What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

SEO is the process of improving or optimizing a website to increase its visibility on search engines. At present, SEO is a trending topic. Basically, SEO is a part of digital marketing where a website is optimized with the goal of bringing visitors or traffic from search engines.

In SEO, certain methods are followed so that a webpage can rank on the first page of various search engines (such as Google, Bing, Yahoo) for specific keywords. In other words, the process of ranking a website in the search engine result pages (within the top 1–10 positions) for one or more keywords is called SEO.

There is a high demand for SEO-related work in freelancing marketplaces. If you develop this skill, you can also create your own e-commerce or blog site and earn from it. That’s why SEO is in high demand as a career.

In this article, I have tried to give you a clear and complete idea about SEO. I’ve also provided a short guideline on its types and how it works.

What is Search Engine Optimization or SEO?

SEO means “Search Engine Optimization.” In simple terms, it refers to the process of increasing your site’s visibility when someone searches for products or services related to your business on Google, Bing, Yahoo or other search engines.

Needless to say, to increase your site’s visibility in search results, it needs to rank on the first page. The higher the visibility, the more free organic visitors you will get. And no matter how beautiful a website is, if it doesn’t get visitors, it is basically worthless.

We all visit different websites every day. For example, right now you are visiting my site. You are one of my site’s visitors. Maybe you found my blog by searching on Google. But if my writing doesn’t reach any visitors, then writing this blog or article becomes meaningless. That’s why we need to learn and practice SEO.

How Many Types of SEO Are There?

SEO is basically divided into two main categories: On-Page SEO and Off-Page SEO. However, in modern times, Technical SEO is also considered equally important, which makes it three types.

Based on target location, SEO can also be divided into:

• Local SEO – Targeting a specific area for keyword ranking.
• Global SEO – Ranking is done worldwide instead of focusing on a specific area.

Based on SEO practices, it can be divided into three types:

• White Hat SEO – Work is done ethically and by following rules.
• Black Hat SEO – Rules and ethics are not followed.
• Gray Hat SEO – A combination of White Hat and Black Hat methods.

How to Learn Search Engine Optimization?

To understand or learn SEO, you need to understand 5 key things:

1. What is a search engine?
2. How does a search engine work?
3. What does SEO do or how does it work?
4. How many types of SEO are there?
5. How can you bring a webpage to the first page for a keyword?

Where and How Can You Learn SEO?

Learning SEO requires both theoretical knowledge and practical application. Once you understand the basics, you can practice on your own website, blogs, or even use free/paid courses available online.

What is a Search Engine?

One of the most important inventions in the online world is the search engine. A search engine is a software system designed to search the web in other words, to find information online. These engines scan through scattered information across the internet, and when we want to know something, they display links to relevant web pages on the result page.

For example, when you use Google, Bing, Yahoo, or any other search engine to look for information, you type it into the search bar and press search.

After searching on Google, you see a list of web pages as results.

Whenever we search, a result page appears and usually, we only visit the pages shown on the first page. Rarely do we go to the second page. This means that if your site is not ranking on the first page, much of your effort will go in vain. That’s the reality. Therefore, ranking on the first page is essential.

How Does a Search Engine Work?

The basic purpose of search engines is to provide us with accurate information and data. Now, if a search engine gives you wrong or irrelevant results, would you use it again? Probably not.

That’s why, to maintain popularity, a search engine must deliver the most accurate results in the SERP (Search Engine Results Page). In this regard, Google is the best, as it holds about 75–80% of the total search market.

We all agree on one point almost always, we get the right information from search engines, right?

But to provide information, a search engine must first know where that information exists. For this reason, search engines index important parts of documents, websites, and texts online into their database.

Once indexed, they must show the most relevant results based on the words we search for. Since there can be millions of web pages on a single topic, search engines use special algorithms to decide which ones to display first and which ones later.

The 3 Main Steps of How Search Engines Work

1. Crawling – Special software programs browse the web, moving from link to link and page to page.
2. Indexing – The next step is indexing. Here, the search engine decides whether to use the crawled content. If a webpage is considered valid, it gets added to the index (database).
3. Ranking – When we type something into a search engine and hit enter, the indexed documents are analyzed using hundreds of ranking algorithms or factors. Based on these signals, the engine decides which site appears first and which comes later. Google frequently updates its algorithms to ensure SERP results are more accurate and useful.

How Search Engines Work

As we already know, search engines like Google and Bing use bots to crawl webpages, move from one site to another, collect information, and store them.

Then, algorithms analyze these indexed pages and consider hundreds of ranking factors to decide the order in which results appear for a query. This process is much like a librarian who has read every book in the library and can tell you exactly which book contains the answer to your question.

Popular Search Engines

Let’s get to know the most popular search engines. The table below lists them in order of popularity:

No	Search Engine	Details
1	Google	Holds 90%+ of the search market. On average, 70,000 searches are made every second.
2	Bing	Has 33%+ U.S. market share, but outside the U.S., it’s not widely used.
3	Baidu	A Chinese search engine. Google is banned in China.
4	Yahoo!	Popularity is declining. Pulls search results from Bing. Holds about 3% of market share.
5	Yandex	A Russian search engine. Used by 65%+ of Russian users.
6	Ask.com	Has about 0.35% search traffic.
7	DuckDuckGo	This search engine does not track users. In 2018, it had an average of 26,754,932 daily searches, and the number continues to grow.

