UNIT II SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION

Search Engine Optimisation - Keyword Strategy- SEO Strategy - SEO success factors -On-
Page Techniques - Off-Page Techniques. Search Engine Marketing- How Search Engine
works- SEM components- PPC advertising -Display Advertisement

2. Search Engine Optimization

2.1 What is SEO?

SEO (search engine optimization) is the practice of optimizing the performance of a

website by changing its structure and content to increase its visibility and web traffic. It
helps in improving the quality of your website and increases the viewer-to-customer
conversion rate. It is a crucial aspect of digital marketing that focuses on enhancing the
visibility and ranking of a website in search engine results pages (SERPs). The primary goal
of SEO is to drive organic (non-paid) traffic to a website by improving its relevance and
authority in the eyes of search engines.

2.2 Why do we need SEO?

We need Search Engine Optimization for the following aspects:

 To improve the quality of our website

 To increase web traffic

 To increase visibility

 To enhance user experience

 To gain a competitive advantage

 For analysis and monitoring of the website

2.3 Basics of SEO

Some of the basic components of the SEO are as follows:

1. Keyword Research: Identify the most relevant keywords for your target audience.
Use tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs to find keywords with a
good balance of search volume and competition.

2. On-Page SEO: Optimize your content and HTML source code for search engines.
Include target keywords in the title tag, meta description, headers, and throughout
the content. Ensure your website has a clear and organized structure with easy
navigation.

3. Quality Content: Create high quality, and relevant content for your audience.
Regularly update your content to keep it fresh and relevant. Use a variety of content
types, such as text, images, videos, and infographics.
 4. Off-Page SEO: Build high quality backlinks from reputable websites to increase
your site’s authority. Engage in social media to increase your online presence and
promote your content. Encourage social sharing and participation.

5. Technical SEO: Ensure your website is technically perfect and easily crawlable by
search engines. Optimize page speed for better user experience and search engine
ranking. Implement a mobile-friendly design as it is a crucial ranking factor.

6. User Experience (UX): Provide a smooth user experience on your website. Improve
site navigation and structure to make it easy for users to find information. Reduce
bounce rates by offering engaging and relevant content.

7. Analytics: Use tools like Google Analytics to monitor your website’s performance.
Keeping track on important indicators such as organic traffic, conversion rates, and
keyword rankings. Analyze data to make the most appropriate decisions.

2.4 How Does SEO Work?

SEO works by optimizing various elements of a website to make it more accessible to

search engines, ultimately improving its visibility and ranking in search engine results
pages (SERPs). The goal is to increase organic traffic to the website.

1. Search Engine Crawling: Search engines, like Google, use automated bots (spiders
or crawlers) to navigate the web. These bots follow links from one page to another,
discovering and indexing content on websites.

2. Indexing: Once a page is crawled, its content is analyzed and stored in the search
engine’s index. The index is like a massive library catalog that the search engine
refers to when users enter a search query.

3. Ranking Algorithms: Search engines use complex algorithms to determine the

relevance and authority of indexed pages for specific search queries. Algorithms
consider numerous factors, including keyword relevance, content quality, user
experience, backlink profile, and more.

4. Keyword Relevance: Search engines assess how well a page’s content aligns with
user search queries. Keyword optimization involves strategically using relevant
terms in titles, headers, meta tags, and throughout the content.

5. Content Quality: The quality of content is crucial. Search engines aim to deliver
valuable, informative, and engaging content to users. Content that satisfies user
intent and provides a comprehensive answer to a query is more likely to rank
higher.

6. Backlinks: Backlinks, or inbound links, are links from other websites to your site.
They are a signal of trust and authority. High-quality, relevant backlinks can
positively impact a site’s ranking.
2.5 Keyword Strategy

Keyword Strategy is the crucial component of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It

involves selecting and optimizing specific keywords and phrases that are relevant to your
website or content to improve your ranking in Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) and
attract the audience.

2.5.1 How to develop keyword strategy in SEO?

Keyword Research

Keyword research is the process of identifying the specific words and phrases that people
search for to find information, products, or services on the internet. These keywords serve
as a connection between your content and your potential audience, helping search engines
match your content and rank them higher. By uncovering the most relevant and high-
impact keywords for your niche, you can optimize your content to align with the interests
and needs of your target audience.

2.5.2 Why is Keyword Research Important in SEO?

Keyword research is a critical component of search engine optimization (SEO) for several
reasons:

 Understanding User Intent: Keyword research is like eavesdropping on what

words and phrases people type into search engines when they want to find stuff like
what your business offers. This helps you understand exactly what your potential
customers are looking for. When you know that, you can make sure your website
and content use the same keywords, so your customers can easily find you.

 Targeting Long-Tail Keywords: Long-tail keywords are more specific and often
have less competition. Through keyword research, you can identify these long-tail
opportunities, enabling you to attract more qualified traffic to your site.

 Improving User Experience: Optimizing your site for specific keywords often leads
to better-organized and more user-friendly content. This improves the user
experience, keeping visitors engaged and more likely to convert.

 Optimizing Content: Once you’ve identified relevant keywords, you can

strategically incorporate them into your website’s content. This optimization makes
it more likely that your content will appear in search engine results when users
search for those keywords, increasing your site’s visibility.

 Content Planning: Effective keyword research informs your content strategy. You
can discover not only what keywords to target on based of difficulty but also what
topics and themes are relevant to your audience. This helps you create valuable,
high-quality content that addresses your audience’s interests and questions.

 Adapting to Trends: Keyword research isn’t a one-time task. It should be an

ongoing process that allows you to adapt to changing user behavior and search
intent. By staying up-to-date with keyword research, you can remain competitive in
the and even find some new keywords related to your content or website.
2.5.3 What are the Elements of Keyword Research ?

