Have you ever wondered why some of the websites on Google appear on the first page of Google or rank very high on the first page, while other websites are actually lost in the depths of the internet? If you wondered the same, then you’re not alone. The secret of ranking high on Google? Search Engine Optimization or SEO.
Now, some people reading this might think that this is another tricky, techy buzzword; hold up. SEO isn’t just for digital marketers. If you have a blog, website, or even a personal brand, then understanding Search Engine optimization can literally change your online presence.
So, grab your coffee, popcorn or anything you like (we don’t judge). And let’s understand the real game of SEO, which will be easy, useful and actionable.
What actually is SEO?
Search Engine optimization is a technique of getting your website to show up in search engines like Google when someone types in a relevant query.
For example, you provide English training to students in India. And if someone in the search engine searches for the “Best English Trainer in India” then you’d definitely want your website to rank in the search engine, so that you can get more leads, right? SEO makes that happen; that is the reason why understanding SEO is very important.
Understanding the three Pillars of Search Engine Optimization
Now, we are going to understand the three important pillars of search engine optimization.
1. On-Page SEO
Everything which you control on your website directly helps both users and search engines understand your content.
You can state on-page SEO as a makeover of your website. It refers to decorating your home beautifully before showing it to people. You want everything to be clean and easy to find.
The most important things which you have to keep in mind while performing on-page SEO are as follows:
- Keyword Optimization
The keywords in the content must be used naturally in the title, headers, first paragraph and throughout the content, and you should also focus on the keyword density, which must always be less than 5%. - High-Quality Content
Writing high-quality content is a very important key factor of on-page seo. It must be effective to the user. It must be original and should not be copied from AI or a third-party website. It will be referred to as High quality only when you are answering real questions of your audience. - Title Tags & Meta Descriptions
These tags and meta descriptions are shown in search results, and they create a first impression for the users, so they must be clickworthy. You should make them clear and keyword-rich to help your audience. - Internal Linking
Internal Linking, which means to create internal links which relate to the content on your own site, is one of the most important key factors in on-page SEO. Internal Linking helps to improve navigation and SEO flow of your website. - Image Optimization
Google cannot see images of your website, so to make Google understand the relevance of your image, it is very important to do image optimization. You should use descriptive filenames and alt text so search engines can “see” your images and show users the content which matches their interests.
- Mobile-Friendly Design
Your site must have a mobile-friendly design. It helps the users to navigate through your site without any difficulty.
A strong on-page SEO is very important for your website.
2. Off-Page SEO
Off-page SEO is one of the most important pillars of SEO; whatever techniques you perform outside of your website to improve its ranking in search engines is called off-page seo. Here, you are actually building the reputation of the website in front of the online world.
Here’s what counts in Off-Page SEO:
- Backlinks (Inbound Links)
When the trusted websites on search engines link to your pages, you get a backlink. It will be good if you have high-quality backlinks. Getting backlinks from a website which has a high PA and DA and a low spam Score will be very beneficial. There are a lot of methods which you can use to get a backlink from other websites. For example: Classified Submission, Image submission, video submission, Guest Blogging, Google My Business, PDF submission, Directory Submission, etc. - Social Media Engagement
It is very important to share the links of your content on platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Sharing the links of your content will help in driving traffic and increasing visibility. - Online Reviews & Reputation
In a business or a startup, new customers mostly come through the referrals of others or by reading the reviews online, so it is very important to encourage the happy customers to leave a review for future customers to help them build trust. - Local Listings & Citations
Before taking services or buying any product, a lot of customers search on Google about the business to get more information regarding it. Therefore, it is very important to list your business in local directories ( like Google Business Profile) to improve the visibility of the business and make it more convenient for users. - Influencer Collaborations
You can collaborate with influencers to earn mentions and links to improve your visibility around the world, or you can partner with niche influencers or content creators.
Therefore, we learned here that off-page seo plays a very important role in the overall search engine optimization of the website. It helps in building trust and visibility, which is very important for Google and the users to take your site seriously.
3. Technical SEO
Technical Seo is very important for a high-performing website. It ensures that your website is optimised effectively for both users and search engines.
Let’s see what it actually covers:
Site speed: It is very important to focus on the site speed as it improves the user experience and helps in ranking on Google.
Structured Data: It is very important to put Schema markups because it helps in understanding the content and gives results which are relevant to the user query.
HTTPS Security: It is very important for your site to be secure. As it builds trust and SEO. Google will prefer the m and it helps in ranking higher.
Crawlability: Search engines need to crawl your page, so it is very important to put XML sitemaps and robots.txt to guide them.
Mobile friendliness: You know what? To improve the user experience, it is very important that your site looks good on smartphones. Therefore, focusing on that is also important.
Understanding these three pillars of search engine optimization was very important. It is the foundation of seo to build a strong online presence and to build trust between the users and search engines to make sure that your website ranks high on Google.
Conclusion
After understanding all three pillars, we also came to a conclusion that all of them had a unique role. All of them were unique in their own way, and they created a complete strategy to increase your website ranking. To know more about SEO, you can also join our Online Digital Marketing Training, which will help you gain more valuable insights on SEO.
SEO isn’t a one-time fix. You have to do work consistently to maintain the rankings for long-term success.
I would suggest you just focus on the basics and start growing from there.