Creating quality content is great, and creating it for your target audience is even better. However, you’re not going to get far without SEO on your side. SEO provides insights into what your audience is searching for, and all your valuable content won’t reach that audience if not bolstered by basic SEO principles.
If you’re new to the world of SEO, this guide on the core principles of SEO is for you! Here, you’ll discover basic SEO principles, the building blocks that underpin successful online visibility. From finding the best keywords to crafting user-friendly website content, we’ll equip you with what’s essential. Let’s get started!
What we’ll cover in this guide on principles of search engine optimization
- SEO 101: What is search engine optimization?
- The 6 basic principles of SEO to follow.
- Frequently asked questions about SEO.
- No time for SEO? We have a solution!
SEO 101: What is search engine optimization?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of improving a website’s performance in Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs). It targets organic search, finding the keywords people are already searching for and implementing them into your content. A lot more goes into SEO, which you’ll see, but this gives us a good baseline.
Why should you bother with the core principles of SEO?
There are 2 billion websites on the internet. There’s no way your audience will find you without a search engine like Google or Bing. Every search query produces millions of results, though, and 75% of users aren’t even going past the first page. This is why SEO matters.
SEO boosts your website’s visibility on search engines, helping it appear higher in the SERPs. This organic traffic can then be converted into revenue—depending on the quality of your website content, of course.
What about ads, you say? Paid ads can drive targeted traffic, true, but they’re also very expensive. If you’re a new or small business, there are companies that are already spending a great deal more to be ahead of you. Plus, when they do start working, the ad spend continually eats into your profits. Worst of all? Because it’s inorganic traffic, the moment you stop paying for ads, your revenue stops.
SEO works differently. It takes a bit of time, sure, but produces exponential results. Ranking for a search term can drive five times more traffic than paying for it through ads. In short, SEO is cost-effective, produces long-term results, and empowers smaller businesses to compete in the online landscape.
Are basic principles of SEO easy to learn?
How easy SEO is to learn depends on how much you want to learn, how motivated you are, and how much time you have to invest. Mastering the basic SEO principles, like keyword research and on-page optimization standards, is relatively straightforward. There’s tons of SEO knowledge like this available for free online—in fact, many helpful resources are linked in this guide.
The learning curve becomes steeper when you get into technical intricacies, content strategy, and algorithmic insights. Additionally, the dynamic nature of SEO demands continuous education and adaptability, given the evolving algorithms and user behaviors. Starting SEO on your website can be especially challenging since there’s so much that needs to be done.
Still, the basic SEO principles can be learned by anyone. What we usually find with clients is that the issue isn’t comprehension, it’s implementation. Most businesses don’t have the time or money to commit to SEO, which is where Ranq comes in! Our full-service agency will handle your SEO so you can focus on growing your business.
Basic SEO terms for beginners
By now, you already understand what SEO, SERPs, organic, and inorganic traffic means. When you start SEO on your website, you’ll come across many of the following terms as well.
- Keywords: Keywords are specific words or phrases that people type into search engines when conducting searches. Keywords are crucial, as they help search engines understand the content and context of web pages.
- Meta-descriptions: A meta-description is a concise snippet of text that summarizes the content of a web page, displayed in the SERPs below the page title and URL. The purpose is to provide users with a preview of the content they can expect to find on the page and encourage them to click on the link.
- Title Tags: Title tags are HTML tags that define the title of a web page, which is different from the heading. They appear in two places: on the SERPs and in your browser window when the webpage is open.
- Alt-text: These are descriptions for the images on your webpage in HTML that provide search engines with additional context, improve user experience, and ensure content is understood even when images are not displayed. For visually impaired readers, they are read out loud by screen readers.
- Link: A hyperlink is a connection between two web pages. For SEO purposes, there are inbound and outbound links. The former brings visitors to your site from elsewhere, the latter brings your site visitors to other destinations.
