24 Feb How SEO Works
How does SEO Work?
SEO doesn’t work overnight, nor in a fortnight or so’s time. It’s something that takes weeks, and months, to fully work. But a good SEO strategy also lasts a long time when properly maintained. So, if a competitor applies their SEO strategy a little better, they get to go to the top of Google and push you down below them. This is why it’s important to always keep your SEO strategy up-to-date.
SEO Fundamental Principles
1. The Power of Links
Links are still the most powerful factor for excellent web performance on Google. High-quality and relevant links boost the websites authority and overall rank. And remember, building links is more effective than buying links.
2. Relevant & Optimized Content
Having high quality optimized SEO content will help get a website recognized by Google search and appear on Page 1 of the search results. Key things to bear in mind when creating high quality SEO content are:
- Good and relevant use of keywords
- Use of clear, Keyword-rich titles, Meta-descriptions, alt attributes, H1 tags, and URLs
- Length of content written and, crucially, how relevant it is
3. Magic Metadata
Metadata is the title and texts that show up on the search results page, so the user knows what to expect when they click that specific page title.
This is how you can optimize Metadata.
- Use relevant, but not repetitive keywords in titles and descriptions
- Keep it short, but long enough (160 words is Google’s meta description limit)
- Be clear and to the point, so users know what to expect
Metadata is like an ad for your content. Think about the key info to share with your customers to encourage them to click on your web page or blog.
4. UX Signals affect SERPs
User experience (UX) influences the performance of a website on google. UX elements include site infrastructure, layout, content, etc. Here are some key points to bear in mind:
- Keep user time and Click-through rate high, and the bounce rate low
- Make your website easy to use
- Get fast load speeds
- Optimize the user’s journey
5. Mobile SEO
About 50% of global traffic is generated from a mobile device and since 2018 Google has been mobile indexing FIRST. As such, it’s now essential to make your website mobile friendly and have a responsive version of your website that delivers consistent content across both mobile and desktop platforms.
6. Voice Search
55 percent of U.S. teens and 41 percent of U.S. adults are already using Voice Search according to current research. Worldwide 20 percent of all website searches are through voice search.
Here’s how to make sure your site is voice search ready:
- Optimize content by using natural language
- The right featured snippets
- A solid FAQ page
7. Continuous Testing is VITAL
SEO is all about figuring out what works best. It’s grounded in best practices and then enhanced through good ol’ fashioned trial and error. Remember SEO rules can change every time Google update their algorithm.
Conclusion
SEO optimizes for an ever-evolving, ever-changing digital world. As such, there’ll never be a magic formula to keep a website ranking at the top of the SERPs forever. It’s about figuring out what works for your website, or client, and then updating that strategy when it stops working. So, get the fundamentals right, watch the competition, and test, test, test.