Search engine optimisation (SEO) can be defined as the process of improving a website to increase its visibility for relevant searches on Google and other services. There are many things that you can do to a website to increase its relevance; with Google themselves stating that there's over 200 'ranking factors' that are used to decide what websites should show up first when you use their search engine.
The first thing that you should consider when making or adjusting a website is if you are planning on paying for your website to be promoted or if you are going to take the free and more common approach and try to meet the SEO factors that I will be going through shortly.
If you choose to take the route that involves you paying for your site to be positioned higher up in the search results; you are taking what is known as the 'Pay-Per-Click' method. This method is commonly mistaken as being a onetime payment, but it really isn’t. When using this method, you have to pay a fee for every time that someone clicks on your promoted link.
Pay-Per-Click Examples
If you choose to follow the search engine optimisation (SEO) approach, there are a couple of key concepts you should understand. These being how the previously mentioned ranking factors actually work and what are some of the more important factors.
I will be using Google as the service in following examples. How Do The Factors Work?
When you type anything into Google's search tab an algorithm begins that has the purpose of deciding what websites are the most relevant to whatever you have searched. For example, if you google the word "dog" then the algorithm will find websites that talk about dogs.
What Are The Most Important Factors?
When it comes to deciding which of the 200+ factors are considered to be the most important, some subjectivity may come into play. However, I personally think that factors such as:
Keywords - Reason for this being quite simple. If there is a website that uses the word "Dog" a lot and someone Google's the word "Dog"; the website will meet this factor.
Search Engine Submission - This is when a website is registered with Google (domain name has been paid for). This helps to legitimise a website. If you are wondering how this is done, just follow this link.
External Linking (References) - This one is a bit harder to come by, but if there are other websites that leave links to your site, Google is more likely to show it higher up in the search results. So basically, everyone I have referenced in this blog are meeting this factor.
That's only three of the many factors that you could take advantage of when making or improving your website. This is a bit of a lengthy video but if anyone is interested in having an in-depth look at more factors, I would recommend this.
Thanks For Reading
This is the final blog needed for my Digital Marketing (MKTG1415) course and thus it will be my last. Thank you for your time with not only this, but all my blogs. If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to leave them below.
Blog #7 of 7
I can't reply to comments individually. So, thank you to everyone who commented on not only this but all the blog posts I have put out.
In response to some question;
Keywords are important on all layers of your website. Them being in the title is crucial as it has the word on display, thus meaning the individuals doing the Google search are likely to see it. But yes, it is important to have keywords mentioned everywhere, from your landing page to the posts themselves.
If you were to use the pay-per-click method, I would highly recommend still trying to meet as many SEO factors as possible. Reason for this being that the pay-per-click method is considered to be an…
Very interesting post, great breakdown of how SEO works, sad to see this blog finish.
If I decide to follow the pay-per-click method, would you recommend trying to meet the SEO factors?
Are keywords only important when being used in the title?
Wow a lot really is taken into account. Enjoyed this piece!