What is SEO?

Erfan SEO July 17, 2023

What is SEO, and what is its application? To be seen in the digital world and to make your brand name or service known to everyone, the first step is to know what SEO is! SEO helps you to place your virtual page in search engines, including Google, Bing, etc., and nothing can crush your virtual presence. The more your website is seen, the more you will appear in search results and, consequently, the more clicks will be made to your website.

Definition of SEO or search engine optimization

Although many people think that SEO belongs only to Google, the SEO rules can be implemented in any virtual page or search engine. To learn more about what SEO is, we need to know what SEO stands for. SEO, short for Search Engine Optimization, means search engine optimization. In simpler terms, SEO refers to a series of actions through which you can improve your website’s visibility so that every time people search for a word related to your business, you are the first option suggested by the search engine. Be for the internet user.

What is the ultimate goal of SEO? SEO helps you get organic traffic. SEO aims to make your website rank higher on the search engine results page (SERP), be seen more, and drive more traffic. Many digital marketing experts consider SEO as the foundation and root of digital marketing. Through SEO, you will find out what the customer wants from you, what techniques and services you need to attract more customers, and how to find more accurate statistics about the customer’s needs (in the field of your activity).

History of SEO

The roots of SEO principles go back to the 1990s. The decade that introduced the world to the first search engines. During those years, search engines were built in such a way that they could display websites in the form of a list in front of Internet subscribers.

Many people associate the birth of SEO principles with 1991. A year when countless websites occupied the Internet space, and a little later, in 1993, Excite created a revolution in categorizing Internet content. It was in 1994 that Alta Vista, Yahoo, and others joined the scene. In 1996, Sergey Brin and Larry Page introduced the world’s largest and best-known time search engine. BackRub came into the world, but it didn’t last long. A new domain was added to the Internet world sometime later, which brought SEO technology to a huge revolution: Google! Nevertheless, the meaning of SEO is still unknown to many people, and many still do not know what SEO is!

Definition of SEO Marketing

SEO Marketing is one of the marketing branches through site optimization for search engines. This strategy increases your website’s visibility and has a fantastic effect on increasing the website’s ranking on the search results page. This process includes implementing and optimizing various elements on the website, including website content, website structure and design, and its HTML code. When all these strategies are implemented together on the website, your website will shine on the search engine results page, and the traffic that visits your website will double.

SEO marketing includes various activities. For example, we can refer to keyword research or research related to keywords, on-page optimization, linking, improving the quality of website content, etc. All the mentioned measures should be implemented in a way that is designed and developed exactly according to your target audience. SEO marketing aims to drive organic traffic to your website and increase people’s awareness of your brand.

Definition of search engines

A search engine is a software or tool that allows internet users to search for the information they want. But the question is, what is the relationship between search engines and SEO? A search engine uses crawling algorithms and bots to crawl and classify web pages. Search engines search different data centers to connect the user to the information he needs. Then they provide him with the closest result. Considering that the results displayed in the search engine are very important for SEO, It is obvious that the principles and rules of SEO should be implemented in the context of search engines. What are the principles of SEO will be examined in the rest of the article.

Introducing the most used search engines

They have made each of the search engines useful! You can apply the principles of site optimization in search engines when you are familiar with each search engine’s frameworks and technical specifications. The following search engines are, in order, the most popular among Internet users:

Google
Microsoft Bing
Yahoo
Baidu
Yandex
Duck Duck Go

Statistics show that over 85% of SEO marketing is dedicated to Google. These days, this search engine accounts for more than 95% of mobile traffic, and naturally, it can be considered the largest and most popular search engine in the world. However, there are significant differences between this search engine and other options on this list, which we will take a look at:

Google

This search engine is known for its high speed and accuracy. Google offers various services to its users, such as Google Maps, Google Images, Google News, etc.

Microsoft Bing

This search engine is integrated with other Microsoft services, including Office and Windows.

Yahoo

Yahoo offers various unique services, such as Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Mail, and Yahoo News.

Baidu

It is China’s most important and famous search engine, which offers various services such as Baidu Maps and Baidu Baike (a service similar to Wikipedia).

Why do search engines need SEO?