- Anchor Text: This is the bit of text that the hyperlink is linked to, like “click here” or “subscribe.” Anchor text plays an important role in SEO, as it provides visitors and search engines context for what they’re clicking on.
- Backlinks: The links on other websites that point to your website are known as backlinks. They signal the credibility and authority of a page to search engines. Quality backlinks from reputable sites can improve your website’s SEO massively.
- Headings: These are HTML tags used to organize sections, aid navigation, and improve readability. Ranging from H1 (highest) to H6 (lowest), they establish the hierarchy of the content.
- Traffic: Traffic refers to the number of visitors accessing your website. It can be “organic,” i.e., from search engines and referrals, or “inorganic,” i.e., generated through paid advertising. Website traffic is a direct measure of its health and success.
- Indexing: This is the process by which search engines collect, organize, and store information from web pages. Search engines use automated bots called “crawlers” or “spiders” to visit web pages and analyze their structure. The more effectively a web page is indexed, the higher its chances of appearing in search results for relevant queries.
- Sitemap: A sitemap is a file or webpage that lists all the pages on a website, providing a structured overview of its content and organization, which helps search engines crawl it. Sitemaps can also enhance user navigation by offering a clear roadmap of the website’s layout.
These are the most commonly used terms that you may come across. If you want to go beyond SEO basics, here’s a complete and comprehensive glossary of SEO terms.
The 6 basic principles of SEO to follow
If you’re starting down the SEO road yourself, aligning with these 6 SEO principles will be a great starting point, no matter your industry or niche.
Find the best keywords to use for SEO
As this is where the searcher begins their journey, keywords are also where we’ll begin our principles of search engine optimization. There is nothing more critical to SEO than keyword research because keywords are that bridge between you and your audience. In this case, search engines are the bridge operators that allow traffic to pass.
A simple phrase like “coffee,” “coffee roaster,” or “coffee grinder” is a good start, but these aren’t going to be the keywords you target as they’re difficult to rank for. The trick to succeeding with keywords is nailing down long-tail keywords, 3-5 word long phrases, that resonate with your audience. For example, you might target “what is the best coffee grinder” if that’s what you’re trying to promote.
Knowing your audience makes all the difference, which brings us to user intent. Capturing the intent of a keyword isn’t always clear because the keyword itself is ambiguous. Make sure to see what appears in the SERPs before landing on a keyword—the intent may be completely different.
At times, two different keywords have the same meaning. This is called a matching keyword. For example, some may call it “coffee decoction” instead of “coffee concentrate,” so you’ll want to incorporate both into your keyword strategy.
Finally, don’t forget to comb through the keywords your competitors are using. You can confirm search intent or come up with new keywords to use yourself. Follow our guide on how to perform a website search for keywords if you need help with that.
Best keyword research tools
Above all else, your keyword research should be data-driven, and metrics should be balanced with context. Learn to analyze keyword metrics like Keyword Density (KD), Traffic Potential (TP), and Domain Authority (DA), and always feel free to lean on experts for individual interpretations of each.
Keyword research can be done with free resources like Google Keyword Planner and Google Suggest. Though if you’re serious about keyword research, as you should be, we recommend working with a good paid keyword research tool. There are many great tools out there, but our favorites are Ahref’s Keyword Explorer, Semrush Keywords Research Tool, or Moz Pro tool.
Create content for the user experience
User experience goes beyond mere aesthetics; it starts with the look and feel of your website, but really it’s about delivering value and ease to your audience. As per Google’s developer document, Google algorithms “look to reward content that provides a good page experience.”
User experience involves more than a few parts, but don’t worry! It’s easy to assess your content with the help of the following pointers:
- Core web vitals: These are important user experience metrics that Google uses to measure web pages’ loading, interactivity, and visual stability—the most important here is loading speed. Check your loading speed against Google’s standards, then improve your loading speed.
- Interactivity: Interactive content engages your audience through elements like quizzes, polls, or surveys. Tie interactive content into your content strategy, making the experience more immersive and memorable for your audience.