Here are the key elements of keyword research:

Keyword Elements

 Goals and Objectives: Before you begin your keyword research, it’s essential to
define your goals and objectives. What are you trying to achieve with your SEO
efforts? Are you looking to increase website traffic, drive sales, or improve brand
visibility? Your goals will influence the types of keywords you target.

 Target Audience: Understand your target audience, their preferences, needs, and
pain points. This will help you create a list of keywords that resonate with your
potential customers. If the audience are of a buying intent then there will be a good
affiliate income opportunity and you should not even leave keywords with very low
volume.

 Seed Keywords: Start with a list of seed keywords – Seed keywords are the initial,
broad keywords that you start with when conducting keyword research. For
example Technology may be a seed keyword and smartphones, computers,
softwares, smartwatches are its sub topics

 Keyword Tools: Some popular keyword research tools include Google Keyword
Planner, Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Moz’s Keyword Explorer. These tools provide data on
search volume, competition, keyword difficulty, trends, website positions and
related keywords.

 Long-Tail Keywords: Long-tail keywords are more specific and often less
competitive than short-tail keywords. They typically consist of three or more words.
Most of the time they are easy to rank and most website owners first target long-tail
keywords for traffic and rankings.

 Search Volume: Assess the search volume for each keyword to gauge its popularity.
High search volume keywords are more competitive but may bring more traffic,
while low-volume keywords are easier to rank for but may have limited traffic.
  Keyword Difficulty: Keyword Difficulty (KD) is a metric used in SEO (Search Engine
Optimization) to assess how challenging it is to rank for a particular keyword
in search engine results pages (SERPs). Tools like Ahrefs and Semrush provide
keyword difficulty scores to help you assess your chances of ranking for a particular
keyword. But you should not blindly follow this keyword difficulty score as it is
wrong most of the time. You should first search the keyword in search engine and
then check the websites ranking on them.

 Relevance: Ensure that the keywords you select are relevant to your content or
business. Relevance is essential for both SEO and user experience. Suppose you have
a website with content related to smartphones, then you should only select only
those keywords which are related to smartphones and nothing else.

 Keyword Trends: Consider keyword trends over time. Some keywords may be
seasonal or subject to changes in popularity. Google Trends is a useful tool for
tracking keyword trends.

 Competitor Analysis: Study your competitors to see which keywords they are
targeting successfully and how much traffic they are receiving through that
keywords. This can provide valuable insights into your own keyword strategy.

 Keyword Grouping: Organize your keywords into logical groups or clusters. This
makes it easier to create content that targets multiple related keywords. Also if you
create different articles for similar keywords then google may consider that articles
as doorway pages and may penalize your website for that.

 User Intent: Consider the intent behind each keyword. Is the user looking for
information, to make a purchase, or to find a specific service? Align your content
with user intent.

 Tracking and Monitoring: Continuously monitor the performance of your chosen

keywords. Tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console can help you track
rankings, traffic, and conversions.

2.5.4 Steps by Step guide to Do Keyword Research

1. Identify Relevant Topic

Identifying relevant keywords is the foundation of effective SEO. It ensures that your
website’s content aligns with the language and terms your audience uses during online
searches. This step helps you understand what topics matter to your audience and how to
optimize your content for search engines, improving the chances of reaching and engaging
your target audience.

Suppose if you run an e-commerce store specializing in outdoor gear, relevant keywords
might include “hiking boots” , “camping equipment,” and “outdoor clothing.” These
keywords are directly connected to the products you offer and the interests of your
potential customers. By finding such relevant keywords, you’re effectively guiding search
engines and helping your target audience discover your website or content when they
search for these terms. It’s an essential starting point for successful SEO and digital
marketing efforts.

For example you can see several ecommerce websites like Amazon, Flipkart etc. ranking at
the top for keywords like “Best Shoes”, “Best Shirts”, “Best Smartwatches” etc.

In the context of the “dog care” niche, the process of finding relevant keywords is just as
important. Your goal is to connect with pet owners who want information on caring for
their furry companions. In this case, relevant keywords could include “dog grooming tips,”
“best dog food for health,” and “puppy training techniques.”

2. Use keyword research tools

Keyword Research Using Ubersuggest

Using keyword research tools can show keyword volumes, trends, user intent, keyword
difficulty and websites ranking on them. You can also check the website traffic, its ranking
on different keywords. With all this data you have to choose a topic of your expertize. There
are several keyword research tools available, such as Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs,
SEMrush, Moz Keyword Explorer, and many more.

3. Evaluate your keywords

Evaluating keyword relevance is a crucial step in the keyword research process. This
means assessing how well each keyword aligns with your business goals, target audience,
and website content. You have to decide will your content be informational or a review
article for affiliate marketing, based on user intent. You have to decide will you be able to
write that article or not, or will need a content writer.

Example: Suppose you have a website about dog grooming. Your target keyword is “dog
grooming tips.” You can evaluate the relevance of this keyword by considering the
following factors:

 Search volume and competition: The keyword “dog grooming tips” has a high
search volume and moderate competition.

 Related keywords: Related keywords include “dog grooming techniques,” “dog

grooming products,” and “dog grooming tutorials.”
  User intent: People who search for “dog grooming tips” are likely looking for
information on how to groom their dogs at home.

Keyword Evaluation

Based on this evaluation, we can conclude that the keyword “dog grooming tips” is highly
relevant to a website about dog grooming. It is important to note that keyword relevance is
not a binary concept. There are varying degrees of relevance. For example, the keyword
“dog grooming” is also relevant to your website, but it is less specific than “dog grooming
tips.” By evaluating keyword relevance, you can ensure that you are targeting the right
keywords for your business and creating content that is relevant to your target audience.

4. Regularly Update and Expand

As part of an ongoing SEO strategy, it’s crucial to consistently review and revise your
chosen keywords. Search patterns, user behavior, and industry trends can change over
time. Regular reviews ensure that your keyword strategy remains relevant and effective.