To understand why content production is taken so seriously in this period and what is the link between search engines and SEO principles, it is enough to look at SEO Marketing frameworks.

SEO marketing helps you to be a few heads ahead of your competitors and stand above all of them. Search engines move millions of users on the Internet every moment. How can you start a successful business in this heavy rush of information? SEO makes this possible for you. In other words, SEO brings the following benefits to search engines:

It moves regular and continuous traffic in the space of search engines and adds accuracy and speed to internet searches.
It sends more organic traffic to websites, and in this way, it converts potential customers into actual customers faster.
Implementing SEO rules will increase people’s awareness of your brand and make you stand out, and you can be recognized as a reliable and credible source among your competitors.
Even though paid advertising and virtual social media play an effective role in driving traffic to your website, search engines still guide and guide Internet users. SEO is the main key to establishing your virtual presence.

How search engines work

Search engines have billions of virtual pages in their heart and search these pages through web crawling systems (also known as web crawlers). These robots, known as spiders and bots, integrate the web space. On the other hand, they follow the links to find the virtual pages connected to them. These pages are then added to an index from which the search engine pulls results. When the user enters a question in the search bar, the search engine uses a specific algorithm to determine which pages are classified under the index related to the search topic. Then, these pages are sorted for the audience in the results tab based on the website’s topic’s relevance or popularity.

How the Google search engine works

A look at Google’s algorithms will prove why SEO is so important and why all digital marketers use this tool a lot. Like other search engines, Google associates searched keywords with content on the web. In the next step and at high speed, it categorizes the websites based on their match with the searched topic. This category, which presents a list of websites related to the searched subject, is called Google ranking. Google also uses crawlers to find the most relevant web pages. These bots crawl relevant online pages, then provide the user with a profile of information in the form of words and their web address.

Imagine you want to know more about what SEO is. Hence, you search for “SEO in plain language” on Google. At such a time, Google measures indexes (indices) based on the word you have searched. Then it searches in its information warehouse and finds the pages connected to such a word. It is interesting that to provide more accurate information, Google looks at the user’s internet search history to provide the most accurate information according to his needs.

Why does SEO focus on Google?

Why is Google so important for SEO? Google is the most popular and widely used search engine in the world. For this reason, Google SEO is more important than content SEO in other search engines. Today, more than 90% of the share of search engines in the world market is in the hands of Google. This means that when you optimize your website in Google with the help of SEO tools, you will be seen more and better, and the conversion rate of users to customers on your website will increase. In addition, Google’s algorithm is constantly changing. Google is constantly trying to keep its business updated. For this reason, SEO is the best way to keep the website updated and increase its ranking and visibility.

Common SEO terms

We have become familiar with what SEO is and what it is used for. It’s time to look at the most common terms in the SEO world.

1. SEM: Search Engine Marketing that draws organic traffic to your website with the help of SEO principles and gives it better visibility.

2. SERP: It is called the search results page, and when the user enters the search topic, a list of resources is lined up in front of his eyes.

3. CTR: The click rate on the content (click through rate). This rate shows the effectiveness of an ad or link on the user and plays an effective role in evaluating the user’s reaction to the content.

4. PPC: One of the tricks of digital marketing is called Pay-Per-Click.

5. CPC: Short for Cost-Per-Click. This term represents the amount the advertiser will receive from each click on the specified link.

6. E-A-T: Abbreviation of Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. This term refers to the 168-page document that has determined the quality frameworks of Google’s content.

7. Index: Indexing is the process through which web pages are added to Google search, But what does it have to do with SEO? Depending on the meta profiles you have used, Google will crawl your content and then index your page (and add it to the database).

8. Spam: Spamming or using spam is one of the SEO marketing methods that can increase the search engine ranking and bring more visitors to the site.

The importance of SEO for the site

The rules and principles of SEO increase the visibility of your website, bring organic traffic to your website and play a great role in increasing website sales. SEO can be strengthened by optimizing content production, content structure, and on-page factors. SEO organizes your content, making your credibility and expertise visible to customers.

The Role of content production in SEO

Creating SEO content makes it easier to implement SEO principles on the site. On the other hand, it makes you more and better seen online, increases your website’s organic traffic significantly, and encourages users to buy your products/services.

What is the relationship between SEO and content quality?

