Search Engine Optimization is a very simple concept. As a site owner, we need to clearly inform the search engines what we provide on our website. That’s it. When Google indexes your site, the Googlebot is “reading” everything you have placed on your website.
How does a website get found?
For starters, the steps below indicate “how” your site is reviewed by Google:
- Index – Google stores all your web pages that it finds in its index. The index entry for each page describes the content and location (URL) of that page. To index is when Google fetches a page, reads it, and adds it to the index: Google indexed several pages on my site today.
- Crawl – The process of looking for new or updated web pages. Adding new content from time to time is a great way to indicate to Google that your site is actively adding new content. Google discovers URLs by following links, by reading sitemaps, and by many other means. Google crawls the web, looking for new pages, then indexes them.
- Crawler – Automated software that crawls (fetches) pages from the web and indexes them.
- Googlebot – The generic name of Google’s crawler. Googlebot crawls the web constantly.
What does Search Engine Optimization mean?
In addition to your website being indexed there are specific ways to improve what Google finds on your website. Where information is added on a page can significantly improve how your website is ranked relative to other competitor websites.
Links between pages are a powerful ranking factor. The links tell Google which pages are more important and additionally contribute to a better customer experience. Internal linking is a great way to improve website rankings and the performance of a website in general.
For a good primer on search engine optimization check out Google’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Starter Guide.
How does Fairview Media help with Search Engine Optimization?
The following list shows what is important for SEO tasks:
- Backlinks. Links that other website owners have placed from their site to your content.
- Social Signals. Pages and posts on social networks. Google crawls pages of social networks similar to any other page on the web.
- Webpage Content and Content-Length. Search results favor showing the most informative and well-written content for a given query.
- Page Speed (including advanced measurements). Loading times have been an important Google ranking factor. We identify bottlenecks using tools like GTMetrix, and Google Pagespeed Insights.
- Mobile Usability. The key SEO aspect to consider is responsive design. Google indicates which websites are not mobile-friendly and your rankings will suffer if your site is not mobile-friendly.
- User Experience (UX). A good user experience gives the website visitor satisfaction on multiple levels: informations easy to find, the website is easy to navigate and the content reads well.
- Domain Age. There is a lot of evidence that a domain’s age plays a significant role in improving your website ranking.
- Images. Use images in your pages and posts. You will rank better. Descriptive images greatly enhance the user experience.
- Image Optimization. Reduce and compress file sizes for faster load times with your images and rename images to inform search engines what your image is about.
- HTTPS vs HTTP – Secured Sites. Google favors HTTPS secured sites over non secured sites transmitted via HTTP. What this means is that you need to get an SSL certificate and secure your site.
Organic vs. Paid Search Results
Organic search results are the web page listings that most closely match the user’s original search query. The displayed search results are based on the relevance between the query and your website.. Also called “natural” search results, ranking high in the organic results is the entire goal of search engine optimization.
Improving and building a quality content-rich websites takes time. It will take three to six months to see improvement in your search results. It can seem frustrating with that amount of time. Over the long run, building better pages that truly helps your audience with their questions will yield results. The goal is to be found through ‘organic’ search results.
While organic search focuses on unpaid rankings in search results, paid search uses platforms like Google Ads to achieve paid rankings. This can be useful if the goal is to quickly gain more visibility and drive customers to your website.
The downside of paid search is cost and credibility. Paid searches yield results but they also invite suspicion by the customer since it is a paid search. Many people will simply gloss over the paid results on a search paid and look at the first few ‘organic’ results.
Google My Business
Off-page actions can also improve your search results. Listing your business with Google My Business is an absolute must for your business.
Google My Business is a free on-line resource for businesses and organizations to manage their online presence with Google, including Search and Maps. Google verification of your business location and information helps local customers find your business.
Optimize your GMB listing with your business hours and services. If you are serving customers at their location or they are visiting your businesss, a Google My Business account is the best way to be found locally.
To get started with improving your brand’s local visibility through GMB, take a look at this recent guide for 2020.