Many people think SEO is a way for a website to get the top ranking on Google. In fact, the concept is only skin deep, you know.
If you go deeper, it turns out that search engine optimization isn’t just talking about rankings. In fact, SEO is able to increase the quality and quantity of traffic that enters your website and blog.
That means, visitors don’t just stop by your website. But, it also helps launch you in achieving website goals. Whether it’s increasing branding to boosting transaction numbers.
Surely, you are increasingly interested in learning what SEO is, right? Without lingering, let’s complete your curiosity in this article!
What is SEO?
SEO is short for “search engine optimization.” This technique is an attempt to optimize the website so that it gets the top ranking in Google search results.
With search engine optimization, the site will be easy for people to find so it has the potential to suck up more traffic.
Why should Google put so much emphasis on search engine optimization (SEO) when there are so many other search engines (Yahoo!, Bing, Amazon, etc.)?
The answer is simple: Google is the favorite search engine for the majority of internet users.
The proof, every day there are about 3.5 billion searches via Google. Not surprisingly, Google controls 90% of the search engine market share (Statista).
Therefore, Google’s SEO is enough to determine the success of the web. With good search engine optimization, the website will capture more potential traffic.
In fact, 53% of website traffic comes from organic search (SEO). Organic search is the activity of searching for information by entering certain keywords into Google.
And it’s not just traffic, your audience reach is also the right alias according to the site’s goals (increasing branding, transactions, sources of information, etc.). Curious why is that?
So, you need to know the difference between SEO and SEM before describing the advantages of SEO.
Differences SEO vs SEM
SEO is not the same as SEM, despite their similarities in names. Our attention is on the dissimilarities between SEM and SEO.
Whereas Search Engine Optimization from Google is geared toward long-term success, Search Engine Marketing captures results (traffic to conversions) in the here-and-now. Here are the key distinctions between search engine marketing and search engine optimization.
Differences between SEO vs SEM
| SEO | SEM | |
| Definition | Efforts to optimize websites to occupy the top positions on search pages | Marketing strategies to place sites on the top results of search pages |
| Expenses | ($0), to be paid depending on the tools used | Paid (Starting from $10) |
| Display on Engines Search | No ad frills | Displays the label ‘advertising’ or ‘advertising’ |
| Tools Used | Not required, but you can also use keyword research, Google Search Console for backlink analysis, Google Analytics to check website performance, etc. | Requires Google Ad words, Google Keyword Planner, etc. |
| results | take time to get top ranking | Websites are more instantaneous at the top of Google ranking. |
| Types | organic traffic, namely traffic obtained from websites that appear in search results naturally. | Organic traffic and paid search. Paid search is audience visits caused by |
| performance | long-term Website ranking doesn’t go down easily, depending on SEO optimization. | Short-term. After the ad duration runs out, the website ranking will return to normal. |
Even though SEM is able to bring results instantly, it doesn’t mean website SEO is ineffective.
In fact, 70-80% of people ignore paid search results in favor of organically rising content. This is because many people are lazy to click on content that has advertisements attached to it.
5+ Benefits of SEO for Websites and Businesses
Perhaps you’re wondering why search engine optimization (SEO) is still necessary in 2019. Despite the fact that there are additional methods to advertise your website. Instagram’s bio link installation, the swipe up feature, and so on are all examples.
So, you need to know, most of the traffic—especially business websites—comes from search engines. Whatever the industry sector: technology, fashion, health, and so on.
Of course, the amount of traffic affects the success of the website in achieving its goals. In full, here are the benefits of SEO that you miss:
1. Make
SEO strategy is a powerful way to make it easier for your target audience to find your website.
The reason is, search engine optimization allows your site to rank on the first page of Google. This position clearly affects the traffic. Remember, 75% of people are lazy to scroll to the second page and so on.
It’s like opening a fridge full of drink cans. Surely, you prefer to take cans in the front row rather than bother reaching to the end of the shelf, right?
2. Capture the Right Target Audience
Not only does it help your audience find websites, Google SEO also allows you to capture target audience .
The reason is, you can target keywords according to the search intent or target audience in searching for certain keywords.
Your website’s search intent may be to inform its visitors, for instance. You, as a diligent skin care businessman, are aware that your target market is interested in Niacinamide.
As a result, you create blog content about the benefits of Niacinamide, as well as inform that your brand contains this substance. By applying SEO techniques, this content has the potential to be found by your target audience via Google.
Plus Google’s algorithm prioritizes a unique search experience.
