What is SEO? The Beginner’s Guide to Search Engine Optimization, How does SEO work? How is SEO different from SEM and PPC?

Are you new to SEO? You may already have heard about the importance of SEO.

Want to know what is SEO and other search engine optimization basics? You’re in the right place.

Before hiring others or investing money in SEO-related stuff, it’s always a smart idea to know the basics first. That way, you’ll not only understand how it works but you’ll spend your time and money on the RIGHT aspects of SEO.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this guide:

1. How is SEO different from SEM and PPC?
2. Why you need SEO
3. Different types of SEO
4. Truths about SEO
5. Important SEO Metrics and more

What Is SEO?

SEO acronym stands for Search Engine Optimization.

Search engine optimization is the process of optimizing your website and its content to rank better in the search engines for a specific keyword phrase.

SEO is the process of improving a website’s rankings in the organic (not paid) listings in search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. Proper SEO will improve the organic visibility of your website in search engines so you can attract qualified visitors to your site (for free).

How does SEO work?

SEO is constantly changing. What had worked a decade ago won’t work today and what’s working today may not work after a year.

So let’s get a broader perspective of what is going on in SEO in today’s scenario. There are generally three components search engines like Google use to rank a web page in search results which are;

1. Crawling
2. Indexing
3. Serving

Let’s briefly talk about each one of them so you can better understand those steps.

1. Crawling: Search engines like Google use bots (which are also known as spiders or crawlers) that crawl websites and all the web pages on the web.

2. Indexing: In this step, after crawling, Google bots analyze the page content and store that content in their index (which are huge databases from where the content can later be retrieved).

Quick Note: If you have updated a blog post or page on your website and if the indexing is not done, then Google will show the old version of that page in the search results.

3. Serving: After Crawling and Indexing is done, Google will serve the results to the users (which is retrieved from its database which contains trillions of web pages and data).

How is SEO different from SEM and PPC? 

In search engine optimization, you’ll often hear two common things: SEM and PPC.

First things first, SEM and PPC are NOT the same. Here’s a quick overview of both;

• SEM (Search Engine Marketing, which includes both paid and unpaid methods)
• PPC (Pay-Per-Click, which includes ONLY paid ads in search engines)

So, how are SEM or PPC different from SEO? Let’s find out.

SEM vs SEO

SEM stands for Search Engine Marketing. It involves using all the activities to improve your search rankings for your target keywords. SEM can be both paid and unpaid.

SEM is your best bet if you’re looking for a FASTER way to get your website in front of people who are already searching for what you have to offer.

For example, when you search for “best email marketing software” on Google, you will find a few paid ads at the top of the page. 

SEM Pros:

• SEM is a good option if you want to see results quickly. You can start getting traffic to your website once your ads are approved. 
• You can use both SEO and SEM channels together. For example, you could use SEM to get traffic to your website while you are working on improving your SEO. Once your SEO starts to improve, you can reduce your investment in SEM.
• The ability to monitor the performance of your paid ads and make adjustments as needed.
• SEM offers long-term benefits, as you’ll also be putting SEO efforts that can lead to long-term SEO benefits, such as improving your website’s ranking, credibility, and authority 

SEM Cons:

• SEM can be expensive, especially when bidding on competitive and HIGH CPC keywords.

PPC vs SEO

PPC stands for Pay-Per-Click. It is a type of PAID search marketing where advertisers pay a fee each time a user clicks on their ad. PPC is the most common type of SEM but not the only type.

Let’s take the same example keyword, “best email marketing software.”PPC Pros:

• You’ll get quick results and you can set ANY budget you want depending on the keywords you want to target.
• You can set daily or monthly on ad spend depending on the PPC ad performance
• PPC gives access to HIGHLY targeting options, such as demographics, interests, keywords, and location. This means you can reach a highly specific audience.
• With PPC ads, you can find out what’s exactly working, as you’ll get detailed analytics and conversion tracking
• More flexibility as you can change ad creatives or pause campaigns whenever you want
• It can help you increase the overall organic visibility of your brand and create awareness, even if users don’t click on your ads. 

PPC Cons:

• It can be expensive, as it only involves paid clicks. This means you’ll have to pay for every single click coming from search engines like Google.

Different types of SEO

SEO is an ocean. There are many ways to optimize your website to grow its search rankings. 

Here are some of the different types of SEO you can learn and implement for better rankings.

On-page SEO: It involves optimizing the elements of your website that are under your control, such as your website’s content, title tags, meta descriptions, images, page speed, user experience, etc. The key to on-page optimization is to write high-quality content that is relevant to your target audience.

Off-page SEO: Optimizing the elements of your website that are outside of your control, such as backlinks, social signals like Facebook shares, tweets, etc. Try to build high-quality backlinks from other websites and promote your content on social media.

Technical SEO: Optimizing the technical aspects of your website, such as the site structure, website crawling, mobile-friendliness, improving core web vitals score, etc. It is all about creating an easy-to-use website structure, optimizing your page load times, and creating a mobile-friendly design for your website.

Local SEO: The practice of optimizing a website for local search results. It involves creating a Google My Business profile, optimizing your website for local keywords, and getting reviews from local customers.

eCommerce SEO: It is the process of optimizing eCommerce websites for search results. This includes optimizing the product pages, category pages, and checkout process.

Apart from the above SEO types, there are many other SPECIFIC specializations as well, such as enterprise SEO, app SEO, video SEO, and more.

So, which type of SEO should you use? It ultimately depends on your website traffic goals, your industry, and the keywords you target. 

Important SEO Metrics

Whether you’re implementing new SEO techniques or investing in SEO to boost your site’s organic traffic, you need to keep a few important SEO metrics in mind. Total clicks: The total number of times your website was clicked on in search results.

• Average CTR: Organic CTR tells you whether a user is interested enough to even click on a website when it shows up in Google search. This is a good metric to track, as it shows you how relevant your site is for the keywords people are searching for.
• Pages per session: The average number of pages that visitors to your website view per session. This is a good measure of how engaging your website is.
• Keyword rankings: The position of your website in search results for specific keywords. The higher your keyword rankings are, the more search traffic you’ll generate.
• New backlinks:  The number of new links to a website from other websites. Try to build as many new links from various referring domains as possible to boost your search rankings.
• Page load time: The amount of time it takes for a page on your website to load. You can use Google PageSpeed Insights to measure this metric easily. A fast page load time is important for both users and search engines.
• Mobile traffic: The percentage of website visitors who use mobile devices to visit your site. 50% of search users use smartphones, so it is important to ensure your website is mobile-friendly.
• New vs. Returning Visitors: This is another important SEO metric that shows the percentage of your website visitors who are visiting for the first time versus those who have visited before.

============================================================

"This Content Sponsored by Buymote Shopping app

BuyMote E-Shopping Application is One of the Online Shopping App

Now Available on Play Store & App Store (Buymote E-Shopping)

Click Below Link and Install Application: https://buymote.shop/links/0f5993744a9213079a6b53e8

Sponsor Content: #buymote #buymoteeshopping #buymoteonline #buymoteshopping #buymoteapplication"

=========================================================================