A website is not sufficient in the world of the Internet. To ensure that your target audience identifies your site, you require Search Engine Optimization or SEO. SEO means the self-improvement of your site to produce better search engine results in Google, Bing, and Yahoo. SEO may not be simple to the extend that freshers would find it confusing initially; however, once you grasp its basic level; it becomes very simple to apply. It is a guide that will show you the basics of SEO and how to begin optimizing your site.

What is SEO?

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the art of making your web site more visible in non-paid (organic) search results. SEO helps to ensure your site is listed on the first page of search results when a person types a keyword into a search engine that relates to your site. The better your ranking the more traffic, and thus more engagement, sales, or subscriptions.

The reason why SEO is important to amateurs.

• Increases Traffic on the web site – More traffic translates to more people visiting your site with higher rankings.
• Develop Credibility and Trust – Sites at the top have the potential to be perceived as credible.
• Free Likes at a Fair Price Cost-Effective Marketing Organic traffic does not have a price per click.
• Enhances User Experience – SEO promotes improved site architecture and quicker response times, both of which promote a favorable user experience.

Types of SEO

In a broad sense, SEO can be categorized into 3 types:

• On-Page SEO- This is concerned with maximizing on what exists in your site, content, meta tags, headers, pictures, and the structure of the URL. You can use related keywords in your posts or your product description as an example to enable search engines to know what your page entails.
• Off-Page SEO- This is all the work you do outside of your site that enhances its authority such as backlinks, sharing on social media, and influencer marketing. Quality back links on sites that have good reputation indicate to the search engines that this is quality information.
• Technical SEO – This is focusing on the technical side of your site including site speed, mobile-friendliness, secure site connection (HTTPS), XML sitemaps and easy access to your site. Technical SEO allows the easy finding and indexing of your web pages by search engines.

Critical SEO Advice to Start With

• Keywords -keywords are the words or phrases which people enter in search engines. Use keyword research software such as: Google Keyword Planner, Ubersuggest, and Ahrefs to locate keywords that are relevant to your content.
• Meta Tags- The metadata tag and a description tag are posted on the search results. Make them memorable, up to date, and incorporate your main keywords.
• Content Quality-Good content that is informative and original will keep your visitors interested and increase your likelihood of ranking higher.
• Internal Linking -Internal linking internal links to your page enable search engines to understand how your site is structured and allows users to easily navigate through the site.
• Mobile Optimization – Make sure that your website is mobile friendly. Google has put more emphasis on mobile optimized websites.
• Page Speed – A slow loading site has a high bounce rate. Improve the speed of your site with tools such as Google PageSpeed Insights.

Common SEO Mistakes to Avoid

• Keywords stuffing: Using too many keywords will not help you rank better.
• Not considering mobile users: over 60 percent of searches are conducted on mobile devices.
• Copying: Do not copy.
• Data abuse: With the help of Google analytics, you can track the performance and make judgments based on data.

Conclusion

SEO might be baffling, but the basics of gaining some knowledge is the initial factor into creating an effective online presence. Freshers can begin to optimize their websites by improving their position in the rankings through keyword research, quality content, on-page and off-page optimization, and technical SEO. SEO is a long term plan, though with time and persistence, it can generate a large amount of traffic, increase credibility, and scale up your business or blog online.

Also keep in mind SEO is not a game of fooling search engines, but rather, making your site useful to the users. Begin small, apply best practices and you will soon see your site on top of the search charts.