That is, Google’s algorithm will determine content recommendations that appear on search pages taking into account the characteristics of the audience. Starting from its location, search history, and so on.
This means that by implementing search engine optimization, your website content will have more potential to appear to your targeted audience. As a result, traffic and conversion opportunities increase.
3. Building Brand Awareness
Finding what you’re looking for is as easy as doing a Google search.
Review Trackers found that 63 percent of consumers would rather use Google to research a product than any other review site.
As a result, Google is a great place to introduce a new product or to spread the word about an existing one.
Oh well, there are multiple instances of my website’s content on the first page of Google, so why isn’t my company more well-known?
The results of SEO, while positive, do not appear overnight. After discovering your brand’s content three to five times, new prospects are likely to trust and be interested in it.
Thus, the greater your website’s visibility on Google’s first page for relevant keywords, the more brand recognition you will achieve.
4. As a Long Term Investment
Search engine optimization is a long term investment. Reason being that Search Engine Optimization on Google can expand market potential. What’s more, relevant search results can influence 39% of potential buyers’ decisions.
By building traffic naturally, a site’s position on Google is stronger and can last for a long time.
different with PPC or Pay per Click where if you stop paying, the traffic immediately drops to 0. The reason is, your site will soon be eliminated from the top ranking.
That is why even though both SEO and SEM have the potential to cost money, we still recommend that you optimize your website for SEO.
5. Increase Sales and Conversions
The reason is, SEO is able to reach a wider target audience more effectively. Unlike other marketing tricks. Social media marketing , for example, is only able to target users of related apps (Instagram, YouTube, etc.). Or, an email marketing method that only reaches email users who subscribe to the newsletter.
Plus, there are far more Google users than other platforms, namely around 4.39 billion internet users.
That means, the easier it is for website content to be found on Google, the greater the chance to attract traffic. Moreover, if your content appears repeatedly when the audience enters various keywords.
And not just any audience, you can process the traffic that comes into many ways. What was just a potential customer prospect, to become a real customer.
6. Build a Top-of-Mind Brand
A top-of-mind brand is a brand that customers remember first when thinking about a product category. For example, when talking about mineral water, most people will mention Aqua.
Well, one of the benefits of SEO is building a top-of-mind brand.
SEO, as you probably know, takes time and effort over a long period of time. If you can get your website to the top of Google’s search results page, you’ll give it a solid foundation from which it won’t be easily toppled.
Because the website’s credibility has begun to be proven, it’s easier for your other website content to gain Google’s trust.
What’s more, you already have traffic and Google also likes to recommend sites that your audience has visited before.
In this way, the audience will be less likely to forget about you. As you can see, your content keeps showing up in their search results, regardless of the keywords they use.
And if you manage to master the first page of Google, potential customers are too lazy to glance at neighboring stores. In their minds, what’s good is the one that manages to rank top on Google.
In addition, highly ranked commercial websites typically present comprehensive data. Not surprisingly, the audience thinks your business always provides the information to the products they need. Meaningful associations are formed in the minds of the target audience.
Now, surely you are more interested in learning SEO. So, before you dive any further, you should first understand the types of SEO and choose which one you want to focus on first.
Types of
SEO There are three types of SEO optimization: on page, off page, and technical. Even though they both aim to skyrocket website ranking, the focus of these three types of SEO is different. The following is a complete explanation of the types of SEO:
1. On-Page SEO
Purpose: optimizing website content so that it is easy to find the target market
. On-page SEO is an attempt to optimize SEO on the front of the website. The aspects that are maximized are:
- Permalink;
- Content title;
- Content structure;
- Content image;
- Keyword distribution;
- Content quality;
- Internal links;
- SEO elements (meta description, tags, etc);
With on-page SEO, it will be easier for your content to appear on Google. And the more relevant the contents of the content are with the keywords you are aiming for, the more your audience needs will be answered and Google will skyrocket your website ranking.
For the record, this type of SEO is the easiest to implement and you must master it, you know. So if you are just starting to learn search engine optimization, please hone your understanding of on-page SEO first.
2. Off Page SEO
Purpose: to help Google understand how much benefit and relevance of content is to other people.
Off page SEO is an attempt to optimize SEO outside the website. The following are aspects of off page SEO that you can improve:
- Building links (or backlinks) to your site from other websites;
- Increase DA (Domain Authority: score to predict website ranking opportunities on Google);
- Increase in PA (Page Authority: a score that shows the opportunity for a website page to be in the top ranking of Google);
- Getting the word out about content through various advertising mediums;
- Guest blog (activities to post your quality articles on other websites where there is a backlink to your site).