Many digital marketing experts believe that the reason for the success of SEO is to increase and improve the quality of content for social media. The foundation of SEO is based on quality content; obviously, you will only be seen when you show your expertise to the customer with good quality content.

How to produce SEO-friendly content

You can produce SEO-friendly content only when you know the SEO improvement methods and what frameworks should be followed. To do this, follow the steps below:

Keep a close eye on the keywords related to your industry, research them, and use them wisely while creating content.
Try to improve the quality of your content and know what SEO content writing method is. Then use this method in content production.
To organize the content, use the title and sub-heading while creating the content.
Use SEO photos for content. Be sure to embed specific alts and tags for each photo.
Use internal links. Keep the user on your page and direct him to other website pages.
Make sure the language of your content is clear and understandable.
Use the meta description to summarize the topic of the content. This will increase your SERP ranking.

Factors affecting site SEO

Now it’s time to see what factors affect SEO and how important each one is. The following list shows you examples of these elements:

Content quality, its relationship with keywords, and its interactivity.
Layout and structure of the website
Mobile-friendly content and website
Backlinking to other sites
Signals related to social networks
The amount of user interaction with the content

Types of content that need SEO?

SEO content increases the ranking of your page and makes you target your brand’s target audience exactly and draw them to your website. But what is the content that needs SEO, and what does it include?

Blog posts
Educational posts
Infographics
Product sales websites and product introduction posts
Trending posts
News content
Short content (under 1200 words)
Long content (over 1200 words)
Column contents or pillars
Research contents
Various scientific and non-scientific articles
Videos
Lists and…

Comparison of SEO and Google Ads

In this section, we will look at the other side: what is the difference between Google Ads and SEO, and how does each contribute to website visibility? Google Ads and SEO are two strategies to increase website traffic and visibility in search engines. Google Ads are examples of paid advertisements that quickly send a large amount of traffic to your website. However, SEO is an ongoing process that ensures constant organic traffic to your website over a long period. Google Ads makes your business appear in Google searches, while SEO effectively increases your ranking and user interaction with your brand. It should be noted that you can use Google Ads to check the keywords so that after checking the performance of the keywords, you can create SEO content.

Is SEO better or Google ads?

Both of these options effectively promote your business in their way. SEO principles are long-term strategies that require continuous and constant work on the website. In addition to producing SEO content and implementing SEO techniques on the website, you should be aware of following and continuing these principles in the long term and not neglect the work you have done so far. In contrast, Google Ads focuses on instant performance and driving sudden and heavy traffic to the website.

Digital marketing experts believe that your digital marketing goals will be achieved when you combine these two strategies, Not one of them. Now another question that arises is:

Does Google advertising affect SEO?

The answer to this question is “yes.” However, Google Ads does not directly affect SEO, but it causes businesses to check the performance of keywords to improve SEO. This makes every brand able to produce more quality SEO content. This content will undoubtedly get a higher ranking and attract more website users.

What does SEO not include?

The first question is, why should we be familiar with things that do not affect SEO?

Unnecessary expenses are avoided on things that do not affect SEO.
Our time will be saved, and we will spend the same energy on things that affect SEO.

What are the things that do not affect SEO?

The reputation of the author of the content
Add keywords to meta tags
Putting all the keywords in the photo alt text
Schema markup or Schema markup
Using rich and rich snippets
Direct or referral traffic
Paid advertising

Common mistakes in SEO

Slow website speed
Having negative feedback on Google
Duplicate or Duplicate Content
Lack of focus on local content
Broken images or missing alt text
Information that has expired and is very old.
The website is not mobile friendly

What is negative SEO?

Negative SEO is a series of destructive and unethical actions that damage the ranking of a competitor’s website or destroy its reputation. For example, the following can be mentioned:

Creating unnatural links and spam
Content scraping or data collection in digital content
Website hacking
Removing SEO patterns from a website and…

But what are the consequences of this type of SEO? Search engines strictly prohibit negative SEO. Nevertheless, many black hat hackers or black hat SEOs proficient in SEO programming still use this method to destroy the SEO of their desired websites.

Basic Elements of SEO

What are SEO tools, and what elements make up the pillars of SEO? In this part of the article, we will discuss the elements you must be familiar with if you are thinking about an SEO job or plan to strengthen your site’s SEO.