- Security: Your webpages should run on HTTPS, which is usually offered by hosting domains with the domain. If your website’s old, you can easily install HTTPS.
- Mobile-friendly design: Ensure your content is optimized for various screen sizes regardless of the device.
- Clarity and accessibility in content: Use concise language and a logical flow to guide users through your content. Break up text with headings, bullet points, and images for easy readability.
- Ads and pop-ups: Google isn’t against ads, but it’s keenly aware that they disrupt users’ experience and distract from the page’s main content. Use ads and interstitials carefully.
Link to more internal content
Internal linking means linking to your own content; doing so creates a cohesive ecosystem between the pages on your website.
There are lots of benefits here. Internal linking makes it easy for the user to dive deeper into a topic, exposing them to related content. For search engines, internal links help with indexing new pages, and they inform Google bots of site architecture. They can also distribute authority throughout your website, boosting the ranking potential of interconnected pages.
This means you have to pay attention to how you interlink. Using anchor text strategically can directly enhance your SERP ranking, but using it poorly can adversely affect your website’s performance.
Here’s how to optimize interlinking for SEO purposes:
- Use Relevant Anchor Text: Choose descriptive and relevant anchor text that accurately reflects the linked page’s content. Avoid generic phrases like “click here.”
- Diversify Anchor Text: Avoid using the same anchor text excessively. Diverse anchor text helps search engines understand the linked content better and prevents over-optimization.
- Link Deeply: Don’t just link to your homepage. Spread internal links across various pages to distribute authority and enhance the visibility of different sections.
- Use NoFollow Sparingly: Use the rel=”nofollow” attribute sparingly on internal links. Reserve it for situations where you don’t want to pass authority, like login or low-value pages.
- Link to Cornerstone Content: Promote key content, often referred to as “cornerstone content,” by linking to it from relevant pages. This can boost its authority and visibility.
Upgrade content with on-page optimization
On-page optimization is the combination of all the things you do on your website to make it more visible to search engines. It may be a tad technical, but it’s not overly complicated and is well worth the effort. The effects of well-conducted on-page optimization are pretty fast to see and quite spectacular.
Here are the core on-page optimizations you need to take care of:
- Quality Content: What search engines want is to see user-friendly content. Prioritize informative, valuable content that answers user queries as directly as possible.
- Keyword Harmony: Using keywords well in your content is the next step. Strategically include primary and secondary keywords and avoid keyword cannibalization like the plague!
- Header Hierarchy: Organize content with precise header hierarchy (H1, H2, H3, etc.). Headers should follow the natural order of classification of your content.
- Optimize your title tags: Title tags appear in the SERPs and can definitely encourage the user to click on your page. Optimize them by naturally including keywords and keeping them under 60 characters.
- Write your meta descriptions: Meta descriptions aren’t a ranking factor, but a compelling meta can encourage a click. Include your keywords naturally in it and keep it under 160 characters so it’s not cut off.
- Include Alt texts: Alt text provides descriptions that assist visually impaired users. Descriptive alt text helps search engines understand the content and context of images on your website.
- Optimized URLs: Ensure your URLs are concise and relevant while including targeted keywords when possible. Avoid long, convoluted URLs.
- Use structured markup: Structured markup involves adding code to your website’s HTML. This code provides extra context about your content to search engines and helps them better understand your content’s meaning and relevance.
Learn in detail about how to conduct thorough on-page SEO for your website.
Make your website easy to crawl
Technical SEO ensures your website is easily accessible and understandable by search engine crawlers. It’s a fundamental step in SEO. Here are some technical SEO aspects to check on your website:
- XML Sitemaps: Create and submit XML sitemaps to search engines. These sitemaps provide a roadmap for crawlers to discover and index your pages efficiently. XML sitemaps differ from HTML sitemaps.
- Clear Site Structure: Design a logical and organized site structure, allowing crawlers to easily navigate your content. Use categories, subcategories, and a clear hierarchy.
