We are well and truly in the digital age where the internet has taken over our lives. Today, there are more than 1.5 billion websites worldwide, of which only 200 million are active. To narrow down the competition, there are around 3.9 million websites with a .au registration. These numbers tell us that the competition is not only high at the global scale but also at a local level. It is safe to say that creating a website isn’t enough to stand out or find yourself on Google’s first page if anyone is looking for businesses like you.  

 

This is where search engine optimisation (SEO) enters the scene and helps your business reach a wider audience online organically. While many business owners think they do not need SEO to attain their goals, others believe that SEO is the answer to improving rankings and online visibility. Regardless of what side of the spectrum you lie on, it is worth noting that SEO becomes important if you are hinging on generating more business through online channels and improving your digital presence.  

 

We cover the important aspects of SEO, its benefits, and why businesses should consider investing in it in 2024 and beyond.  

 

First things first, let’s understand what SEO is.  

What Exactly is SEO?

Search engine optimisation or SEO is the process or concentrated efforts made to improve a website’s organic ranking across search engines. It involves a range of critical elements including on-page SEO, off-page SEO, content optimisation, keyword research, and more.  

The objective here is to optimise a website’s performance, content, and other parameters and increase its search engine ranking organically.  

Now, let’s take a look at the different aspects of SEO and their role in improving a website’s search ranking.  

Exploring the Different Types of SEO

We have already established that a website alone isn’t enough to boost your search engine ranking. You will need SEO at some stage to ensure a consistent flow of traffic and improve your ranking.  

This section uncovers the three main types of SEO including on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and technical SEO.  

  • On-page SEO

As the name suggests, on-page SEO is largely concerned with the on-page elements of a website including the quality of the content, internal links, meta tags, meta descriptions, headings, alt tags, and more. Keyword research, and using keywords strategically across on-page content including headers, URLs, and more are all part of on-page SEO.  

Additionally, SEO-optimised content creation and internal linking within blogs are also part of on-page SEO that is primarily performed to improve the user experience of the website. On-page SEO also includes image, metadata, and URL optimisation, and each of these activities is performed to achieve different goals. While URL optimisation is carried out to ensure a page crawls optimally across search engines, metadata optimisation is performed to let the search engines know what the page is about.  

  • Off-page SEO

While on-page SEO focuses on improving a site’s user experience, optimising content, and other technical factors to improve ranking, off-page SEO deals with external factors that influence a site’s organic ranking. The process of promoting and marketing your business across the internet to increase website traffic and organic ranking is known as off-page SEO.  

Generating backlinks to your website is one of the major aspects of off-page SEO since Google loves websites that have quality backlinks. When other websites cite your page or article, it tells Google that you are a credible website. So, yes, generating backlinks is a major part of off-page SEO. The other areas of off-page SEO include building and managing an online presence, creating content for other marketing channels, getting rid of spammy backlinks, and guest posting.  

  • Technical SEO

Technical SEO isn’t as straightforward as on-page and off-page SEO. That said, it isn’t rocket science either. It handles the backend SEO factors of your website including site speed, crawlability, user experience and more. Technical SEO ensures that search engines can easily find your website and navigate through it without any hiccups.  

Broken links, broken images, slow loading speed, and – site navigation can hurt a site’s user experience, affecting its ranking and online discoverability. Therefore it is essential to conduct regular technical audits, create a sitemap, fix duplicate content, migrate a website, and optimise activities to ensure seamless user experience.  

How Does SEO Work?

SEO can seem a bit intimidating for those who have no clue how it works and have limited knowledge about it. In reality, if you understand the main concepts, the fundamentals of SEO, and the best SEO practices, you should be fine.  

A good way to step into the SEO world is by understanding how it works.  

Creating and launching a website is just the first step into the online world. It takes some consistent and strategic efforts for Google to notice your website, and eventually display it in search results.  

Here’s what it takes for Google to rank your website.  

  • Crawling

Believe it or not, Google unleashes millions or even billions of robots known as crawlers to find new content and discover hyperlinks. The content can be in any form including images, PDFs, videos, web pages, etc. Crawlers evaluate information on a certain page and other pages linked to it and go back to Google with whatever they find.  

  • Indexing

When crawlers find a new webpage, they add the URL to the huge database of all the legit URLs. The database is known as the ‘search index.’ 

  • Ranking

After a URL is added to the database, it competes with other URLs to get a better rank. This is when Google decides the most relevant pages for the specific query and ranks them.  

Pros and Cons of SEO

Before you put your foot on the gas and start SEO, it is worth taking a look at the pros and cons of SEO.  

Pros of SEO

  • Enhances web presence 
  • Increases your website’s traffic 
  • Improves conversion rates 
  • Aids business growth 
  • Allows you to build authority 
  • Affordable than conventional marketing  

Cons of SEO

  • It can take a few weeks and months for results to show 
  • Return on investment is not quick 
  • High competition 
  • Limited guarantee 
  • Rankings are affected over time. SEO is a never-ending process.  
  • Requires technical know-how 

Parting Words

If you have ever looked for what SEO stands for and how it works, we hope this blog was helpful. While it is not mandatory to implement SEO to grow your business, it is a necessity for businesses looking to improve their digital presence and thrive online. As the internet’s adoption continues to grow exponentially worldwide, the demand for SEO isn’t going away anytime.  

If you are a budding SEO expert or a business owner, learning the nitty-gritty of SEO is a valuable skill to have in today’s era.  

Frequently Asked Questions

Does SEO work for all types of businesses? 

Yes, SEO works and is well-suited for all types of businesses. However, investing in SEO isn’t a good idea if your target audience is not online.  

What are the key factors that influence search engine rankings? 

Backlinks, user experience, content quality, keyword choices, site structure and more are some of the major factors that influence search engine rankings.  

How do backlinks impact SEO?  

Backlinks can impact your SEO as they can improve your website’s credibility and – in Google’s eyes.  

How can I stay updated with the changing SEO landscape?  

Read some of the top-ranking blogs on SEO, follow influencers or SEO experts on LinkedIn, enrol for an online course, go through SEO forums, etc are some of the best ways to stay updated with the changing SEO landscape.  

If you have any queries or suggestions feel free to send an email on [email protected]