SEO images
Content quality
The tags in the titles, arrangement of titles and sub-titles + meta description
Website loading time
Use the appropriate URL
Internal and external links
Mobile SEO
Security, speed, and website structure

Internal SEO or On-page SEO

Internal SEO, also known as on-site SEO and on-page SEO, is one of the search engine optimization methods. This method refers to the tactics we should work on in the website and improve the ranking of the website through it. We review the internal SEO techniques in the following checklist:

Internal SEO checklist:

Website content and source codes
Regular content production
Having a content calendar
Inserting standard keywords into the content and website
Improving the speed of page loading or page up and anything else that will increase the page’s ranking.

External SEO or Off-page SEO

It is called techniques that are done outside the website to improve the ranking of the website. The purpose of these tactics is to make the user realize the validity and breadth of your brand. These tactics also prove to the search engine how reliable and professional you are.

Now let’s see what the checklist of off-page SEO tactics is.

External SEO checklist:

Build a link
Guest posts
network marketing
Making backlinks
Advertising reporting and any action done outside the website will improve your ranking.

Technical SEO or Technical SEO

Technical SEO is preparing website servers or structures to be more accessible to Google’s crawling robots. This will make the website easier to index and increase its ranking. It should be noted that this method improves the user experience of working with your website and eliminates systematic errors on your website.

Technical SEO checklist:

Optimizing the website for mobile users and making it mobile friendly
Remove broken links
Remove duplicate content
Check website titles and metadata
Registration of the sitemap of the website in Google
Modifying the texture and structure of the website, along with making it SEO friendly
Improving the speed of the website and its uptime and…

Types of SEO Techniques

Now it’s time to see what tactics and methods are suggested for implementing SEO.

SEO techniques include different types. Technical SEO and external and internal SEO were the types of SEO techniques that we discussed before. Mobile optimization, local SEO, optimization of website source codes, link building and linking, creating SEO content, and implementing SEO principles in content writing, social media marketing, etc., are among the SEO techniques. Each technique is very important in improving the user experience of working with your site and increasing its search engine rankings.

Black hat SEO

Black hat SEO is one of the unethical and destructive methods of SEO, which usually disobeys SEO rules and uses them maliciously. It aims to make the website as visible as possible in the search engine. These actions usually abuse search engine frameworks and algorithms to drive more traffic to the website. For example, we can mention the mass use of keywords, cloaking, and marking in links. Black hat SEOs usually end up with a warning from the search engine, and malicious black hat actions can negatively affect the website. Therefore, to protect the reputation and credibility of your website, it is recommended not to use these techniques at all.

White hat SEO

Unlike black hat SEO, white hat SEO refers to valid and ethical principles in site optimization for search engines. Following these rules will make your website more visible and increase your search engine results page (SERP) ranking.

SEO rules are designed to increase the quality of the user experience of working with your website and include the following tactics:

Increasing the quality of website content production
Implementation of standard principles and SEO frameworks to optimize content
Improving the structure and texture of the website to optimize the user experience of working with the website
Optimization of website source codes
Creating high-quality and strong backlinks

It is interesting to know that SEO marketing techniques on the website have a great long-term effect on the visibility and ranking of your website. In addition, it helps you avoid getting a warning from the search engine.

Gray hat SEO

What does gray hat SEO mean, and how is it different from other types of SEO? When an SEO combines white hat SEO and black hat SEO, he uses gray SEO. For example, produce quality content (white hat), but buy backlinks for it (black hat).

What is local SEO?

Now let’s see what local SEO is and what its use is. It is interesting to know that local SEO, in addition to its great impact on your visibility in the search engine, also strengthens your online presence. In general, local SEO is a branch of SEO that focuses on website visibility in local searches. Let’s simplify it a bit. Keywords represent the concerns and challenges people seek in their solutions online. Obviously, the concerns of each country and region are different, and in the same way, their keywords (questions they look for answers to online) can be different.

Imagine a curious Parisian looking for free SEO training centers in Paris. On the other hand, he is interested in learning the concept of SEO physically and with the help of a professor by enrolling in offline SEO courses. This person’s search will be limited to SEO training centers in Paris. Local SEO maneuvers exactly on this issue. In other words, you have prepared your website’s content, keywords, and source codes for your local subscribers to visit.