- Robots.txt: Use a robots.txt file to guide crawlers on which parts of your site to index and which to exclude. This file helps prevent the indexing of private or irrelevant content.
- Fix Broken Links: Broken links are inevitable, yet they disrupt crawler navigation and can negatively impact indexing. Regularly scan through your site and fix them.
- Optimize Page Speed: Fast-loading pages are more crawl-friendly. Optimize images, minimize code, and utilize browser caching to enhance page loading speed.
If you feel overwhelmed by even these basic SEO principles, you can always get in touch with us at Ranq.
Build authority with backlinks
We’ve covered a lot of how to legitimize your site for SERPs, but now let’s talk about building authority. For that, we’ll step outside your website: off-page SEO. Namely, a huge part of off-page SEO is backlinks.
When a website links to you, you’ve gained a backlink. Google sees that and rewards you for it, as it’s kind of like a vote of confidence. It’s a critical ranking factor, and nothing gives you more SEO cred than a good backlink.
There are many ways to build links. Creating quality content that other websites naturally want to link to is the most sought-after, as it’s going to pay dividends for years to come. Other ways of acquiring backlinks are guest posting, outreach, networking, broken link building, social sharing, press releases, and influencer partnerships, just to name a few.
The quality of the backlink hinges on the site’s authority, relevance, and growth history. Pay attention to how you’re linked (i.e., anchor text)
Best SEO link-building tools
It definitely helps to have tools to assess the websites you’re seeking backlinks from, help you monitor your links over time, conduct regular backlink audits, and weed out any toxic backlinks that may harm your SEO efforts.
We recommend Ahrefs, Semrush, and Moz Pro tools for backlink analysis.
Frequently asked questions about the basic principles of SEO
Now that you know the essential SEO principles to follow, let’s make sure to answer some lingering questions you may have.
What are Google’s key ranking factors?
Google’s search algorithms constantly evolve to determine the order in which websites appear on the SERPs. Currently, the following factors significantly influence a website’s ranking:
- Content Relevance and User Intent: High-quality, informative, and relevant content that satisfies user intent is crucial.
- Backlinks: Quality backlinks from authoritative websites indicate your content’s credibility and value.
- User Experience: Factors like page loading speed, mobile-friendliness, and a user-friendly design contribute to a positive user experience.
- On-page elements: Title tags, meta descriptions, header tags, and keyword usage indicate content relevance to search queries.
- Page Authority: A website’s overall authority, as well as the authority of individual pages, impacts rankings.
- Freshness: Updated, current content ranks higher, especially for timely topics.
These are the most important ranking factors that most websites need to work on, but there are over 200 ranking factors in Google’s algorithm.
How long does it take to rank on Google?
It’s the first question that comes to mind when you start SEO, and the honest answer is that it really isn’t set in stone. The most important thing to know is that SEO is a momentum game, so don’t expect results in a few days.
Many variables influence the timeline for getting higher up on Google SERPs:
- Website’s Age and Authority: New websites take longer to gain authority and trust, while established domains may see faster results.
- Competition: Highly competitive industries may require more time and effort to outrank established players.
- Keyword Difficulty: Ranking for highly competitive keywords can be difficult and can extend the time needed.
- Content Quality: High-quality, relevant content tends to attract organic traffic more quickly.
- Backlink Profile: Building a reputable backlink profile takes time. If you can acquire quality backlinks, you can expedite ranking improvements.
- Algorithm Updates: Google’s frequent algorithm updates can impact rankings, causing fluctuations that require adjustments.
- Technical Optimization: Technical issues, like poor site structure or slow page speed, can hinder rankings until resolved.
- SEO Efforts: Consistent and effective SEO efforts, including on-page optimization and content creation, influence ranking speed.
Significant ranking improvements often take months, and brace yourself because achieving top positions can take even longer. It’s important to manage expectations and focus on sustainable SEO strategies that produce exponential results.
Difference between on-page vs. off-page vs. technical SEO
On-page, off-page, and technical SEO are three distinct pillars of SEO.
