What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? Have you ever wondered why certain websites show up on Google when you search for something like “funny dog videos” or “how to bake cookies”? This happens because of something called Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Search Engine Optimization is a technique used to help search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo find websites Search Engine Optimization Meaning SEO is like a secret recipe that makes a website more attractive to search engines. When a website uses SEO, it makes it easier for search engines to find and show up at the top of the list when people search for something. This is super important because most people click on the first few links they see! Why is Search Engine Optimization Important? SEO is one of the most important marketing strategies. First, and foremost: organic search provides 53% of all website traffic. That’s a big reason why the global SEO industry is predicted to reach a staggering $122.11 billion by 2028. SEO drives real business results for brands, businesses and organizations of all sizes. Whenever people want to go somewhere, do something, find information, research or buy a product/service – their journey usually starts with a search. But the search today is incredibly fragmented. Users can search through traditional web search engines (e.g., Google, Microsoft Bing), social platforms (e.g., YouTube, TikTok) or vendor websites (e.g., Amazon). In fact, the U.S. 61% of consumers who shop online start their search on Amazon, compared to 49% who start with search engines like Google. It is also worth mentioning from the same study: 32% start with Walmart.com. 20% start on YouTube. 19% start with Facebook. 15% start on Instagram. 11% start on TikTok. Billions are searched each year. Search is often the key to website traffic, making it important to be “search engine friendly” on any platform where people can find your brand or business What this all means is that it can have a positive impact on your bottom line by improving your visibility, ranking you higher in search than your competition, . SEO is also incredibly important because search engine results pages (or SERPs) are super competitive – full of search results (and PPC ads). SERP features include: Knowledge base. Specifications. Maps. Diagrams. Video. Top information (good news). People also ask. Carousel features. Another reason SEO is important for brands and businesses: Unlike other marketing strategies, a good SEO job is consistent. When the paid campaign ends and. Types of SEO There are three types of SEO Technical SEO: Optimizing the technical aspects of the website. On-Page SEO: Optimizing content on a website for users and search engines. Off-Page SEO: Create brand assets (e.g., people, icons, values, vision, slogans, catchphrases, colors) and create content that will ultimately increase brand awareness and recognition (i.e., increase visibility and awareness, power , and credibility). f) and demand generation. You have 100% control over content and technology changes. That’s not always true off-site (you can’t control links from other sites or if you rely on forums that eventually close or make major changes), but those activities are still SEO an important part of this triangle for success Think of SEO as a sports team. You need a strong offense and defence to win – and you need fans (a.k.a., spectators). Think of technical optimization as your defence, content optimization as your offense, and off-site optimization as ways to attract, engage, and retain a loyal fanbase. Technical Optimization Optimizing the technical aspects of a website is important and essential for SEO success. It all starts with architecture – we build a website that can be crawled and indexed by search engines. As Google trend analyst Gary Illis once said in a Reddit AMA: “MAKE THAT DAMN SITE CRAWLABLE.” You want to make it easier for search engines to find and find all the content on your pages (i.e. text, images, videos). Here are the important technical components: URL structure, navigation, internal links, and more. Experience is also an important factor in the efficiency of technical development. Search engines emphasize the importance of pages that load fast and provide a good user experience. Things like Core Web Vitals, mobile-friendliness and usability, HTTPS, and avoiding intrusion gaps are all important in technical SEO. Another area of technological improvement is data structure (a.k.a., schema). Adding this code to your website will allow search engines to better understand your content and improve your appearance in search results. In addition, web hosting services, CMS (content management system) and site security all play a role in SEO. On Page SEO SEO requires your content to be optimized for two main audiences: people and search engines. This means optimizing the content that your audience sees (what’s actually on the page) and what search engines see (the code). The goal, always, is to post helpful, high-quality content. You can do this in addition to understanding your audience’s wants and needs, data and guidance provided by Google. When optimizing content for people, you need to make sure that: Related topics in which you have experience or expertise. Includes keywords that people use to search for content. is unique or original. It is well written and free of grammatical and spelling mistakes. It is up-to-date and accurate. Includes multimedia (e.g. images, video). Your SERP is better than competitors. Readable – Organized so that the information you share is easy for people to understand (consider: use subheadings, paragraph length, capital/bold fonts, formatted/unformatted characters, reading rate , and so on). Some key internal optimizations for search engines include: The title of the essay Meta description Subject lines (H1-H6) Image alt text Open the graph and Twitter cards metadata Off-page optimization There are activities that may not be “SEO” in the strictest sense, but can nonetheless align with and help indirectly contribute to SEO success. Link building (the process of getting links to a website) is the activity most closely associated with off-site SEO. Getting links pointing to your website from relevant, authentic, credible websites can have