What is SEO? The Beginner’s Guide to Search Engine Optimization

What is seo?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of optimizing a website to improve its visibility and ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs) for specific keywords or phrases. In this beginner’s guide, we’ll explore the basics of SEO and how it can benefit your website.

Posted by Oyejobi Adeola on October 27, 2023

Reading Time: 25 minutes

Hi, it’s Oyejobi Adeola from Nive Digital (Top SEO company in Nigeria).If you want to learn SEO for free and how you can use it to get more leads and customers for yourself and clients, I recommend you read through and take action.Hundreds of businesses have used this simple, but effective formula to get on the first page of Google — in as little as 30 days .Scroll down to learn more, and also don’t forget to get your certificate after going through.

Module1: What is SEO?

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the marketing process to increase visibility within the organic search results, for the specific purpose of obtaining more traffic for a website

How Does SEO Work?

SEO works by optimizing a website to improve its visibility and ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs) for specific keywords or phrases. 

When a user enters a search query into a search engine like Google or Bing, the search engine uses complex algorithms to determine which web pages are most relevant and authoritative for that query. 

The algorithms take into account a variety of factors, including the content and structure of the web page, the quality and quantity of external links pointing to the page, the page load speed, and the overall user experience.

The organic results are the free listings that the search engines have found, through their analysis, to be the most relevant to the user’s query. 

Being listed at the top in the organic listings is at the root of why SEO is so important.

Getting to the top of the results is where search engine optimization comes in. 

There are numerous strategies and techniques that go into creating a relevant and optimized website to truly compete for the keywords that can generate revenue for your business

How to Get Started with SEO?

Basic SEO is not difficult to get started with, but it requires patience and time to achieve results.

It’s not common for web pages to rank highly overnight for competitive keywords.

To achieve success and increase your website’s organic traffic, you need to create a strong foundation for optimization and build upon it over time.

Shortcuts may bring quick results, but in the long run, they almost always lead to failure, and it’s challenging to recover.

So, how can you optimize your website? You need to understand how search engines work and the various SEO techniques. 

To make things easier, we have linked each section below so that you can navigate to the area that interests you.

How Does Google Rank Websites?

Search engines utilize automated robots, also known as web crawlers or spiders, to scan and categorize web pages, PDFs, image files, and more for potential inclusion in their massive indexes. 

Algorithms then assess each web page and file to determine whether it offers sufficient unique value to be included in the index. 

If a file is deemed valuable enough, it will only be displayed in search results that meet the intent of the user’s query, which is the key to search engine success.

The better the search engine answers a user’s query, the more likely the user will use it in the future.

Google, in particular, is known for delivering highly relevant results due to its sophisticated algorithms that it is continuously improving. 

To maintain its competitive advantage, Google reportedly makes 500-600 updates to its algorithm each year. 

Furthermore, user intent plays an increasingly important role in how search engines rank web pages.

For example, if a user searches for “SEO companies,” Google recognizes that the majority of users are looking for a list of companies that provide the service rather than articles on how to start an SEO company. 

All of this is built into Google’s algorithm, which utilizes expansive data on user behavior to deliver the most relevant results possible.

Search Engine Ranking Factors

As we previously mentioned, search engine algorithms are highly advanced and take into account various factors to determine relevance. 

These search engines also work hard to prevent businesses from manipulating the system to obtain higher rankings. 

But how many ranking factors are there? In 2006, Google’s Matt Cutts said there were over 200 search ranking signals. 

In 2010, he stated that each of those 200+ signals had up to 50 variations, making it over 1,000 unique signals. While there are many signals, they don’t all carry the same weight.

If your website aims to rank for nationally competitive keywords, the most crucial signals are related to on-page optimization, off-page factors, and penalty-related factors. 

On-page optimization means your website’s content must be highly relevant and answer the search user’s query for you to have a chance at ranking for competitive search phrases.