Identifying Shifts in User Behavior: Users may start using different terms or phrases to
search for information. For instance, if your fitness blog initially targeted “weight loss tips,”
but users are increasingly searching for “metabolism-boosting foods,” you should adapt
your content to reflect this shift in user behavior.

Example:

 Initially, your fitness blog might have focused on “high-intensity interval training
(HIIT).” Over time, you notice an increase in searches related to “low-impact
exercises for joint health.” Adjust your content strategy to cater to this evolving user
interest.

Adapting to Industry Trends: Industries evolve, and new trends emerge. Keeping your
keyword strategy up-to-date involves staying informed about these shifts. If there’s a new
workout trend, dietary approach, or fitness technology gaining popularity, incorporate
relevant keywords to capitalize on the trend.

Example:

 Suppose a new fitness trend called “mindful workouts” gains traction. Users might
start searching for terms like “mindful exercise routines” or “fitness for mental well-
being.” Incorporate these terms into your keyword strategy and create content that
addresses this emerging trend.

2.5.5 Types of Keyword

Types of Keywords – By Length

When it comes to selecting keywords to target via your content, the length matters.

The two common categories of keywords according to length are generic keywords and
long-tail keywords. You can also consider a middle option as mid-tail keywords, but those
are just the keywords that are on the shorter end of the range for long-tail keywords.

Short or Generic Keywords

These are the broad terms like “digital marketing”, for example, that usually have a high
search volume and level of competition. Generic keywords are always short in length and
usually have 1-3 words and note more.

Long-Tail Keywords

These are longer, more specific phrases and search terms that have comparatively lower
search volume, as well as the level of competition. For the example above, the long-tail
keywords could be:

 Digital marketing strategies for beginners

 Digital marketing tactics for small businesses

 Digital marketing for ecommerce businesses

  And so on!

The longer and more specific a keyword is, the better your chances of ranking for it.

Moreover, long-tail keywords also help you attract a more relevant and targeted audience
to your website, even though they may have a lower search volume.

Therefore, you should use long-tail keywords, specific to your business and niche, to help
your pages rank higher on SERP. When you do your keyword research, focus on the
keywords that have a decent search volume and are most relevant to your business.

Types of Keywords – By Search Intent

If you want to create SEO-friendly content, then you need to consider the different types of
keywords according to a user’s search intent. You can target different types of leads or
audiences, simply by choosing the right type of keywords.

There are four main types of keywords according to user intent―informational,

navigational, commercial, and transactional.
Informational

These are the keywords that aim to find information about a product, topic, business, etc. If
you want to answer user questions about industry-related topics and establish yourself as
a thought leader, then you should target informational keywords.

Some examples of the informational type keywords are:

 What are tennis shoes?

 What is on-page SEO?

 What is digital marketing?

 And so on!

Navigational

These are the types of keywords that people use to find the location of something. Such
keywords are extremely important for local SEO and you should use it for your local
directory listings.

Examples of navigational keywords include:

 Nike showrooms in New York

 On-page SEO services in the US

 Digital marketing agency London

Commercial

These types of keywords usually have slight purchase intent but are usually more focused
on research before making a purchase.

The user’s goal is to find out the best product, service, or brand to satisfy their
requirements. Your goal, when using these types of keywords, should be to provide
resources that can help users pick you over competitors.

Examples of commercial intent keywords include:

 Which is the best brand for tennis shoes?

 Best SEO agency in the US

 Top digital marketing agencies

Transactional

These are the favorite type of keywords for ecommerce businesses as these target people
with high purchase intent.

These include queries that show that a user is looking to buy a product or service. You
should target such types of keywords via your product and service pages.

Examples of transactional keywords are:

 Buy Nike tennis shoes

 Get on-page SEO services in the US

 Hire a digital marketing agency in London

The words like “buy”, “get”, and “hire” show the purchase intent for such keywords.

Types of Keywords – For On-Page SEO

In this section, the focus will be on the types of keywords that you need to use for creating
SEO-friendly plagiarism-free content that ranks high on SERP for SEO keywords.

You would have heard a lot about keyword optimization for SEO. But have you heard about
the two key types of SEO keywords you need for that?
Primary Keywords

Whenever you create a new web page or a piece of content, it should focus on one central
or primary keyword. This is the keyword that you want that content to rank for.

For example, let’s say that you want to target the keyword “digital marketing tactics”. You
can create content on that topic and add your primary keyword to your title, headings, title
tags, meta description, first paragraph, and throughout the content.

LSI Keywords or Related Keywords

You may ask yourself whether it is too much effort to create one entire piece of content to
target just one keyword.

What about other related SEO keywords?

Well, that’s where LSI keywords come into the picture.

While there is no such thing as LSI keywords, this term is widely used to refer to related
keywords that are variations or synonyms of a primary keyword. These keywords add
more context to your content and help Google understand what it’s about.

For example, if your primary keyword is “digital marketing tactics”, some LSI keywords
could be “digital marketing strategies” and “digital marketing best practices”.

Using LSI keywords helps in two ways:

 It helps you rank for several variations of your primary keywords

 It provides context to search engines to better understand your content

Types of Keywords – For Paid Search

Last, on this list of different types of keywords, are the keywords that are useful for paid
search advertising. These are the Google Ads keywords that help advertisers target their
ads and show them to the right audience.

There are four keyword match types in this category. Let’s understand each in more detail.
Broad Match Keywords

When you target broad match keywords with your ad campaign, you basically want to
show your Google ads for every variation of your target keyword. So, your ads will show for
broad search terms that mean the same thing as your target keyword.

For example, let’s say that your target keyword is “running shoes”. For a broad match, your
ads will also be shown for keywords like “buy shoes for running”, “buy shoes”, “white
running sneakers”, etc.

Phrase Match Keywords

For a phrase match, the search query needs to have the exact phrase as your keyword—
“running shoes” in the case of the example above. For this keyword, the phrase match
would apply to keywords like “buy running shoes”, but not to “buy shoes”.

