are important elements of on-page SEO. Search engines like Google aim to present the most relevant information to users. Begin by adjusting the drop-down “Volume” filter to above 1,000. This is the threshold generally recommended for sufficient search traffic. Use Backlinko’s Free Website Authority Checker to find out your website’s authority score. Overall, SEO not only increases your brand’s visibility but also helps in establishing SEO Anomaly trust and credibility by making valuable content more discoverable.
- These ten organic search listings are what people compete for when they invest in SEO.
- Because it wants to provide helpful and reliable results to users.
- They are also useful to spread link equity (value passed from one website to another site).
- SEO is important because it brings free, targeted traffic to your website every month.
Internal Linking
It’s super easy – start by entering your key phrase, then it’ll analyze your content and provide a list of suggestions for optimization. When you optimize a title tag with a target keyword, it gives the search engine more opportunities to discover your website and rank it higher. If you see a lot of established websites on the first page, I would recommend starting with new, different keywords especially if you’re working on a new website. Those keywords will most likely have a lower search volume, but they should be easier to rank.
For example, this internal link is linking to my page about “on-page SEO”. Internal linking is one of the easiest SEO best practices to use. All you need to do is keep these two image SEO best practices in mind. So if you use images on your page, you want to make sure they’re optimized for SEO.
What was considered best practice or top priority in the past may no longer be relevant or effective due to the way search engines (and the internet) have developed over time. As you add images to your site, make sure that people and search engines can find and understand them. Think about the words that a user might search for to find a piece of your content.
“The goal is to credit SEO for its sales assists; if SEO brings traffic to the site, your retargeting campaign and email marketing might convert them. You can identify content that’s part of the buyer journey with the segment overlap,” says Ashbridge. “When you update these settings, you will likely see much different data, opening additional keyword strategies due to a lack of competitiveness within that geographic market,” Levy says. They then meet weekly to discuss their progress and bottlenecks. In any case, AI-generated content isn’t going anywhere, it will only become even more prominent in the future. By that, I don’t necessarily mean the AI content you create — but the content outside your direct control, that AI chatbots generate about your brand in their search results.