With strong off page SEO, Google will be more sure that your site is useful for other people. As a result, the credibility of the site and the potential to increase its branches also increases.
3. Technical SEO
Purpose: optimizing the structure of the website so that the performance is maximized and accepted by Google.
Technical SEO is an attempt to optimize search engine optimization on the inside of the website. Broadly speaking, these are aspects that fall into the technical SEO area:
- Website speed;
- website structure;
- XML Sitemaps;
- Site security (SSL);
- SEO friendly theme;
- website layouts;
- Navigation.
Applying technical SEO, your website will have a good structure and be easy for search engines to read. Therefore, Google will have an even better chance of indexing your site.
Eh, what do you mean by indexing the site?
Relax, we have prepared an explanation in the following section on How SEO and SERP Work.
How SEO and SERP Work
Naturally, there’s more to SEO than picking a site to appear at the top of the search engine results page (SERP). There are certain techniques that Google uses to screen sites.
By knowing these techniques, you will understand why there are many types of SEO and why it is important to optimize the inside, front and outside of the website. Let’s look at the following explanation.
1. How SEO Works
Google has a tool called a web crawler. It is this web crawler that helps Google collect various content on the internet, saves it to a database or search engine storage cabinet, to process it.
This is, in a nutshell, how search engine optimization (SEO) functions after a website or blog is launched.
- Crawling: the process of collecting and storing newly released or recently updated web pages;
- Indexing: Google has implemented Google Mobile First Index which helps Google’s process of studying website structure, content quality and relevance to audience needs, and the credibility of each website page stored in its database;
- Pulling result (ranking): Google compiles a list of the best website pages to fill the highest ranking in search results (SERP).
So, that’s how search engine optimization works to determine which pages of a website are displayed to users. But how does content make its way to the people who want to see it?
2. How SERP (Search Engine Result Page) Works
Now, you will see how the Google search engine brings certain website pages in front of an audience.
Approximately, this is how the SERP works to present content recommendations to the audience:
- Audiences enter certain keywords into the Google search query box;
- Google analyzes these keywords (starting from spelling, as well as word synonyms) in order to provide the best search results;
- Of all the website pages in the database, Google looks for content that includes the keywords that the audience has entered;
- With Google’s algorithm, Google analyzes content and websites to ensure relevant and reliable information for the audience;
- Google takes audience characteristics into account. Starting from location, search history, and after searching (SafeSearch Filters: filters to provide safe content for the audience);
- The Google search engine results page (SERP) features a curated selection of relevant articles.
You need to know, SERP is quite adhering to the latest Google algorithm. Google’s algorithm is Google’s guide in evaluating to display web pages according to the keywords that users enter.
Stepping into the next section, you will find out the main SEO indicators.
12+ Main Indicators of SEO SEO
indicators are things that are assessed by Google to decide whether a website page deserves or does not get the top ranking in the SERP.
Therefore, SEO indicators are factors that should be improved upon when making adjustments to your website. Without further ado, here are the main SEO indicators:
1. Domain Factor
Domain is the address of a website. For example: www.tokonia.com. Meanwhile, domain factors are matters related to domains that have an impact on your search engine optimization performance.
And, more specifically, what indicators of domain factor importance are there for search engine optimization? Your solution is as follows:
- Clear spelling that’s easy to type. With a simple spelling, the domain name will be easier for the audience to type and reduce the possibility of typos;
- Domain size. A long domain would be too complicated for both Google and audience to understand.
- Domain age. Actually, domain age doesn’t really matter for SEO. However, the more you optimize a website from a long time ago, the better the SEO will be;
- Domain history. If you buy a domain that has been used and has a bad history (lots of spam activity), it will have quite an effect on SEO performance.
Finally, it’s worth noting that the domain factor is a crucial SEO metric.
2. Website Design and Structure
In discussing Technical SEO, you already know at a glance the importance of website structure, namely: maximizing site performance and making it easier for Google to understand site context.
As a reminder, website structure is the arrangement of important pages on the website, including its elements. Things like content layout, links, and navigation structure.
Not just any order, the website structure must be SEO-friendly. That is, your website must:
- Easily accessible;
- Quickly accessible;
- Neat website structure;
- Clear navigation menu;
- Easily identifiable links;
- Content title and unique URL;
- Quality content;
- The right color combination;
- Consistent display across browsers;
- The Call to Action is clear;
- Simple forms;
- Responsive / mobile-friendly.
criteria SEO-friendly website, Google will consider your site to have a good user experience and is worthy of being presented to an audience.
