Beginners in digital marketing may feel confused about SEO. Search engine optimisation is a part of digital marketing and its clarity is challenging for lots of people. In this post, let’s understand search, SEO basics, working, factors, and more.
Users start with ‘search’, so it is important
Today, people spend a lot of time online. Marketers need to understand how users respond to websites. People come in search of the website because of many reasons:
- They want to learn more
- They want to purchase or enjoy online shopping
- They want to get entertained
- They need information
- They are looking for inspiration
- They wish to stay connected and updated
- They feel bored and are just browsing
- They read something appealing and clicked on the link
SEO is focused on content promotion, in-depth keyword research, and better ranking optimisation. Steps are taken to make the site friendly and faster but as an online marketer, you need to consider search intention because it also matters. Users don’t know or care about keywords. They want a solution to their question. Marketers, on the other hand, care about search queries. So, they need to understand their audience’s search term and how it is relevant to the keywords used in the advertisement and content. It will help to create an effective marketing campaign.
Originally, in a sales funnel the potential customer is moved from awareness to consideration and ultimately to conversion & sales. Today, it has become outdated. The modern consumer journey is filled with twists and turns that represent various mediums, channels, and devices the users employ to interact with the internet. Search has also evolved from words to identify the user’s intent at every junction of the journey.
"Search is not just keywords, but it is about offering the correct content to the correct audience at the correct time during their journey"
It is all about user experience. Search is not limited to phones and computers but smart watches, smart glasses, and even kitchen appliances. So, marketers need to consider this aspect. For example, from a laptop, the user is looking for information to read comfortably but a phone user may need a contact number instantly or a way to compare rates quickly. Needs to change from device to device…think about it!
Factors Google considers during searches
When users type something in Google’s search box, the crawlers consider more than 200 different variables to rank the query result. All the different variables used in the search algorithms are not known but there are plenty of assumptions. The algorithms look for clues to understand your webpages and the major aspects that can impact search is:
- Search intent – Users search for the same content in several ways. The exact word orders differ because the user can add some modifier but Google understands the intended meaning. Google tries to understand the seeker’s search intent. It even guesses typo errors and fixes your search term. It works hard to offer seekers what they need and that too quickly and more accurately.
- Seekers location – Besides, the question asked the search engine even considers location. For example, if you put the search term ‘donuts’ then Google assumes that you desire a list of donut shops near your location and even reveals donut history on Wikipedia. Local businesses can take advantage of this algorithm and maximise optimisation for local visibility. Hence, you should always set up your Google Business Profile as that is very helpful for local SEO!
- Authorship – Google adores rewarding legitimate content writers for their uniqueness with a Google+ designation [Google Authorship].
- Social channels – Search engines bank a lot on your social connections. Social search allows pulling out content like photos, blog posts, restaurant reviews, etc. created by contacts and friends within your social circle.
- How content got shared – To personalize the results, a social network is used. Google+’s designation and Facebook shares play a huge role in ranking.
- What device is used – The search engine has to identify whether the query is made from a computer, mobile phone, or laptop to reveal accurate results.
The above factors are considered for the ranking, but the results for a specific query will look different for every seeker. Because it depends on variables like where you are, who you know, and the device type used to search.
The best result Google determine is based on its algorithm but according to experts webpages and websites are ranked for relevancy, authority, and usefulness.
Factors Google considers during searches
The SEO process enables you to get traffic from natural, organic, or free search engine result pages (SERPs). The goal is to enhance the ranking of your website on SERPs. The higher your URL ranks the more visibility and clicks you get. The SEO is based on three pillars –
- Technical Optimisation
- On-page optimisation
- Off-page optimisation
All SEOs share the same goal which is to help gain wide exposure and visibility but the way to attain it differs widely. Google locates information via crawling, so SEO ensures that the site becomes easy for a search engine to locate and crawl. SEO ensures your site has a sitemap, loads quickly, and the layout is user-friendly.
Common SEO practices include keyword research to identify the target keyword. During keyword optimisation, they ensure it is used often in the right spots.
An SEO pro even spends time in link building via guest blogging, content strategy, online directory submissions, competitor analysis, press releases, etc. when an established publishing platform links to your website, a signal is conveyed to Google that you are hanging out with the best. Every link is a confidence vote from users that your site is credible and legitimate in offering the best user experience with useful solutions or information.
In today’s hyper-connected world, SEO has transformed into real marketing. The days of tricking, hacking and trying to reverse-engineer search engine algorithms have vanished. Currently, the SEO process is spotlighted on user experience.
- Understanding personas
- Content Strategy
- Data-driven insights
- Technical problem-solving
SEO is a component of digital marketing and search touches all the necessities like attracting, engaging, and converting.
Today, just creating an awesome product or website is not sufficient. You need to attract customers attractively through different channels and outlets. So, every webpage is an SEO page. A webpage that attracts, engages, and converts visitors has a crucial SEO element on the page.
Why Is SEO Significant?
Consumers are crucial for every business. The majority of customers initiate their journey with a search on the internet, so the search is vital. SEO is a technical thing then why it matters to queries made on Google? Some plugins can identify your website but Google is consistently trying to improve its search algorithm to offer its user the best experience.
You may have heard about the hummingbird, panda, penguin, mobilegeddon, rankbrain, possum, AMP, etc. introduced by Google to move its search algorithms from simple words to actions. The aim is to help visitors accomplish their search intent but it is not that simple. Today, websites have plenty of fancy features, which search engines are unable to identify.
Today, a good SEO process not just concentrates on content, but even helps in –
- Proper server setting.
- Navigate several versions of the same page.
- Resolve tech glitches, which reduce the possibility of content’s indiscernibility to Google.
- Find ways to improve website speed.
- Integrate analytics, social media profile, and more.
The SEO expert gains deep insight into the competitive landscape and searchers’ intent. They also look for options and opportunities to offer better solutions to users’ queries. SEO pros take on full-service marketing responsibilities because they are connected with development, content strategy, social media, paid to advertise, and other groups. SEO becomes a collaborative process focused on pleasing users and search engines.
SEO has traveled a long way and is becoming more human as it depends less on keywords or phrases and more on the website’s authenticity, content quality, and search contexts. So, it is essential to understand SEO’s changing nature and sharpen skills, accordingly.
Over the last several years Google is focused on Expertise, Authority & Trustworthiness [E-A-T]. Why? Google aims to be fully confident about the content bots will rank in the search result is trusted. SEOs are emphasising creating high-quality and SEO-friendly content to influence their E-A-T rating. Recently, Google has confirmed that PageRank plays a huge role in establishing E-A-T.
On the internet SEO is vital for websites, so why does search matter…
Simple, search matters because visitors/users/consumers matter to make your online marketing campaign successful. With evolving technology, the SEO process is consistently changing. The experts are finding new ways to handle the searches from new devices or voice searches or kitchen appliance searches, and more. Nevertheless, the one thing that stays constant is the reason people search for one reason or another.
Trends across the past 25 years have shown that demonstrating an ethical SEO process is important to build a great long-term relationship with website visitors and search engine bots. Even if Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality are predicted to be the future, seekers will still come in search of information or solutions. In one way or another, there will be a search always involved.
