Do you have a website and can you no longer avoid doing something with your online findability? Then it is high time to start using SEO. Because SEO makes it possible not only to attract more, but also the right visitors to your website. But what exactly is SEO (search engine optimization) and how does it work? We list it all for you.
What is SEO?
The abbreviation SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, search engine optimization in Dutch. SEO is optimizing (improving) websites so that they rank higher in the search results of the search engines, especially in Google. Why Google? Because 91% of desktop users and 98% of smartphone or tablet users use Google as their default search engine.
Why Search Engine Optimization? Because:
The higher you rank in the search results, the faster someone clicks to your website. Because who clicks through to a 2nd or 3rd page these days?
More visitors to your website increases the chance of conversion (paying for products, requesting information, etc.)
More impressions in the search results gives you more brand awareness.
The three pillars of SEO
Google uses hundreds of ranking factors to assess the pages of your website. We can divide these ranking factors into three pillars. These are the three main pillars of search engine optimization:
- Technique
The technique of your website must be in order. The technology is also referred to as the ‘back of your website’. By this we mean, among other things, the structure of the website, the loading time of your website, whether or not your website is responsive and any links with Google. - Content
The content is much more about the ‘front of your website’, i.e. the texts and images. The trick is to respond to the search behavior of your (potential) visitors with the right content. - Popularity
By the popularity of your website we mean the link profile. You obtain a link profile by doing link building. So, how popular are you among other websites? To what extent are other websites referring to your website? It’s not just about quantity, but quality.
Link building with SEO
Link building weighs very heavily when it comes to the position of a website in the search results. That is why it is important to pay a lot of attention to this when you get started with search engine optimization. The key to success in link building is ensuring a diverse and extensive number of internal links, external links, and backlinks.
Internal links link pages on the website itself, allowing search engines to better interpret which pages on the website complement each other. This gives the search engines a clearer picture of what a page is about. To avoid confusion with the search engines, it is important to only use internal links if it is possible to link to relevant, additional internal pages. To prevent noise on the line, it is therefore important not to place internal links to irrelevant pages.
External links are links that, as the word implies, point to external websites from your own website. By including these links in the pages of a website, you grant authority to the relevant external website. It is therefore not useful to place external links to direct competitors, but it is useful That is why it is important to pay a lot of attention to this when you get started with search engine optimization. The key to success in link building is ensuring a diverse and extensive number of internal links SEO is optimizing (improving) websites so that they rank higher in the search results of the search engines .
Read More: Important SEO Aspects For Businesses
