Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) involves implementing a range of techniques to increase the ranking of websites on search engine listings.
Google – the world’s most popular search engine – rewards websites with higher rankings that:
- provide strong and unambiguous relevance to a particular topic
- create a useful web user experience and
- are highly visited.
SEO marketing uses paid links to increase the visibility of websites on search engine listings.
Organic SEO uses techniques to increase the rankings of websites on unpaid search engine listings.
SEO techniques cover two main categories including onsite SEO and offsite SEO.
Onsite SEO
This refers to how you make your website search engine friendly.
It includes keywords that help categorise your website, quality content, structural SEO (how you organise your categories and sub categories), download speeds, whether your website is secured by an SSL certificate, whether your internal and external hyperlinks work.
While it may seem an effort to consider all the ways to boost your onsite SEO, it will ultimately mean your website will be picked up by search engines and put under the eyes of those searching for your product and service.
Offsite SEO
This refers to links that are external to your website but which promote it, such as via social media, links on other websites and even from your own blog.
It means establishing backlinks from trusted sites that will ultimately boost your standing with search engines.
However, not all backlinks are equal and it is important to not include links from spam sights and some directories as they may actually damage your rankings.