Off-page factors relate to the link popularity of your website and how authoritative external sources find your content. Violating Google’s Webmaster Guidelines will negatively impact your ranking.

For websites looking to rank in their local market, the factors are similar, but with the addition of Google My Business, local listings, and reviews.

Google My Business and citations help verify the location of the business and its service area, while reviews help determine its popularity among locals.

Module 2: On-Page SEO

On-page SEO involves optimizing the HTML code and content of a website, while off-page SEO pertains to external signals such as links. 

The main goal of on-page SEO is to ensure that search engines can easily find the content on the website and that it is optimized for the relevant keywords. 

It is important to approach on-page optimization correctly by assigning each page a unique theme and not forcing keywords onto a page that does not match the product or service. 

Proper optimization of the title, description, and headings is crucial to providing a better user experience and reducing bounce rates. 

To achieve higher rankings in search engines, it is important to focus on foundational items such as HTML coding, keyword research, and content optimization.

Website Audit

If your website is struggling to rank, it may be beneficial to conduct an SEO audit. 

A thorough analysis of your website can uncover areas for improvement, allowing you to make necessary changes and establish a stronger foundation. 

An audit can pinpoint both on-page and off-page issues that may be hindering your website’s ability to rank for targeted keywords. 

Using SEO crawling tools can make identifying technical issues a more streamlined process. 

However, a comprehensive audit should also include an assessment of the website’s content and link profile, as these factors are crucial to a website’s ranking potential. 

Without quality content or authoritative links, it can be challenging to rank for competitive search phrases.

HTTPS Security 

In an attempt to enhance the safety and security of their search engine users, Google has been urging webmasters to secure their websites. Google considers safe browsing experiences to be crucial for its search engine, as it instills confidence in users to continue using their platform.

Besides Google’s motive, webmasters have an equally significant reason to secure their websites. For instance, when people make online purchases, they are more inclined to complete a transaction on a site that is secure compared to one that is not.

To encourage webmasters to prioritize website security, Google has included SSL as a search ranking parameter. Although the impact of SSL is not substantial, websites with SSL certificates receive a slight boost in search rankings over those without.

Hence, if all other factors are equal, a secured website is more likely to win out.

Website Page Speed

The time taken for a web page to load is known as page speed. 

With Google’s mobile-first index, pages speed is set to become a crucial ranking factor. 

This is because page speed directly impacts user experience. 

Visitors to a website are often unwilling to wait for pages to load. 

The longer the loading time, the higher the likelihood that visitors will bounce and move on to a competitor’s site. 

According to Google’s research, a web page that takes five seconds to load is 90% more likely to result in a bounce compared to a page that loads in one second. 

Additionally, a high bounce rate can negatively affect search rankings and lead to lost revenue opportunities. 

To maintain the satisfaction of its search users, Google closely monitors these metrics. 

Improving page speed can be achieved by enabling file compression, minifying CSS, Javascript, and HTML, reducing page redirects, removing render-blocking JavaScript, leveraging browser caching, improving server response time, and using CDNs (Content Distribution Networks).

Website Crawls

When search engine robots visit your website, they take copies of each page to consider for inclusion in their index. 

If the content is deemed valuable, it will be included so that search users can find it. 

It’s essential to ensure that search engines can easily locate the pages on your website. 

If they cannot find your content, it will not be included in their index for others to discover. 

While technical issues may prevent search robots from crawling your website, most websites do not experience these problems. 

One common issue is the use of JavaScript and Flash, which can sometimes conceal links from the search engines. 

Since robots crawl by visiting the links on a web page, if they don’t detect a link, they won’t crawl it, and the page will not be considered for indexing. 

Another problem is accidentally including a “noindex” tag on a web page or blocking entire website folders from being crawled through the robots.txt file. 

One way to increase the visibility of your content is by creating a sitemap.xml file that lists the URLs of your website, making it easier for search engine robots to locate your content. 