3. Website Security (SSL/TLS)
Since 2014, Google has prioritized sites that are safe for their audience. The way Google recognizes site security is by seeing whether the site has SSL/TLS installed or not.
For info, SSL / TLS is a security protocol to protect all data flow on the website. Websites that install SSL/TLS must have a padlock sign on the URL in the address bar.
4. Website Speed
Since 2018, Google stated that one of the main indicators of SEO is speeding up website loading (on desktop, mobile, tablet).
Google claims that two seconds is the absolute minimum acceptable loading time for a quality website. To elaborate on your point, the spectrum of website speeds looks something like this:
- Very fast: 1 second
- Fast: 2 seconds
- Average: 2 to 3 seconds
- Slow: 3 to 4 seconds
- Very slow: above 4 seconds
Then, what are the consequences for website speed too slow?
In fact, the audience couldn’t wait. They will not hesitate to look for other websites instead of waiting too long for the website page to finish loading.
If you look at the graph, you can draw the conclusion that the faster the website page loads, the lower the bounce rate and the higher the page views.
Well, one way to skyrocket website speed is to choose hosting that uses the best server. LiteSpeed Web Server, for example. This is a web server that performs 50% faster than other servers.
5. Using Keywords
In terms of search engine optimization, keywords are, as you know, pretty fundamental. Most people who visit your website will have arrived there after conducting a search, so it’s important to include relevant keywords in your meta tags.
High-volume keywords are preferred by both SEO newbies and veterans. High search volume shows that many people are interested in these topics.
The competition for popular search terms is fierce. This is particularly true for newly launched websites that are struggling to meet even the minimum requirements of the market.
The strategy for employing keywords has consequently evolved. Use LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) or long-tail keywords to zero in on a cluster of interconnected search terms.
Search engines have identified a set of words and phrases called LSI keywords that are not synonyms but instead are related concepts or words. When we employ LSI, we are able to conduct a more in-depth analysis of the text.
We will then move on to discussing long-tail search terms. Typically, the competition for long-tail keywords is low because of their specificity. While the volume may be low, that doesn’t mean there’s no audience.
As a result, using long-tail keywords is the best way to outrank the competition on Google and satisfy the specific needs of your target audience.
In conclusion, it is much simpler to produce content that will resonate with your intended audience if you focus on the appropriate keywords. The keywords you use in Google can also affect the results you get.
6. Content Topic
The subject matter of the article is a second SEO signal. Choosing the incorrect content topic can have devastating consequences, despite its apparent insignificance.
Oh, you’ve stumbled upon my website, but you can’t pick a free topic, huh?
You can pick whatever you like, you know. However, make an effort to keep the content topics you select related to one another.
You might run a blog about technology, for instance. Include a number of primary focus areas, such as online advertising, web design, and development, etc. These subtopics all have some connection to the blog’s primary focus, which is technology.
Why must it be this way?
The explanation is elementary: when you have more articles on related topics, search engines can better interpret your site’s context.
Also, having content that is closely related to another piece will facilitate the process of creating internal links. This is so because it is simple to insert related links when using information from one piece of content that supports another piece of content.
7. Search Intent
Users’ goals, or search intent, can be inferred from the terms they enter into a search engine.
As in, when a person looks up “website creation services” on Google. They probably need assistance developing a website.
As a result, the best web design agencies will naturally rise to the top of search engine results pages.
Searchers after “tips on how to start a website design business” will see a different collection of results. They might be interested in finding out how to launch a web design company.
This is why the results page also provides tips for starting a web design company.
That’s right, Google actually analyzes the meaning of the words you type into its search bar. That’s why it’s important to make sure the keywords you use in your content are relevant to the user’s search in question.
8. Content Structure
The next SEO indicator is content structure.
One of Google’s ways to read your content is to look at the use of headings. Heading is the title of the part of the article that contains certain information.
The use of headings is not arbitrary. While there are H1 (main content headings) to H6 (sub-headings), you should understand the hierarchy. The closer to H6, the more detailed the information you provide must be.
Apart from making it easier for Google to read the structure of the content, the heading format will make it easier for the audience to catch the gist of the content quickly.
In addition, headings can help you get featured snippets (snippet column at the top of Google).
From the headings, Google and the audience can also judge whether your content answers their search intent.
9. Image Optimization
Images are one of the most frequently overlooked factors, despite the significant impact they can have on a website’s search engine optimization. Whether it’s a cover image, an illustration to back up the text, a video, or some other type of visual media.