Use the following checklist to boost your local SEO:

Specialized keyword research to list locally relevant keywords
Strong and high-quality local backlinks
A list of local businesses
This technique prepares you to attract local customers and grab potential customers around you.

What is city SEO?

Shahr SEO is one of the most powerful SEO tools to increase website ranking and sales. Unfortunately, despite the high importance of this technique, many websites do not pay attention to it and pass it by. City SEO targets the cities around your business and tries to get the customers of those cities. In other words, SEO of the city makes you known not only in your city but even in the surrounding cities to be the first choice of your fellow citizens or provinces and to surpass your competitors.

What is international SEO?

Unlike city SEO, which focuses on geographical areas close to your business, international SEO focuses on your online presence among global communities. This means you will work on global instead of local keywords and try to update your content according to international standards. What are the necessary steps for this type of SEO, and what is the checklist?

Keyword research and use of keywords that are used internationally.
Use of international backlinks
Creating a list of international businesses and producing content will make you choose before your competitors.

What is international SEO recommended for? International SEO is more recommended for businesses not limited to their own country and whose target audience is scattered in different countries. This type of SEO requires more cost and energy than the previous type (local SEO).

SEO site analysis tools and checking how each one works

SEO tools include software that helps improve your website ranking, increase sales, and attract more organic traffic. The data and notifications given to you by these tools both increase the health of your website and are effective in making your business successful. These tools effectively improve keywords, optimize backlinks and keywords, and other SEO elements.

After all, SEO tools show you the ranking of each competitor’s website in terms of SEO and how strong it has been in optimizing its website. These data and statistics allow you to implement your plans to improve your site’s SEO with a wider and better view. Let’s take a look at these tools.

Google Search Console

One of the SEO tools that allow you to check the website index status is searched questions, crawling errors, etc., and improves the visibility of your website.

Ahrefs

A versatile SEO tool recommended for increasing website visits and SEO optimization in search engines. This tool is a crawler that uses data from all over the internet to analyze your website’s SEO. Ahrefs is one of the “must haves” of SEO marketing.

SEMrush

Including digital marketing tools widely used by SEO experts and digital marketers. This tool is used for SEO and PPC analysis, marketing, social network content generation, and marketing-related research. This tool tracks your website traffic source, popular search keywords, and website ranking.

Sitechecker

Another versatile cloud-based SEO tool. This tool is recommended for both small and large businesses. Site Checker checks your website’s internal and external SEO, looks at technical SEO and website changes, allows you to check your keywords, and measures the quality of your backlinks.

KWFinder

A great tool for those who need a professional keyword researcher. This tool will help you lighten keywords, outrank your competitors, measure your index value, and track the effectiveness of your PPC ads.

Google Analytics

Few people may go to the basics of SEO and not be familiar with the name of this tool. This software is a perfect tool for tracking website performance, session intervals, checking pages per session, and the bounce rate of each person who visits your website. In addition, Google Analytics is a good choice to check the source of your website traffic.

BuzzStream

Among the wonderful tools that help you in SEO and digital marketing campaigns. This tool helps you know current trends and popular words, builds strong links, and grows your website traffic.

Moz Pro

If you are looking for an SEO tool that will help you improve your ranking, optimize your website pages, be a professional crawler and provide you with complete link performance statistics, Moz Pro will be a good choice. With the help of this tool, you can organize professional SEO marketing campaigns for yourself and track SEO errors on your website.

List of Google algorithms

Google’s algorithms are complex systems that use the data available in the search indexes to provide the best search results for online users. We will look at the list of these algorithms, and then we will go to the impact of these algorithms on SEO.

Jagger
Big Daddy
Caffeine
Vince
Panda
Florida
Freshness Algorithm
Page Layout Algorithm
Penguin
EMD
Hummingbird
Pigeon
RankBrain
Fred
Payday

Checking SEO of the site in terms of Google algorithms

Various SEO tools allow you to check the SEO of your website based on the updates of the mentioned algorithms. Google Search Console allows you to check the ranking of your website based on the latest updates of Google algorithms. However, most professional SEO experts believe that checking the latest updates of the mentioned algorithms and the ranking of the website before and after each algorithm update will show you which parts of your website will encounter Google errors. And how can you compensate for these gaps? To know the latest updates of Google’s algorithms, you can turn on Google’s notifications through “this website” and be informed of the latest algorithms updates in time.