This is especially useful for websites with a large number of pages, where links to some content may be buried deep within the site and harder for the search engines to find right away. 

It is recommended to update the sitemap.xml file regularly whenever new pages are added.

Avoiding Page & Content Duplication

Duplicate content can harm the ranking ability of some of the most important pages of your website. 

When Google is looking at the pages of your website and finds nearly identical content between two or more pages, they may have difficulty prioritizing which one is more important. As a result, it is very possible they will all suffer in the rankings. Here are some unintentional, yet common causes of content duplication:

  • WWW and Non-WWW versions resolving: If the website resolves for both versions instead of one redirecting to the other, Google may index both versions. Google has done a much better job about handling this, but it does remain a possibility. You can solve this issue by ensuring that you have proper 301 redirects in place.
  • Pagination: This is very common ecommerce SEO issue, but does happen with others. Let’s say that you have a website that sells shoes with a category called “blue shoes.” You may sell hundreds of different “blue shoes” and you don’t want to show any more than 20 different styles at a time. In this instance, you would probably have multiple pages that you can click-through. As you click, you notice you are going to a web page with a URL of “blue-shoes/page2/”. That activity is called pagination. If not handled properly, Google may index every single page, each consisting of nearly identical content, when in reality you want the main category to be the ranking page within the search results. You can solve this problem by using rel=canonical tags.
  • URL Parameters: Staying with our “blue shoes” example, you may want to see what is available in a size 12. You click to sort to find what is available in a size 12, you stay on the page, but you notice the URL now says “blue-shoes?size=12”. The “size=12” is a URL parameter. Sometimes these URL parameters are indexed. This is another very common occurrence for ecommerce websites. You can solve this by using rel=canonical tags or by handling URL parameters through Google Search Console.

SEO-Friendly URL Structures

The URL structure plays a significant role in determining the click-through rates of your search listings, as well as your website’s search ranking ability. 

Including relevant keywords in the URL is considered a best practice, provided it accurately reflects the content of the page. 

This not only strengthens the search user’s confidence that the page contains the information they are seeking but also reinforces important keywords to the search engines. 

For instance, in the case of the blue shoes example, a suitable URL would be: “/blue-suede-shoes/”.Title Tags

The title tag, which is the clickable headline visible in the search engine result pages (SERPs), plays a critical role in determining the click-through rate of your search listing. 

As it is the first thing that a user reads about your page, it is important to make sure that it captures their attention and convinces them that they will find the information they need by clicking on your listing. 

Below are some tips for writing effective title tags:

  • Include relevant keywords that accurately describe the contents of the web page.
  • Place important keywords at the beginning of the title.
  • Keep the title tag length between 50-60 characters. Google prefers about 600 pixels, which accommodates roughly 90% of titles. Titles that exceed 600 pixels will be truncated, reducing their impact.
  • Use adjectives to enhance the title when possible. For example, “The Complete Guide to SEO.”
  • Avoid keyword stuffing, as it appears spammy and discourages users from clicking on your listing.
  • Avoid using duplicate titles for multiple pages. Each page should have a unique title that accurately reflects its contents.
  • Include your brand name if possible to increase brand recognition and potentially improve the click-through rate of your search listing, especially if you have an established brand.

Meta Description Tags

A meta description tag is the HTML code that describes the content of a web page to a search user. 

The description can be found in the search engine result pages (SERPs), underneath the title and URL of a search listing. 

The description, while not a ranking signal itself, plays an important role with SEO. If you provide a relevant, well-written, enticing description; the click-through rate of the search listing will most likely be higher. 

This can lead to a greater share of traffic and a potential improvement in search rankings, as click-through rate is a search ranking factor. 