What is the Role of SEO?

By now, you might already understand that SEO is essential for driving website traffic, sales, or income. That’s why learning SEO is so important.

Now, the million-dollar question is: What exactly do you need to do to rank a website and bring in visitors?

SEO generally follows 8 key steps:

1. Perform keyword research.
2. Include keywords in the page title.
3. Place keywords in the URL.
4. Add keywords in the meta description.
5. Use keywords in the H1 text.
6. Add keywords within the content.
7. Build backlinks to your website.
8. Check your ranking regularly.

How to Start with Search Engine Optimization

Many beginner SEO experts often get confused at the start because they don’t know where or how to begin. Developing SEO skills takes time, so you need to dedicate time to learning and practicing.

Here’s a step-by-step look at how to get started with SEO:

1. Most website traffic comes from users searching keywords on search engines. So, the first step is to select the right keywords.
2. Next, optimize your website or page according to search engine rules.
3. In the second step, ensure your site or page gets indexed by search engines.
4. The third step is Off-Page Optimization. This includes social sharing, promotions, and most importantly, link building or creating backlinks.

1. How to Do Keyword Research

A keyword is any word or phrase that users type into a search engine. One important thing to note: the term you use to search for a product might not be the same term others use.

For example, suppose a website sells electric fans of the XYZ brand. Naturally, you might think the keyword for that site should be “XYZ brand fan” or simply “XYZ fan.” But here’s the big question: Do people actually search using these keywords?

In other words, we need to check how many people search for “XYZ brand fan” or whether people search for it at all.

If no one is searching for it, then even if you rank for that keyword, it won’t help. There won’t be any sales, because no traffic will come to the site. And without visitors, sales are impossible.

So, clearly, the answer is No. Without searches, there will be no visitors and no sales.

In keyword research, there are two important terms you need to know:

Search Volume (Monthly Average Searches)

This indicates how many times, on average, a particular keyword is searched per month.

Keyword Difficulty Index (Competition for Ranking)

This shows how hard it is to rank a keyword. Depending on the tool, it is measured on a scale such as 0–100, 0–10, or 0–1. The lower the keyword difficulty, the easier it will be to rank on the first page. However, the best practice is to manually analyze competition along with using these metrics.

Keyword Research Tools

For keyword research, we often use different tools and extensions. These tools help us understand Keyword Difficulty (KD) and Search Volume (SV).

Here are some of the most popular paid and free keyword research tools:

• Ahrefs – Paid tool
• SEMRush – Free (with limitations) & Paid
• Keyword Surfer – Free Google Chrome extension
• WMS Everywhere – Free Google Chrome extension
• Google AdWords Keyword Planner – Free (but with some limitations)

2. How to Do On-page Optimization

The first step of on-page optimization is to properly optimize the content using the previously selected keywords. A webpage or article must be optimized to rank for a specific keyword. However, you can also target some related keywords along with it.

In short, the process is:

• The keyword must be included in the title.
• Use the keyword in the link or anchor (Post link / post anchor).
• Use the keyword in the text, description, or post content.
• Use the keyword naturally within the content. Avoid keyword stuffing at all costs.
• Use related keywords and synonyms of the keyword.
• Use helpful images and videos.
• Use keywords or LSI keywords in the image alt tags.

3. How to Do Off-page Optimization

Off-page optimization mainly refers to backlink building. However, there are also some relevant practices such as:

• Sharing on social media (though it may not directly improve rankings, it helps with indexing and driving traffic).
• Building backlinks from relevant sites.
• Avoiding poor-quality or low-standard websites when creating links.
• Never engaging in spamming.
• Building high-quality contextual links.
• For example, creating Web 2.0 backlinks is considered off-page SEO.

How to Rank a Web Page on the First Page

The job of an SEO expert is to optimize a website according to these ranking factors of search engines.

Google has over 200 ranking factors, though not all of them carry equal weight. In this post, only the most important ones are highlighted.

Important Ranking Factors:

• Website crawlability and structure, HTTPS, user experience
• Unique, informative, high-quality optimized content
• Search intent, content length
• Title tag, URL, domain age, canonical tag
• Image optimization
• Keyword prominence and placement
• Mobile friendliness
• Relevant links, total referring domains
• Page speed
• Topical authority
• E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness)
• Social signals, etc.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is not magic, and it cannot be learned in just one day. Similarly, no website can be ranked overnight.

It may take 3 to 5 months to learn SEO, but you always need to keep yourself updated. Like every other technology, SEO is rapidly changing. There will always be new topics and skills to learn, so you must continue learning throughout your career.

Even after ranking a website, you need to keep working to maintain that ranking. This is because ROI (Return on Investment) in SEO is higher than in any other online marketing channel. That’s why businesses aim to increase their visitors and sales by ranking higher.

I hope I’ve been able to meet your interest in learning about SEO. If so, please share this post. For more details, feel free to comment. Thank you.