According to Google, phrase match will also apply if the words appear in a different order.
So, a phrase match will also apply if the search query is “shoes for running”.
Exact Match Keywords

As the name suggests, an exact match requires the search query to have the exact words as
your keyword in the exact same order.

Taking the same example, an exact match would happen only if the search query uses the
words “running shoes” in this exact order.

Negative Keywords

When placing search ads, these are the keywords that you don’t want to show your Google
ads for. These are more about which terms to exclude, rather than which ones to show ads
for.

Whichever keywords you add as a negative keyword, your ads won’t be shown for queries
containing that term. Here’s how Google explains negative keywords with an example:
2.6 On-Page SEO Technique

What is On-Page SEO?

On-Page SEO is also known as On-site SEO. On-Page SEO refers to the process of optimizing
individual web pages in order to improve their search engine rankings. On-Page SEO is multi-
faceted and extends beyond content, and includes other features such as schemas and meta
tags.

On-Page SEO intercepts with technical SEO and Off-Page SEO. While all three processes
work together to give you the best possible result, On-Page SEO is responsible for
optimizing the content and layout of a web page.

On-Page SEO contains:

o Keyword research: Keyword research means finding out the best keywords to target
on a page of content.

o Content creation: Content creation means publishing high-quality content that is

keyword-focused.

o Keyword optimization: Keyword optimization means using the target keyword in all
appropriate places and using strong meta tag SEO.

The following are the On-Page SEO Techniques:

1. Publish High-Quality Content

Keep the following points in mind when it comes to SEO:

A website with excellent content can work great with or without SEO. A website with
poor content will not survive with or without SEO. A website with great content can
become much better with SEO!

So, what makes a piece of content high-quality? High-quality content has the following
characteristics:
 o Original Content

Articles, images, videos, infographics, presentations, text, comments, etc. No copies

or rewrites of present articles.

o Unbiased Content

If we write about a specific subject or respond to a question, ensure that your words
are justified and cover all sides of the story.

o Content Exclusive for your Website

Even if it is your own content, if it has already been published on another site, it is
not great for your website (until you specify the canonical tag appropriately).

o Content which Contains Text Elements

Write text to go with your non-text content. For example, if you post videos on your
site, try adding a text description as well. If you add pictures, try to describe in
words what the picture is.

o Content that is Well Researched

Users do not need to read quick posts nor search engines. Long articles prove to
rank better than short articles.

o Content that Satisfies Search Intent

Aside from the above characteristics, you must ensure that your content meets the
search purpose. Before publishing any kind of content on our website, you must first
determine what kind of content users expect to see in response to specific search
intent.
Generally, there are four different forms of search intent:

o Informational: - how many calories are in an egg?

o Transactional: - 'buy idle maker'

o Commercial c: - 'best SEO courses'

o Navigational: - 'Facebook'

The easiest way to figure out what kind of content to create is by using Google, which has
already done a great job of figuring out what types of searches people want.
So, the first step is to check for your target keywords on Google. Navigate through the top
ten results and discuss them thoroughly. Take note of the following:

o The level of detail

o Page design

o The type of content

o How they use images and videos

Your objective is to use this data to improve your content. In this context, better may refer
to a variety of items, including:

o Easier to read

o More comprehensive and informative

o Presenting a unique perspective on the subject that is not covered in the

existing content.

2. Optimize Page Titles and Meta Descriptions

This is SEO 101, but it's critical for On-page SEO. As search engines 'read' your pages,
among other things, they look at the page's description and title.

They do this because they need to know what the page is about and then based on the other
factors (off-page SEO, domain authority, competition, etc.). They can make your page
(for different keywords). The index will rank in their position.

The following are some relevant page title optimization tips:

o Add Keywords to the Beginning of your Page Titles

If possible, start your page title with your target keywords. This makes it much
easier for search engines to quickly figure out what keywords the website aiming
for.
That isn't to say you can go overboard and start keyword stuffing. It is not the end of
the world if you can't get a keyword at the start. Simply ensure that your goal
keyword is included in the title.

o Include Numbers and Power Words

Number in titles, as well as powerful terms such as "checklist, actionable,

amazing, ultimate, etc. Make the titles more fascinating, increasing CTR (Click
Through Rate).

o There is No Need to Add Your Domain in the Title

Include your domain name in the title is not required because Google automatically
adds the domain name in the title. You may use the 60 characters available to
provide a detailed overview of the website.
An exception to this rule is when you have a strong brand which people can quickly
find out; in this situation, you can consider including your domain in the title.

o Write Short and Descriptive titles

A page's title doesn't have to be very long. Because this is the average number of
characters given by Google in search reasons, it is generally recommended to keep it
around 60 characters.
 Meta Description

It is your chance to promote your page and persuade people to visit your website
rather than one of the others by clicking your link.
It's worth noting that Google doesn't always display the custom meta description;
instead, they frequently use an automated description if they think it's more
relevant to the searcher.

The following are the essential meta description optimization tips:

o Add Your Target Keyword(s) in the Description

Since Google still emphasises search terms in title as well as description, thus using
the target keywords in the description makes it more meaningful and appealing to
the searcher.

o Avoid Auto-Generated Descriptions

Even if Google does not use your description, it's still a good idea to stop using auto-
generated explanations, which can be confusing.

3. Optimize Page Content

Optimize page content is another On-Page SEO Technique. On-page SEO includes content
optimization, which involves optimizing the actual content for the target keywords.

Before publishing any type of content such as images, text, video, or, audio the first step is
to conduct keyword research. This is important to determine what search terms users
enter into the search box and generate content that meets their needs.

After choosing your target keyword, make a list of similar keywords (also known
as LSI keywords) and longtail keywords to use in your headings, page content,
description and titles.

