Do you know the types of SEO? If not, it will be difficult for you to understand how it will be successful for your business to grow.
SEO is essentially just the way Google indexes your site for your potential customers. When someone searches, Google tries to match the right website to help them find the answer.
There are 4 types of search intent:
– Informational – Examples of this can be searches related to recipes, questions on how to wash certain pieces of clothing, or the weather in a particular area.
– Navigational – Examples include sites such as Facebook, Macy’s, and Urban Decay. If you have an account at one of these places, then you might frequent these websites.
– Transactional – Examples can include specific products or services consumers are searching for. It is typically something specific such as ‘Urban Decay Perversion Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner.’
– Commercial – One example is a query, best hair dryer for curly hair. It is a search query that helps people make a buying decision. These searchers are looking for some additional information and may need more time to make a purchase.
Understanding search intent is just one part of SEO. But from a top level, there are three main areas: on-page, off-page, and technical SEO.
On-page SEO
On-Page SEO is the front-facing content that the user sees. Many factors contribute to the ranking of a page. Some of these factors include overall content, URL, title tag, and alt text.
All of your pages must be optimized with targeted keywords your customers use. Create content that will help them find your website. Answer a question, offer a solution, and hit on a pain point with your website. These are the types of people who will return and become future buyers of your products/services.
Off-Page SEO
In simple terms, this is the relationship your website has with other sites on the internet. Are you getting good-quality links pointing to your site? Are you sending traffic from your site to reputable businesses? If the answer is no, this could result in your website getting bad scores with Google.
You want your website to be trusted in the eyes of Google. This means your site? is trustworthy, relevant, and has authority in your industry.
Get backlinks from organizations, individuals, and businesses that have great domain authority.
You want to work with other trustworthy businesses to link to your site. Think of your friendships. You would probably hang out with a girlfriend that you trust, right? The same goes for your website.
Your social media and guest blogging on other websites also helps to increase your off-page SEO. Remember, be strategic in your partnerships. Do your research.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO is about creating a great user experience in terms of your backend code. What does this mean?
Think of the last time you went on a website. Did you get an error message when you went to a page? Did the page load slow? These are examples of when technical SEO is not top of mind for online businesses.
There are backend codes of your website that can affect your visitors’ online experience. An example is your website structure. Site structure is helpful for Google. If Google cannot determine what your site is about, your website will not get crawled properly.
This is where schema markup and your navigation play a role. Is it easy to locate your products and services on your site?
- Are your links between your pages working correctly?
- Are your images causing your website to load slower?
- Do you have extra code in the background causing your site to load slow?
Is your XML sitemap up to date? If you are not familiar with answering these questions, hire a consultant like me to help.
These are all common examples of when the technical aspects of your website are affecting your website.
Page speed is so important. Think about the last time you were on a site. If the site loaded slower, I bet you jumped off the site.
You can find where your website falls on PageSpeed Insights.
Depending on the extremity of your technical issues, you may need a developer.
Remember, an optimized site is not only serving Google, but it is mostly helping your customers. You want to give them a great experience as well.
Learn more at the video below.