SEO process for the beginners
SEO or Search Engine Optimisation is the technique of getting traffic online organically and naturally in a search engine result. When you type a word in the search bar of a search engine (Google, Bing or God forbid, Yahoo), you get a couple of results on the first page. Those listings (or results) are made possible by SEO. SEO of a website is a free process and doesn’t include an upfront fee like PPC. However, as a decision-maker, you might need to spend on hiring a team for SEO and content unless you could do them yourself.
Why do you need SEO?
We are living in highly competitive times. Look around and you can find several e-commerce businesses and marketplaces trying to attract the customers. Corporate groups also want to share a piece of cake that digital marketing is. While digitization has immensely enhanced the opportunity for the customers and businesses alike to get best-in-class services and offer qualitative products, the competition is increasing dramatically and attention span, shorter. This is why businesses are in pressing need to have high visibility. As per a study, 93 percent of people doesn’t bother to look beyond page one of the search engine listing. So, if you are on page two, you have already lost half the battle and buried your business where nobody bothers to look.
SEO, however, is a game-changer. By optimising your content with keywords and website with meta tags and description, backlink building – you can rule any search engine.
The only downside is it is easier said than done. While the basic tenets remain the same, it is emerging beyond the content and meta tags. Google search algorithm is becoming more intelligent and weeds out the websites that deploy unethical SEO processes or offer poor quality content.
SEO is a time-consuming process and needs anywhere from six months to one year to reflect the results. However, it is indispensable and extremely important if a business wants to build its way to organic traffic and higher search rankings.
At a glance: The SEO Process
Here’s the lowdown on the basic SEO process for beginners that needs to be followed for a website:
Keyword Research Process: Every search begins with a keyword. No wonder, if the story of a successful SEO journey begins with one too. An SEO executive needs to find out the most relevant keywords searched by the users. Tools such as Google AdWords, SemRush and kwfinder are available for keyword research.
Competition Analysis: One of the key aspects of the SEO process is analyzing competitors’ digital marketing strategy. The keywords other businesses are using, how aggressively they are promoting themselves on content aggregator sites and what they are up to on social media. This gives you a perspective to devise something better of your own. After all, why would you make the same mistakes that they have been doing and why would you not learn from them?
SEO Audit: It is an honest and transparent report of your business to understand where you stand in terms of SEO. Does your website stand the test of SEO? Or have you been unknowingly using plagiarised content or deploying Black Hat SEO? How many visitors have been visiting your website? This report is used for vis-à-vis review later on.
On-page SEO optimization: A report consisting of on-page requirements such as content, visual elements and site structure.
Off-page SEO optimization: This includes backlinking with a third-sites, promotion in social media account and content being posted on various different places in a bid to attract traffic and generate clicks.
Results Analysis: After a long wait, here comes the final step of understanding and analysing how far you have come. Basically, the old school deck or report of steps competed, the milestones and road ahead. This gives the whole SEO strategy for your business a much-needed landscape. You can correct the course, if needed or add to the ‘To-Do’ list.
SEO process might be difficult but it doesn’t have to be complicated for you. Hire the experts at Chandigarh Institute of Digital Marketing or inquire how you can connect for digital marketing training for your in-house team.