What is the reason for this? Because with the introduction of Rank Brain, Google search
algorithms have become more sophisticated, and they are now searching for subject
relevancy and keyword relevancy in content.

It means you can use LSI keywords in your content to make it more applicable to large
topics.

There are many methods for determining which keywords Google consider to be important
to your target keywords.

According to Google, the simplest and quickest method is to use one of Google's three
features: People also query for related searches.

Google Suggest

When we begin typing a query in Google search, we are given a list of phrases to use in our
search. These are excellent keywords candidates to mention in your keywords.
People Also Ask

When you press search, Google displays the results, including a section called "People also
ask" among them. These are excellent candidates that you can use in your subheadings.

Related Searches

At the bottom of the search results, Google displays you a list of related searches.

All you need to do is use any of the words mentioned above in your content (without doing
keyword stuffing).
4. Headings and Content Formatting

A page must be formatted correctly. Consider it as a report with the main heading
(h1) and subheadings (h2, h3).

The h1 tag

Only one H1 tag is required for each page. If you are using WordPress, the page's title is
automatically wrapped in H1 tags.

You may use the same title and <h1> Tag or give the heading a different title.

Don't forget that search engines show in the results what they find in the title tag, not
the h1 tag.

The following are some important points that you have to keep in mind when it comes to
the other heading (h2, h3);

o Make the headings interesting and convenient for users who like to skim read an
article instead of using a single word.

o Subheadings are the perfect place to use related keywords in our content.

o Use headings in a hierarchical order, with the first heading tag <h1> and then the
<h2>, <h3>, <h4>, and so on.

Content Formatting

Make sure your text is readable before slapping it on a tab:

o To emphasize important sections of a page, use italics, bold, and underline.

o Break up the text into small paragraphs (no more than 3-4 lines).

o Allow appropriate space between paragraphs to make the text simpler to read.

o Use a good size font (at least 14px).

o Use CSS to highlight areas and divide the content into smaller, more understandable
bits.

5. Images and Other Multimedia Elements

For presentation purposes, images are crucial. With the help of this, you can make your
page more interesting and easier to read. The main issues with pictures are that search
engines do not understand them and slow down page load times.

Best Practices for SEO Optimizing Images

o The filename must be descriptive- instead of simply naming your image "image1.jpg,
consider using descriptive filenames like "women doing exercise.jpg."

o Original images should be used. You have to reference the source if you want to use
an existing image from the web.
 o Use a Content Delivery Network- if you have many images on a single page, you can
use a CDN service to make your page load faster. In simple words, your pictures will
be hosted served by many servers, which will increase the loading process.

o Use an ALT tag to label the picture so that search engines can figure out what it's
about.

o Optimize the image's size-the smaller the image's size (in bytes), the better.

6. URL Optimization

It's essential to optimize your URLs for maximum SEO. It is divided into two sections. The
first section is the URL optimization, and the second is the URL structure.

The permanent link is also called a slug, which is the unique URL of every page.

The length of the good URL must be less than 255 characters; use hyphens in order to
distinguish the different parts.

An SEO friendly URL is short, descriptive and contains your target keyword, like the page
title.

7. Internal Links

Linking to pages within your site is very crucial for SEO due to the following reasons:

o It;s like building your own web

When a search engine spider discovers a website, it first follows the links on that
page (both internal and external links).

o It is a way to informing search engines about your other sites

As clarified above, when web search engines discover a page with links, they will
proceed to read those pages as well, so you can utilize this strategy to enlighten
search engines concerning pages of your site they have not yet found.

o It's a way to increase the users spend on your website

Each site has a few pages that are a higher priority than others. Internal linking is
one of the approaches to pinpoint the main pages by sending them more interior
links.

o It's a method of informing search engines about which of your pages are the
most relevant.
 Some pages on the website are more critical than others. Internal linking is one
method of identifying the most relevant pages by giving them additional internal
links.
So, when they arrive at your page, if you don't include some other links inside the
content, they will read your page and go.If you have links pointing to other pages
within your website, they will also take those into consideration.

Best Practice for Internal Linking:

o Include the links in the main body of your webpage wherever possible (not in the
footer or sidebar).

o Do not use keywords only for your internal links.

o Add internal links if they are useful for your reader.

o Per tab, there should be not more than 15 internal links.

8. External Links

An external link is a link that leads to a page on a different domain than your own. For the
site which links out, it is an external link, and for the website which receives the link, it's a
backlink.

External links to relevant pages assist Google in determining the subject of your page. It
also tells Google that your page is a reliable source of information.

Using external links in your content won't help you with SEO directly because it is not a
ranking aspect, but it can support you indirectly.

External links can be used to connect to other websites, and you can notify them via email.

Webmasters would appreciate it if you linked to them, and it's a perfect way to begin a
conversation. You can slowly build this relationship and ultimately get backlinks to your
website as various webmasters will be more likely to return the favor.

Let's take a quick look at the best practices for adding external links to your content.

o Just link to websites you know and trust.

o Only link to related websites that have unique and original content.

o Just link out if the reader would benefit from it.

o Use the tag of 'nofollow' for external links for websites you don't fully trust.

9. Page Loading Speed

Google is spending a lot of money to make the web faster. In each Google I/O, someone will
mention the importance of speed and their willingness to have the fastest websites in their
index.
They also officially incorporated speed as one of the recognized ranking variables to 'force'
website owners to consider it. So, you know for sure that website speed matters when it
comes to SEO and ranking.

Your role as a webmaster is to ensure that your site loads as quickly as possible by
following Google's recommendations. Fast-loading sites are beneficial only for SEO but also
for customer retention and conversations.

10. Mobile Friendliness

About 60% of searches in Google are now coming from mobile devices. This means that if
your website is not mobile-friendly, you are already losing half of the potential traffic.

What should you do?

Make sure your website is mobile-friendly as a first move. Check your website's mobile-
friendliness with Google's tool and address any issues that arise.