The following are some quick tips for writing description tags:

  • Use keywords, but don’t be spammy with them. Keywords within a search query will be bolded in the description.
  • The rule of thumb used to be to have the length of a description to be no longer than 155 characters. Google is now displaying, in many instances, up to 320 characters. This is great from a search listing real estate perspective, and you should try to utilize as many of those 320 characters as possible. When doing so, make sure you get a clear message across in the first 155 characters just in case it gets truncated for a query.
  • Accurately describe the content of the web page. If people are misled, your bounce rate will be higher and will potentially harm the position of your listing.

Header Tags

A header tag is an HTML element that indicates the level of importance of each heading on a webpage. 

There are six heading elements available: H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, and H6. The H1 tag is typically used for the title of an article, category, product, or service since it is the most prominent and essential heading. 

While headings used to play a significant role in webpage optimization, their weight has diminished. Nonetheless, including headings is still believed to provide some ranking value, making it a best practice to utilize them. 

To signify the primary theme of a webpage, it is recommended to use only one H1 tag. 

All other headings should use H2-H6 tags, depending on their level of importance. It is safe to use multiple H2-H6 tags for optimization purposes.

Keyword Research

Conducting thorough keyword research is crucial for any successful SEO campaign, and cutting corners in this area is not recommended. 

Understanding how people search for specific products, services, or information is key to optimizing website content for valuable search queries. 

A common mistake webmasters make is focusing too heavily on ranking for one or two highly competitive, high-volume keywords, which may be targeted by many competitors. 

While optimizing for such keywords is important, the real value lies in long-tail keywords. Long-tail keywords, which make up the majority of search volume, are more specific and longer phrases such as “blue 4-inch high heel shoes” instead of simply “blue shoes.” 

Although they may have lower search volume, these keywords often indicate a higher intent to transact immediately, making them valuable targets for SEO.

Internal Linking

To understand the importance of internal link building, you need to understand the concept of “link juice.”

Link juice is the authority or equity passed from one web page or website to another. So with each link, internal or external, there is a certain amount of value that is passed.

When you write content for your website, you need to take into consideration whether there are any other relevant web pages on your site that would be appropriate to link to from that content.

This promotes the flow of “link juice,” but it also provides users the benefit of links to other relevant information on your website.

Module 3: Off-Page SEO

Off-Page SEO (also known as Off-Site SEO) involves optimizing strategies outside of your website that could impact your rankings in the search engine results pages.

While having great content and an attractive website is important, it is not enough to rank well in search engines.

The algorithm used by search engines like Google heavily relies on signals from the outside world, such as links from other websites, article/press mentions, social media mentions, and reviews, to evaluate the credibility and relevance of your website.

Therefore, it’s crucial to put in the effort to gain recognition and visibility from external sources to improve your search engine rankings.

Importance of Link Building 

Links are a crucial factor in ranking for competitive keyword phrases, but quality content is also necessary.

Inbound links, both in number and quality, are still considered the most important factor in search rankings.

To attract and obtain links, it is essential to have a robust link building strategy.

However, before beginning this process, it is crucial to have a strong foundation in place with high-quality content and design.

Other websites will be more likely to link to your site when it offers valuable resources and is visually appealing.

Link Quality 

It is important to know that not all links are created equal. Google’s algorithm looks closely at the trustworthiness of the linking website.

For example, a link for the Punch Newspaper, which has tens of thousands of reputable and unique websites linking to it, will carry much more weight than a link from your friend’s free WordPress site he built a couple of weeks ago.

There are tools that estimate the authority of a website.

Two popular tools are Moz’s Open Site Explorer, which calculates a Domain Authority score, and Ahref’s Domain Rank. These tools are great for determining what links are worth acquiring.

The higher the score/rank, the more worthwhile it would be to spend time to acquire that link.

The number of links isn’t the only thing that the search engines look at from a quality perspective.

They will also take into consideration how relevant the linking website/content is to your own site.

If you are selling shoes, for example, a link from a fashion blog will carry more weight than a link from Domino Pizza. It may seem crazy to even try to get a link from a pizza place for a shoe website, but in the early days, search engines focused more on the quantity of links.