On-page SEO focuses on optimizing individual web pages to improve their search engine rankings. It involves factors like:
- Keyword optimization
- Content quality
- Meta tags
- Header tags
- URL structure
- Internal linking
- User experience
Off-page SEO involves activities outside your website that impact its SERP ranking. It signals to search engines that your content is credible and respected within your industry. Off-page SEO includes:
- Building high-quality backlinks from authoritative sources
- Guest posting
- Social media engagement
- Influencer partnerships
Technical SEO deals with the technical aspects that affect crawling, indexing, and overall website performance. Technical SEO ensures that search engines can efficiently navigate and understand your website’s content. It includes:
- Optimizing site structure
- Improving page speed
- Ensuring mobile responsiveness
- Managing XML sitemaps
- Using canonical tags
- addressing crawl errors
You could say that on-page SEO fine-tunes individual pages, off-page SEO builds authority, and technical SEO ensures proper website functionality. You need all three aspects in harmony to maximize your website’s potential for higher rankings.
How does duplicate content affect ranking?
Duplicate content can hurt your website’s SERP ranking and overall visibility. When search engines encounter duplicate content across multiple websites, they face a dilemma in determining which version to rank. If both versions are on the same site, it dilutes the focus of your keywords across pages—that, again, makes it hard for them to rank.
In fact, deliberate attempts to manipulate search rankings using duplicate content, such as content scraping or spinning, can even lead to search engine penalties. Penalties can result in lower rankings or even removal from search results.
All that being said, it’s good practice to avoid duplicate content on your website. Make content unique from piece to piece, don’t rely too heavily on AI tools, and avoid keyword cannibalization at all costs.
How long should SEO content be?
It depends on the topic, industry, user intent, and the depth of information required. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but here are some general guidelines to consider:
- Quality over quantity: Focus on providing comprehensive information. Content should be long enough to cover the topic thoroughly without unnecessary fluff.
- User intent: Align content length with user intent. Some searches require quick answers, while others demand more detailed explanations.
- Scannability: Regardless of length, make your content scannable with headings, bullet points, and concise paragraphs. This improves readability and user experience.
- Keep it relevant: Avoid padding content with irrelevant information to meet a specific word count. This can harm user experience and SEO.
- Evergreen vs. trending: Evergreen content (timeless topics) might benefit from longer formats while trending topics might require quicker, more concise responses.
- Type of content: Some types of content, like pillar posts, might require a higher word count. Others, like press releases, could be brief and to the point. There’s no set length for each, but there are some generally acceptable standards for word counts.
Also, while keyword density isn’t as important as it once was, make sure you’re putting the right amount of keywords in if you want any SEO success.
No matter the length of your content, ensuring that it adheres to the SEO principles outlined above will make a huge difference.
Should I do my own SEO?
If you have the expertise and the resources, you most certainly can!
While DIY SEO can save costs, it requires a deep understanding of ever-evolving SEO principles, techniques, algorithms, and industry trends. SEO also demands time for keyword research, content optimization, technical fixes, and link building. If you’re willing to invest in continuous learning and implementation, managing your own SEO can definitely be rewarding.
On the other hand, it can be extremely time-consuming, and minor errors can hinder results or, worse, even lead to penalties. This can be frustrating and skew business timelines as well.
Hiring professional SEO services brings expertise, access to tools, and a strategic approach to the entire operation. It allows you to focus on your core business while leveraging the experience of specialists who stay abreast of industry changes. Interested? Then, do we have the solution for you!
No time for SEO? Have Ranq do it for you!
Our expert team at Ranq is equipped to handle the complexities of SEO while you focus on what you do best. With a track record of delivering tangible results, we’ll craft a tailored strategy to elevate your online presence, boost organic traffic, and improve your SERP rankings. From keyword research and content optimization to technical fixes and link building, our world-class team of SEO experts has you covered. Let Ranq take the reins and propel your website to its full potential. Get in touch today!