Then take it a step further and test your site on mobile, like a real user would do and
ensure everything is shown appropriately, together with your CTA button. Generally,
mobile-friendliness is not an issue for websites with a responsive design.

11. Comments and On-Page SEO

Many people assume that blog comments have become obsolete with the advent of social
media, but this is incorrect.

Comments on blogs are still relevant. According to Gary Illyes of Google, it's a sign that
people like your content and engage with the page, which can help your SEO.

Users would most likely read previous comments before adding a new one, which is
another way to maximize the amount of time they spend on the page and your site.

You have to follow these simple rule s to make the best use of comments:

o Posts that are not good in general should not be published.

o If users do not use their real names in their comments, don't approve them.

o Always moderate comments before publishing.

o Always reply to comment. This will inspire others to do so well.

o Only accept comments which are useful and important to the page's content.

12. Content Audit

Content audit means a list of all the content properties on your website. When you audit
your content, consider both quantitative as well as qualitative factors.

With the help of the audit, you can determine which content assets have to be repurposed,
retained and deleted from the website. To grade each page, you have to be considered a
mix of quantitative and the qualitative parameters.
 o The quantitative measures assess the content's cumulative effect on traffic and
rankings, among other things. They provide information such as the amount of
traffic the page received in the previous 30 days and the average SERP location.

o The content's quality is measured using qualitative parameters. How many people
have read the content? Did they interact with the content in some way?

In order to audit more quickly, keep the assessment criteria simple. This exercise should be
repeated every 3-6 months to ensure that the content strategy is still being refined.

13. Sitemaps

Webmasters may use sitemaps to let them know which pages on their site are crawlable.
Sitemap means an XML file that contains a list of URLs as well as additional site metadata.
Sitemaps assist web crawlers in locating and crawling all the pages on our site. They often
give search engine details about when a page was last updated and how often it was
updated.

14.Search Intent

Over time, Google has improved its ability to determine what a user is searching for
without relying solely on traditional SEO factors.

Search intent has become a more important factor, frequently outweighing traditional SEO
elements such as title, links, heading, and other SEO fundamentals.

Traditionally search intent was classified into the following categories:

o Informational: - The intent is to obtain information from a specific website or page.

o Navigational: - The intent is to reach a particular site or location.

o Transactional Search Intent: - The intent is to buy or find a product/service to buy

in the future.

However, as time went on, search engines found that this classification was too vague and
overlapping. For example, if anyone types 'amazon laptop deals' you could classify
'amazon laptop deals' as both transactional (trying to purchase a laptop) and
navigational (trying to reach amazon) intent.

You must know the intent and search engine to ensure that your site ranks good for search
terms. Search intent is classified into the following categories by content harmony.

o Answer Intent: - Answer intent varies from research queries in that the consumer is
looking for an immediate answer. For instance, someone might simply inquire,
"How is the weather today?"

o Research Intent: - Research intent phrases and keywords produce results such as
Wikipedia pages, carousels, knowledge graphs, and featured snippets.
 o Local Intent: - Local intents are keywords or phrases which cause information maps
to appear or provide localized research based on your IP address. Common phrases
like "close me" are among them.

o Transactional Intent: - Transactional intent contains users looking to purchase or

learn more about goods thar are included in this category. Such results are
frequently produced in shopping boxes and other purchase intent features.

Benefits of On-Page SEO

The following are the benefit of On-Page SEO:

1. Ranking Higher in the Serps

Making unique and good quality content and then enhancing them using on-page SEO
techniques can help list your web page higher in the SERPs (Search Engine Results
Pages).

2. Boosting Organic Traffic

It is important to utilize a search engine optimization organization to utilize progresses

ranking, crawl rate, and CTR to carry out proficient on-page SEO procedures. In such a
manner, you are more likely to draw organic traffic to your website and pages without
having to spend money on ads or advertisements.

3. Brand Awareness

Higher rankings and your site's exposure on search engines can significantly upgrade your
brand value. The higher and more your content and pages are ranking in Google and the
other search engines, the more brand value it builds. Building your website's brand value
will help you market your business and increase sales.
4. Faster Website Speed

With exceptional HTML coding and different basics of on-page SEO implementation on
your website and pages, you achieve higher rankings because of a quicker site loading
speed and quality web content, which was made by emphasizing the best SEO strategies.

5. Enhanced Click-Through Rate (CTR)

Methodical streamlining and ideal production of Meta titles with Meta portrayals are vital
for online site improvement to acquire a superior active clicking factor. It assists with
higher positions in web indexes and getting more taps on your posts by site clients.

Be cautious about the length and substance of your meta portrayals. Ideal meta portrayal
implies the correct length and utilization of your fundamental catchphrases. You should
check this meta depiction length apparatus if you need to rank up your page significantly
more.

6. Easily Managed and Updates

In contrast with off-page, it is simpler and more straightforward to oversee, control, and
follow the latest Google calculations and updates by using on-page SEO systems.

7. Advanced Crawl Rate

The ultimate objective of a site is to be observed and crawled by the search engines bots.
They should be indexed and rank among different pages that provide similar products and
services like yours. Compelling On-page SEO can help site analytic tools and crawlers
comprehend what your page is offering and what context it should reflect and rank the
search engine result pages.

8. Improved Local Search

It is the most effective strategy for increasing local exposure and scope. For example, SEO
Ipswich takes a special approach to local SEO. As a result, they generate many leads and
sales for local businesses that do not have an online presence.

2.7 Off-Page SEO Technique

What is Off-Page SEO?

Off-page SEO is also called "off-site SEO," which means the actions taken outside of our
website to influence our search engine traffic page ranking (SERPs).

Improving search engines and users' perception of a website's popularity, authority,

trustworthiness, and relevance are all variables to consider when optimizing for off-site
ranking criteria. It is accomplished by other trustworthy places on the internet such
as people, sites, pages, etc., linking to or promoting our site and efficiently "vouching" for
the accuracy or the quality of our content.

