SEO stands for ‘Search Engine Optimization’, which is the process of getting traffic from free, organic, editorial, or natural search results in search engines. It aims to improve your website’s position in search results pages (SERPs). Remember, the higher the website is listed, the more people will see it
What are the three pillars of SEO?
As a digital marketer, mastering SEO is essential for getting your brand noticed. While SEO evolves, its core principles remain the same. SEO can be broken down into three key components that you need to consistently apply.
Technical Optimization
Technical optimization involves behind-the-scenes activities to improve SEO, such as submitting your sitemap to Google, without directly affecting content.
On-Page Optimization
On-page optimization focuses on making your site’s content relevant and user-friendly by targeting the right keywords, typically through content management systems like WordPress, Wix, or Shopify.
Off-Page Optimization
Off-page optimization improves search rankings through external activities, primarily by gaining high-quality backlinks to build the site’s reputation
Paid search vs. organic search - the differences and similarities
It’s important to understand the differences and similarities between organic (SEO) and paid search. There are five key differences between the two, which we will explore.
Position
The first difference is that paid search results appear at the top of search engine pages, while organic results are listed below. For example, searching “best water bottle” shows paid ads as images at the top, with organic results below.
Time
A key difference is the time it takes to see results. Paid search delivers quick results, while organic search can take weeks, months, or even years, requiring a longer-term strategy.
Payment
Paid search requires payment for each click on your ad (PPC or CPC), buying traffic through Google ads. In contrast, organic search traffic is free, but it requires an investment of time and resources to achieve.
Share of traffic
When it comes to traffic share, research from BrightEdge found that organic search is responsible for 53% of all site traffic compared to paid at 15%. So the lion’s share of clicks are actually on the organic results.
It’s not all about differences – there are also similarities between paid and organic search:
Keyword research
Both paid and organic search require keyword research, as users enter keywords to find results on search engines.
Landing pages
Both paid and organic search require effective landing pages. For SEO, the page is part of your website, while for paid search, it can either be the same page or a separate, stand-alone page.
Traffic
Both paid and organic search aim to generate traffic by targeting user intent. Users actively search for information, making them more likely to take action once they find relevant content.
How do search engines actually work?
People use search engines to find answers to their queries, with algorithms helping determine which web pages to rank. These algorithms crawl, index, and rank pages based on relevance, also factoring in social media algorithms.
Step 1: Search Engine Crawling
The first step is crawling, where search engines use web crawlers (like spiders or Googlebots) to find new pages and update content. They follow links on pages they’ve already discovered, so if your blog is linked from your homepage, the crawler will follow that link to your new post.
Step 2: Search Engine Indexing
The second step is indexing, where search engines decide whether to add crawled content to their index. If a page is deemed valuable, it is stored in a database for future retrieval. Pages with unique, valuable content are usually indexed, while others may not be if they don’t meet certain criteria.
The content is considered duplicate
The content is considered low value or spammy
It couldn’t be crawled
The page or domain lacked inbound links
Top tip: You can check your indexed pages by typing ‘site:yourdomain.com’ in the search bar (see our example below). This will show you the pages showing up on Google. For a more detailed report you can look at the ‘Index Coverage report’ in Google Search Console.