As webmasters caught on, some would try to acquire every link they could find to influence search results.

To ensure the quality of results, the search engines had to focus on quality to account for this potential spam.

Link Anchor Text

Anchor text refers to the clickable text that is highlighted as a hyperlink on a webpage, which leads users to a different webpage upon clicking.

In search engine algorithms, how websites link to your site matters, and anchor text plays a significant role in this equation.

The search engines consider anchor text as a signal for a webpage’s relevance for specific search queries.

For instance, if a fashion blog links to your website with the anchor text “Blue Shoes,” search engines would assume that your website is relevant to “blue shoes.” Previously, the number of links containing specific keywords was crucial for ranking higher in search results.

However, having a high percentage of links with keywords today could lead the search engines to suspect that you are trying to manipulate the results.

A natural link profile should have a varied mix of anchor text, usually dominated by linking text that includes a website’s brand name.

Do-Follow Vs. No-Follow Links

A do-follow link indicates to search engines that a website endorses the web page being linked to and that they should follow the link and pass the appropriate link juice.

On the other hand, a no-follow link contains HTML code with rel=”nofollow” which instructs search engines not to follow the link and pass any authority or credit.

User-generated content like comments, wikis, social bookmarks, forum posts, and some articles have been misused by some SEOs to gain easy links for websites.

Due to this, no-follow links have become a vital part of search algorithms. Websites started using the rel=”nofollow” tags to indicate that they did not endorse those links, reducing the amount of spam being generated.

While do-follow links are more valuable due to the link juice and authority they pass, no-follow links are natural to have in a link profile and can provide value through referral traffic.

Module 4: SEO Success Metrics

Each business has its own unique goals, and this applies to SEO as well.

The measure of SEO success can vary depending on the objectives of the business.

A plumber may want more phone calls, a retailer may want to sell more products, a magazine publisher may aim to increase page views, while another business may prioritize ranking higher than its competitors.

The following metrics are commonly used to gauge the success of an SEO optimization campaign:

  1. Leads/Sales: The ultimate measure of success for most businesses is an increase in leads and sales. The campaign should focus on search phrases that attract in-market consumers, as opposed to keywords that are more inquisitive in nature. While question-based keywords may drive traffic, they usually have low conversion rates. It is important to cover the money keywords as part of a larger brand strategy.

  2. Organic Search Traffic: An increase in organic traffic indicates that the SEO campaign is working, and the website is moving up in the search rankings for the selected keywords. If the website is ranking well for high-volume keywords, but not receiving much traffic, improving the Title Tag can help generate a higher click-through rate. Google Search Console provides insights into keywords and their corresponding click-through rates.

  3. Keyword Rankings: While many businesses view keyword rankings as a performance indicator, it can be misleading if not viewed in context. Focusing solely on a few high-volume keywords may lead to discouragement, but positive progress on those keywords indicates that the campaign is moving in the right direction.

  4. Keyword Diversity: While ranking for high-volume competitive keywords is a longer-term goal, 70% of all search traffic goes to long-tail keywords. Tools like SEMRush and Ahrefs can show the number of keywords a website or web page is ranking for. An increase in this number is a good indicator of progress.

When Should I expect to See results?

It is generally expected that an SEO campaign will yield results within 3 to 6 months.

However, this timeline varies depending on several factors.

Firstly, the starting point of each website is unique, and results are dependent on factors like content, architecture, and link profiles.

Websites that have been around for longer tend to yield better results than newer sites.

Additionally, keyword competition plays a significant role in SEO success. High-volume keywords with high levels of competition may take longer than a year to rank for, while longer-tail keywords tend to have lower competition and can yield results more quickly.

The SEO strategy employed also affects how quickly you will see success. Proper execution of the strategy will lead to gradual SEO success.

Finally, the amount of investment put into the campaign affects the results obtained. Inadequate time or money investment leads to poor results, while more significant investments lead to better outcomes.