All of the actions we and others perform away from our site in order to increase a page's
search engine ranking are referred to as "off-page SEO."
Many people associate off-page SEO with link building, but it encompasses far more. Off-
page optimization includes a variety of practices that do not result in a standard link on
other websites. The on-page SEO takes place within the website, while off-page SEO takes
place outside the website. If we create a guest post for another blog or leave a remark, we
are undertaking off-page site promotion.

Off-Page SEO Techniques

The following are the off-page SEO Techniques:

1. Brand Building

2. Content Marketing

3. Link Building

4. Events

5. Forums

6. Influencer Marketing

7. Reviews

8. Podcast

9. Incorporates videos and images

10. Add an RSS Feed subscription box

11. Be present on the web

12. Document sharing is good for you

1. Brand Building

It is now a well-known fact that Google rewards the brand. Furthermore, brand-building
activities must not only be an important part of our comprehensive SEO and marketing
strategy but also a part of our approach to off-page SEO. Furthermore, everything comes
back to build our online authority, both for clients and search engines.

With the help of the brand-building efforts, Google can understand our credibility, Google
has become an essential tactic for off-page SEO. When we create a brand, we will notice
that we will automatically receive links and mentions them all over the internet, even
though we do not go out of our way to do so.

But how does the brand building fit into our SEO approach, and what are the main
performance indicators?

Brand Searches

Probably one of the strongest indicators that we are building our brand is an increase in
brand searches.
2. Content Marketing

It's all too easy to dismiss content marketing as merely an on-page SEO approach involving
creating and publishing content for our own website. However, when viewed as a whole,
content marketing encompasses on-page as well as off-page strategies.

Publishing excellent content on our own website is just one aspect of content marketing;
any piece of content which we produce and publish anywhere on the internet qualifies as
content marketing.

Content marketing is what we do when we write a guest post. Publish an infographic that
gets linked to from a top-tier newspaper? That is what content marketing is all about.

The allure of utilizing content marketing as a strategy is that creating incredible

connections with resources makes it simpler to concentration on off-page factors. And this,
normally, comes from the advancement of the content we are making -publishing
incredible engaging assets that others need to share and link to.

General content marketing strategy which works great in order to promote to build off-
page signals involves:

o Infographics

o Whitepapers and eBooks

o Blog posts

o Surveys, studies, and research papers

As a strategy, content marketing is entwined with link building, social media, and public
relations, all of which help to promote our brand.

Simply put, if we have a fantastic piece of material, let people know about it. Our content
marketing toolkit will assist us in not only identifying hot topics that are gaining
momentum online but also identify the most important industry media to promote our
content.

3. Link Building

Link building must be the foundation of any off-page SEO tactic, given the importance of
links in the algorithm of Google; however, it is vital to understand how we must handle link
building as an off-page strategy.

One of the primary goals of off-page SEO is to boost a company's authority. Links from
authoritative websites help to establish our own site like an authority. They act as a vote of
trust from one website to the next.

The primary goal of link building is to acquire high-quality links from authoritative
websites. Quality should always take precedence over quantity. It is critical to comprehend
the link gap between our website and that of our competitors. However, link building is an
off-page strategy more than merely targeting sites (note: it is not simple to persuade
authority websites to link to one another, but with the right technique, it is absolutely
possible).

The following are the most important factors that we have to consider with link building:

a. Unique Domains

b. Topical Relevance

c. Authority

a) Unique Domains

Another major metric of link-building success is the number of linking root domains that
point to your site, even above the number of backlinks. Studies have shown a clear
relationship between the number of linking domains and a higher ranking. There should be
a major focus on domain diversity as part of your tactic.

b) Topical Relevance

Always try to get links from sites that topically related to yours. For instance, if you run a
travel site, you should concentrate on obtaining the majority of your links from other travel
websites, such as Bloggers, online publishers (e.g., Lonely Planet), tourism boards, and so
on. This is logical.

Websites that cover a similar topic are more likely to get linked to than those that do not.
It's fine to have few links come from other topics. If they are natural and make sense, but
try to keep the majority of them topically connected.

The following are some link building strategies:

o Newsjacking

o Digital PR

o Resource link building

o Unlinked brand building

c) Authority

Hopefully, we have a good understanding of why link authority is so crucial.

We can find the authority of any site from which we are searching to earn a link or to
comprehend the authority of links that presently point to our domain with the help of our
proprietary metric- Authority Score. But what is the meaning of AS, and what does it
measure?

Authority score means our compound domain score, which assesses a website's overall
quality and determines the value of a backlink from that site. Based on the
following SEMrush data, the score is measured:

o The number of users (from our Traffic Analytics report).

 o Follow vs. nofollow links.

o The domain's quality and quantity of backlinks.

o Organic search traffic (from our Organic Positions report).

o The number of users (from our Traffic Analytics report).

The Backlinks Analytics tool may be used to learn more about the authority score of
current links. On the 'backlinks' tab, we can see the links of our website and their related
authority score:

4. Events

Another off-page SEO technique is Event. Events are making a comeback within marketing
strategies, and, believe it or not, they can be able to aid you with your off-page SEO
strategy.

The number of online events such as webinars is more than ever before, and they can go a
long way toward helping you establish your brand. They cannot only support you engage
your audience, but they can also create a true buzz about your company promoting social
engagement and even links.

You can host your event via Meetup.com. Another search engine for local specialist
meetups is Meetup.com.

5. Forums

You might be surprised to learn that forums are suggested as an off-page SEO strategy.
What is the reason for this?

Because SEOs have been spamming forums, comments, and other UGC sites to build links
(as a way to build not-so-good links).

As a result, some people have completely abandoned social meetings. However, one point
should be emphasized once more: off-page SEO is about much more than just links.