Advantages and challenges of SEO site

Let’s first see what the benefits of SEO are and what benefits it includes for your website. Then we will discuss the challenges of website SEO and what obstacles will stand in front of you.

Advantages of SEO

Implementing SEO principles will send high-quality and organic traffic to your website.
It makes your business known.
Increases the conversion rate of potential customers to regular customers on your website.
It helps you to expand your business at the lowest cost.
It gives expertise to your work and makes your brand name valid.

SEO challenges

It may take you longer to optimize your site’s SEO.
The more competition in your field of activity, the more time and money you will need.
SEO paves the way for website ranking but does not guarantee it.
Constant changes in Google’s algorithms are one of the biggest challenges facing SEO site optimization.

How to create an SEO strategy

Step 1: Check the current performance of your website. Get accurate statistics on organic traffic, keyword rankings, and backlinks. For this, you can take help from Google Analytics. SEMrush is a great tool to check backlinks.
What is the performance of competing websites in terms of SEO? Work on their weaknesses. Make sure to monitor their strengths and implement them in your work.
Hunt the powerful keywords of your competitors.
Set your goals based on key performance indicators (KPI) and try to measure your successes and failures based on them. KPI can be different depending on your goal for your website. Your goals for your website can include optimization of website problems, average website click-through rate, backlinks, keyword strength, and website traffic.
Measure the current contents of the website and then improve them according to SEO principles.

What are the methods of learning SEO?

SEO income and its great impact on website optimization have attracted many people to SEO jobs or to learn SEO principles. We take a look at several frequently asked questions in the field of SEO writing and SEO content production:

Where to start learning SEO?

Keyword! It all starts with a few words. Turn your expertise into an article with the help of keywords. Try to make research your life’s profession, and you can get help from Google’s SEO training websites for professional SEO training.

Is learning SEO difficult?

No, Even if you are completely new to this field, there are various websites and resources for free SEO training.

How long does it take to learn professional SEO?

Learning basic SEO takes about one to three months. Becoming a professional in this field takes six months to a year.

How much is the SEO fee?

SEO income completely depends on the type of SEO job and your level of proficiency in this field. In addition, working as a freelancer or permanent SEO is also effective in your income.

Prerequisites to become a professional SEO

SEO marketing and content marketing have become a widespread fever all over the world these days. This is why many small and large companies are looking for professional SEO. To become a professional SEO, you must first know the prerequisites of this job. Usually, most people with any knowledge background can learn SEO, but it should be noted that SEO requires improving computer knowledge.

What are the benefits of an SEO job?

It’s time to see what the benefits of an SEO job are.

Learning and teaching SEO content creation is simple and can be learned with little effort.
SEO services are in high demand.
You can work as a freelancer with flexible working hours.
You will get a wide range of job offers.
You can strengthen your foothold in the digital marketing industry.
It is possible to promote the job and increase SEO income.
Producing SEO articles plays an effective role in expanding your general and specialized knowledge.

SEO job responsibilities

Internal SEO: Getting to know how to produce SEO content, optimizing the conversion of users to customers, getting to know SEO titles and subtitles, main title tags and meta descriptions, URL structure, keyword research, and keyword writing, along with the method Improving the user experience of working with the website.
External SEO: methods of increasing website traffic, visual effects and how to arrange them based on SEO principles, link building, guest posts, and newsletters.
You are keeping yourself up-to-date and familiar with all types of digital marketing (content marketing, paid search marketing, digital campaigns, social media marketing, and web development).

Steps to become a Successful SEO

Get to know the principles of SEO and the basic rules of search engines.
Know what SEO strategies and techniques are.
Try to strengthen these strategies by participating in SEO training courses.
Always look for the latest trends and news related to SEO.
Get to know SEO tools and become a professional in working with them.
Apply the tactics you know about SEO and practice them.
Show the results of your work to employers.

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