Regardless, any investment in SEO is better than none, but expectations must be adjusted accordingly.

White Hat Vs. Black Hat

There are two contrasting approaches to SEO – White Hat, which prioritizes long-term growth and sustainability, and Black Hat, which aims for rapid growth by breaking rules until caught. 

Ethical SEOs employ White Hat tactics, focusing on quality content and building natural links to improve user experience. 

These tactics are sustainable and usually experience positive gains during Google Algorithm updates. They establish a strong foundation for consistent organic traffic growth. 

In contrast, Black Hat SEOs prioritize quick improvement of search rankings, even if it means violating Google guidelines by purchasing links, creating doorway pages, using cloaking, and spun content. 

These tactics lead to penalties and can damage the online presence and reputation of a business. Real businesses should avoid such tactics for long-term success.

What is the Future of Search Engine Optimization 

Voice search will be the future of SEO, and it is the next frontier that search engines are currently exploring.

SEO professionals need to be prepared for this change.

For highly competitive keywords, achieving the feature snippet or top ranking for keywords will become crucial.

Creating content that can provide direct answers to search users’ queries is essential.

For Local SEO, maintaining consistency in name, address, and phone (NAP) data across phone directories will continue to be important, but businesses will also need to focus on obtaining reviews to stand out from the competition.

SEO Careers

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a crucial skill in the rapidly growing digital marketing industry, which is predicted to reach $120 billion in marketing expenditure by 2021 according to Forrester Research.

To excel as an SEO specialist, you should possess the following qualities:

  1. Enjoyment of dynamic environments: Although the core principles of SEO have remained relatively stable over the years, search algorithms are updated frequently, and each client presents a unique set of challenges.
  2. A love of research: Conducting research is one of the most enjoyable aspects of being an SEO professional. Experimentation in a test-and-learn environment can lead to exciting new discoveries.
  3. Excellent organizational skills: Formulating and executing strategies is a critical part of achieving success in this field.
  4. A strong desire to succeed: If you enjoy the feeling of victory, imagine how satisfying it would be to rank number one for a highly competitive keyword.

SEO Tools

Like almost any other profession, you need to be equipped with the right tools in order to succeed.

The following is a list of popular search engine optimization tools that are used by industry professionals.

  • Ahrefs: Ahrefs offers a wide range of tools such as a keyword explorer, a content explorer, rank tracking, and a website auditor. Their most popular feature is their backlink analysis tool, which assigns ratings to how powerful each domain and specific URL is based on the quality of links pointing into them. They are always coming out with new features.
  • SEMrush: SEMrush offers organic and paid traffic analytics. You can type in any domain or web page and see what keywords are ranking. They also offer a variety of other features such as a site auditor and a content topic research tool. This is another service known for frequent product updates and new features that has become an invaluable resource for many SEOs.
  • Ubersuggest: Ubersuggest is an SEO tool that enables you to do keyword research, analyze competitors, do site audits and more!.
  • Screaming Frog: Screaming Frog offers a popular desktop application tool that will crawl websites, detecting potential technical and on-page issues. The software is available for PC, Mac, and Linux.
  • BuzzSumo: This platform gives you the ability to analyze content for any topic or competitor. You can identify content that has been performing at a high level by inbound links and social mentions. BuzzSumo also allows you to find key influencers that you can reach out to for promoting your own content.
  • Google Analytics: By far the most popular web visitor analytics tool, it allows you to analyze data from multiple channels in one location to provide a deeper understanding about user experience.
  • Google Search Console: This is an essential tool that helps a webmaster understand what Google is seeing in regard to their website. You can see web indexing status, crawl errors, and even the keywords that you are ranking for. They will also send you messages if your website has received a manual penalty
  • Google PageSpeed Insights: PageSpeed Insights provides real-world data on the performance of a web page across desktop and mobile devices. A speed score is provided, along with optimization tips, to improve performance. You can lose website visitors if pages take too long to load, making this tool very useful