A Beginner’s Guide To SEO

Everyone wants their business website to be near the top of the Google rankings. If only it were that easy, though. There’s a lot of hard work that goes on behind the scenes to make this happen for companies – and search engine optimization, or SEO, can be overwhelming to someone trying to tackle it on their own.

Leadhub’s SEO specialists stay tuned into all the industry’s most important metrics, terms and language to ensure we can provide the most up to date knowledge about SEO best practices. For a beginner trying to understand the basics of SEO, we’ve provided some explanations of the common terms and concepts that are vital to understanding SEO!

What Is SEO?

Put most simply, SEO is defined as the strategies and tactics used to improve a website’s organic rankings on search engines and organic conversions. There’s so much that goes into a complete SEO strategy, but it’s usually easiest to understand by breaking SEO down into three categories.

On-Site SEO?

As you might imagine from its name, on-site SEO is all about optimizing what’s happening on your website itself. This typically begins with unique, high-quality content that is easy to read and contains keywords and related terms your audience is likely to search for. This is also an important way for Google and other search engines to understand what your website (and business) is all about, as well.

Off-Site SEO

Your off-site SEO plan will involve all the things happening off your website that will affect its performance. Google has long counted backlinks (links from sites pointed to your website) as votes of confidence. In other words, the more backlinks from sites, the higher your site might rank. However, you should always avoid tactics Google considers to be spammy, such as buying backlinks.?

Instead, any SEO strategy should focus on earning backlinks from sites with high domain authority and adding citations in a way that won’t result in massive penalties from Google. Shares and mentions on social media also help with off-site SEO.

Technical SEO

This SEO category considers all the technical elements Google and other search engines are looking for in your website – things like your site’s code, site structure, site speed, proper meta data and making sure your site is mobile friendly, just to name a few.

“On-page, off-page and technical SEO must be executed well in order to achieve SEO success,” said Katie Stone, the SEO Lead at Leadhub. “Leaving out even one of these branches will not get you the rankings you’re looking for.”

Key SEO Terms And Concepts

To dive deeper into SEO, it's important to understand some of the key terms and concepts used in the industry. Here are some essential ones:

1. Keywords

Keywords are the foundation of SEO. They are the words and phrases that users type into search engines when looking for information, products or services. Effective keyword research involves understanding your audience's search intent and selecting terms that balance search volume with competition. It's crucial to use keywords naturally throughout your content, including in titles, headers and body text.

2. Long-tail Keywords

These are more specific, often longer keyword phrases that typically have lower search volume but higher conversion value. For example, instead of "ac repair," a long-tail keyword might be "ac repair in San Antonio, TX." Long-tail keywords are valuable because they often indicate a user who is further along in the buying process and knows exactly what they're looking for.

3. SERP (Search Engine Results Page)

The SERP is what users see after entering a search query. It includes organic results, paid ads, featured snippets, local pack results and other SERP features. Understanding the layout and components of SERPs for your target keywords can help you optimize your content to appear in the most valuable positions.

4. Organic Traffic

This refers to visitors who find your site through unpaid search results. Organic traffic is highly valuable because it's targeted (users are actively searching for what you offer) and free. Increasing organic traffic is a primary goal of SEO efforts.

5. Crawling

Search engines use automated bots (called crawlers or spiders) to discover and analyze web pages. These bots follow links from page to page, collecting data about each page they encounter. Ensuring your site is easily crawlable is crucial for SEO success.

6. Indexing

After a page is crawled, search engines store the information in their index. Think of this as a massive library of all the web pages the search engine knows about. When a user performs a search, the engine looks through its library to find relevant results. If a page isn't indexed, it can't appear in search results.

7. Domain Authority

This is a metric that predicts how well a website will rank in search engine results. It's scored on a scale from 1 to 100, with higher scores corresponding to a greater ability to rank. Domain Authority is based on multiple factors, including the number and quality of inbound links.

8. Meta Tags

These are snippets of text in a page's HTML that describe the page's content. The most important for SEO are the title tag and meta description. The title tag appears as the clickable headline in search results, while the meta description provides a brief summary of the page content.

9. Alt Text

Alt text (alternative text) is a written description of an image that appears in place of the image if it fails to load and is read by screen readers for visually impaired users. For SEO, alt text helps search engines understand the content of images. It's an opportunity to include relevant keywords, but should always accurately describe the image.

10. Mobile-First Indexing

With the majority of web traffic now coming from mobile devices, Google primarily uses the mobile version of a site for indexing and ranking. This means that the mobile version of your site is considered the primary version. Ensuring your site is fully optimized for mobile devices is crucial for SEO success.

"Each of these elements plays a vital role in a comprehensive SEO strategy," Katie Stone emphasizes. "Understanding how they work together can significantly improve your website's visibility and performance in search results."

By familiarizing yourself with these key SEO concepts and continuously learning about new developments in the field, you'll be better equipped to improve your website's visibility and attract more organic traffic. Remember, SEO is an ever-evolving field, and staying updated with the latest trends and algorithm changes is crucial for maintaining and improving your website's search engine rankings.

SEO: One Piece Of The Puzzle

A very important thing to keep in mind when it comes to SEO is that a quality search optimization strategy is just one piece of a successful company’s much larger marketing puzzle.

“Relying on SEO alone will not provide most businesses the results they’re looking for,” Stone said. “However, when it’s used in tandem with brand awareness and paid campaigns, SEO can push businesses the extra mile.”

It’s Time To Take The Lead

Leadhub has more than 13 years of experience helping home service companies with SEO strategies that are accessible, boost helpful content and produce conversions. We have a finger on the pulse of changes in the SEO industry and utilize cutting-edge software and analytics to drive revenue.

Are you ready to take the lead with your SEO strategy? Contact Leadhub today for a free discovery call.