Image search engine optimization (SEO) actually helps websites rank higher. In terms of how quickly it loads and how easily it can be located in search engine results. This is due to the fact that Google’s algorithm can interpret the visual content you share.
This means that optimizing your images is a key SEO indicator. WordPress image optimization involves making sure the file names are correct, selecting images with the correct size, etc.
10. URL structure URL
An alternate URL, or permalink, is a hyperlink that directs readers to a specific section of a website.
Search engines can better interpret the content of a web page if the URL is organized logically and its keywords are obvious.
11. Meta Tags
Title tags and meta descriptions are two kinds of meta tags. You can think of the title tag as the actual title of the article that will show up in the SERPs. Underneath the meta tags is a summary of your content known as the meta description.
Meta tags are crucial because they are the first thing readers see before diving into your content. Meta tags allow readers to determine whether or not a piece of content is relevant to their search.
Because Google only provides so much storage, the meta tags’ size must be modified accordingly. Google will shorten excessively long title tags, and you should keep your meta description to no more than 120–130 characters.
12. Backlinks
You have a cursory understanding of backlinks from reading the Off Page SEO section. Connecting links from related websites are known as backlinks.
Because Google takes it into account when determining a site’s trustworthiness, this SEO metric is crucial. To put it simply, when other websites link to your content, it proves that what you’re producing is valuable.
The catch is that not just any old website or blog can provide you with backlinks. It goes without saying that the quality of the website providing these links is crucial. The DA and PA scores reflect this quality. When both the domain authority and page authority of a website are high, its pages have a better chance of ranking highly.
13. Web Spam
Web spam refers to unwanted and excessive online communication. Use hundreds of the same keywords in a single short article, for instance. The objective is to outrank the competition and achieve top search engine rankings.
Web spammers are typically uneducated in the ways of search engine optimization (SEO) or dishonest in their pursuit of instant and unearned dominance in those same results.
Google, in fact, penalizes highly spammy websites. This is due to the fact that visitors’ experiences and the site’s credibility will both suffer from the presence of web spam.
There are several types of web spam that people often do:
- Content based spam, which is spam activity carried out on content. Like doing keyword stuffing (entering keywords excessively);
- Comment spam, namely spam in the comments column of neighboring websites by entering their own website link;
- Link spam, is spam activity by bombarding certain platforms with excessive backlinks. Whether it’s in online forums, guest blogs, and so on.
So even though optimizing your website’s SEO is important, you must pay attention to reasonableness and not cheat.
What’s more, Google is getting smarter at assessing website spam levels so it doesn’t hesitate to get rid of sites that do it.
What are the SEO Ranking Factors?
From the previous discussion, you know that SEO indicators are metrics that Google evaluates to assess the feasibility of a website and its content. So, these indicators can actually be grouped into SEO ranking factors.
The SEO ranking factor is the criteria that Google determines to evaluate SEO indicators, including:
- Relevance, namely the relationship between the needs of the audience and the information provided;
- Authority, namely the credibility level of the website or content in presenting accurate and relevant information;
- Value, is the quality of the website to the content to provide benefits for the audience;
- User experience, namely the experience of the audience when they interact with the website and all the elements in it.
Then, what metrics are used to determine a page’s position in Google search results? Take a peek at the data in the table below.
| SEO factors | Coverage |
| Relevancy | Use of keywords
Content topics URL structure Meta tag |
| Authority | Domain factor
Website security Backlinks Web spam |
| Value | Search intent |
| User experience | Website design and structure Website
speed Image optimization |
Google’s algorithm is a major factor in website rankings, along with the aforementioned SEO elements. Google’s evaluation of this site is predicated on an ever-evolving system designed to deliver the best search results possible.
So, the purpose of Google’s algorithm is to provide for the wants of the users. So, instead of just focusing on catching up with Google’s ever-changing algorithm, it’s better to focus on presenting useful websites and content for your audience.
Are You Ready to Implement SEO Optimization?
You should now have a better grasp of what search engine optimization (SEO) is and how it works to get a website to the first page of Google’s results.
There is no doubt that using SEO as a means to launch a business will bring in a large volume of interested customers and provide you with numerous advantages. From raising brand recognition and sales to keeping a company alive for longer.
You shouldn’t consider your SEO education finished because you’ve finished reading this article. Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, once said, “What we have to learn, we learn by doing.” Therefore, the best way to learn SEO is through hands-on experience.