SEO 101: What is Search Engine Optimization and How Does SEO Work?

If you use Google, Bing or any other search engine, you’ve encountered the results of SEO. Simple Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) typically contain two types of results:

• Companies can pay Google and Bing to appear on SERPs that are relevant to their business needs through advertisements (also known as paid results). As indicated in the graphic on the left, these results are commonly referred to as advertisements.
• On a typical SERP, organic results are links that aren’t labelled as adverts.

What Are the Differences Between Organic and Paid Search Results in Search Engine Optimization?

Paid Search results are commercials. Paid Search, often known as Pay-Per-Click (PPC) or Search Engine Marketing (SEM), is a powerful and important digital marketing tool. Creating SEM strategies, executing campaigns, and optimising outcomes takes a lot of time and effort.

It is not possible to purchase organic search listings. Each search engine has its own set of rules for deciding which web sites to display and in what order. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a branch of digital marketing that aims to figure out what these guidelines are in order to help their content rank higher in search results. This is the foundation for comprehending how SEO works.

Marketers are attempting to reverse engineer Google, the most prominent search engine. Understanding how Google ranks web pages is critical, but understanding why Google ranks pages is even more critical.

Smart SEO experts have learned to concentrate on Google’s ultimate goal rather than its mechanical inner workings. Google’s main goal is to respond to questions that users post on its website. People are more inclined to return to Google for their next question or need if it provides quality answers and information.

Do you want to learn more about SEO? Our Digital Marketing Certificate will assist you in learning more about SEO and other key aspects of digital marketing.

Understanding Technical SEO

Humans and machines are the two main viewers for web pages. We make material for humans in order to educate, inspire, and entertain them. Search engines use SEO to figure out who this information is for, what issues it addresses, and why it’s the best solution.

Technical SEO enables websites to interact with search engines in their own language, ensuring that the incredible content we generate for people is found and understood by machines. Although a fundamental understanding of how the web works, including HTML, is required for technical SEO, you do not need to be an expert coder to be effective.

Only when technology and content come together can SEO be effective. Too much emphasis on technology leads to material that is flat, dull, and potentially chilly. If you ignore technology, your content may not surface in search results at the appropriate time.

SEO Beyond Search Results: Learning How SEO Works

Changes to page titles and XML sitemaps are only a small part of SEO. Because we have to, SEO practitioners are fundamentally researchers. We’re also fantastic collaborators because it allows us to improve our skills.

Great things happen when SEO and other elements of digital marketing work together. SEO can assist businesses in determining how their clients search online. As a result, this information can be used for a lot more than just web page copy.

Advertising teams can benefit from SEO professionals’ knowledge of their target market, the language they use, and their demands. Better ad copy, more focused message, and, perhaps, more sales result from this information.

In the same manner, understanding SEO may help paid search advertising by making targeted web pages more relevant to searchers. As a result, campaigns are less expensive and have higher engagement.

Basic SEO Techniques: A Gateway to New Skills

SEO experts have a diverse set of skills, ranging from site design to writing. Specializing on just one aspect of SEO can lead to unexpected results. Learning basic SEO can help you create the following techniques:

• Researching
• Writing
• Coding
• Web development
• Project management
• Client communication
• Marketing
• Media
• Design

To put it another way, what you learn about search engine optimization can lead to interesting new employment prospects you may not have considered before. What SEO is all about is discovery and investigation.