When utilized as a component of a more extensive strategy, forums can enhance your
advertising blend. Instead of utilizing forums (containing both specialty gatherings that are
explicit to your vertical and bigger platforms such as Quora and Reddit) to building links,
go with a different mindset.

Consider using forums to get directly involved in discussions about your area of expertise,
present oneself as an expert, and ascend to the expert or specialist status.

Some other platforms allow you to have an open conversation with potential consumers
who are actively inquiring about what you need to provide. It is an excellent method to
start creating relations and trust.

6. Influencer Market
In the year 2021, influencer marketing will take on a variety of forums. If you go back a few
years, the strategy was all about bloggers writing sponsored
content. YouTube and Instagram are all the rage these days.

If you are going to use influencer marketing to develop links, make sure they are followed;
links in sponsored content are against Google's Webmaster Guidelines.

Influencer marketing can help you promote your brand, expand your content's reach, and
reach out to a new audience.

7. Reviews

It's never been more crucial to have a good online reputation.

Did you realize that online reviews influence 93 percent of people's purchasing decisions?
Off-page SEO strategies such as reviews are crucial and underrated, and online reputation
management is something that no organization should disregard.

A company that has received positive feedback on third-party sites is establishing itself as a
brand. Conversation and, once again, trust are aided by positive evaluations.

8. Podcasts

Podcasts are madly famous at this moment, and they are proceeding to acquire more
audience consistently. In fact, 44% of Americans have tuned into podcasts at least once in
their lives, and 73 million Americans do so on a monthly basis.

They are important, and if you don't incorporate them in your marketing strategy, you
could be missing out on a lot of opportunities.

Let's look at the benefits:

o They are a terrific opportunity to connect with new people, share your knowledge,
and obtain visibility on search engines other than Google.

o Because most businesses still don't use podcasts as part of their marketing strategy,
it's a great way to gain a competitive advantage.

o Apple's Podcast is still a search engine, allowing you to use keywords to identify
relevant podcasts.

9. Incorporate Videos and Images

Individuals love to play and experiment, regardless of whether it intends to play something
different and they simply witness it.

That is why expanded the truth is an enormous hit these days, with Snapchat, Instagram,
and Facebook joining movement visuals projected onto this present reality and making
individuals insane with interest. And this AR is associated with video and pictures.

Video and pictures are viral these days, so you have to bet on them. How do you think
platforms such as Vimeo (Video), Pinterest, YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, Instagram,
Photobucket photo), Snapchat (video and image) have reached here with their success
stories?

The off-site SEO is the process of attracting visitors to your website by the events unrelated
to your pages' content. As a result, use videos, podcasts, quotes, infographics, and other
media to promote your business. Simply take the example of Tasty by Buzzfeed or
Tastemade.They are putting out videos like crazy, and the public is loving it. I am sure they
get many more views, bookmarks, shares than a blog post written by an expert in digital
marketing and SEO.

Returning to our sheep, hub pages such as YouTube, Pinterest, and others have high
PageRank and confidence, so you can join them and affiliate your company with them by
posting content about your products on their site.

10. Add an RSS Feed Subscription Box

Add an RSS feed description is one of the Off-Page SEO Technique. It's good to have some
subscribers that visit your website consistently, then a huge number of one-time guests.
This is why all trustworthy blogs and brands give an RSS subscription box on their walls.
RSS is short for Rich Site Summary. What's more, I believe that says everything. RSS
boxes/stream RSS/channel RSS, or otherwise called subscription boxes, make page data
accessible in XML format. Individuals are attracted to the trigger word "subscribe" and
leave their email address to get information without having to proactively search through it
on the web.

By utilizing this sort of contact form, you improve your contact and supporter plan a have a
fascinated beneficiary whom you can send and convey your organization updates, blog
posts, news, and so on. You can choose this Google Feedburner.

Clients are frequently pleased to benefit from continuous access to rich information, data,
and news without having to look for them manually and they are rather pleased to receive
them by email in the comfort of their own homes or offices. Furthermore, since you may be
additionally searching for some high-quality marketing newsletters to subscribe to, we
created one as of now, so you will not need to mind it.

11. Be Present on the Web

McDonald's, Coca-Cola, and Bic are all over the place. There is a bigger number of
individuals who might've heard related to them than who've heard about a camera,
suppose. And, it is possible due to their marketing tactics are great. They know how to
address all client portions, satisfy all admirers, and deliver detectable and cost-effective
meals or useful products.

Well-done off-page SEO strategies increment the reputation of the brand and authority. Be
available, live this exact instant to make your image heard. Consider straightforward
approaches to convey your brand to your clients and attract them with great quality
services. Make them feel special. Figure out how to converse with all client portions or, at
least, define your target audience rather than drifting around in the promoting space with
no hint at all.
12. Document Sharing is Good for You

Document sharing is another off-Page SEO Technique. By sharing content related to your
brand on different platforms, you'll have the option to rank for keywords your website
wouldn't otherwise capable of completing for different reasons, like the competition is
excessively high. If you figure out that your piece of content would serve others' advantage
too, upload documents to doc sharing websites such as SlideShare, Academia, and Scribd.

The document is treated as a conventional piece of content- perform keyword research and
completely optimize them: transcripts, file name, titles. Put viable call-to-action and links
back to your site at whatever point is significant and possible.

The advantage of posting a document on such a platform are that PowerPoint and PDF files
cannot be crawled by search engines, but these sites help them make it readable. Besides
this, you borrow several link juice for your site, which is furthermore, great.

2.8 SEO Strategy

 SEO Strategy is crucial for improving our website’s visibility in Search Engine
Results Pages (SERPs) and attracting organic traffic.

 The primary goal of SEO is to increase organic (Non-Paid) traffic to a website, which
can lead to higher online visibility, more website visitors and ultimately more
conversions and revenue.

How to develop an effective SEO Strategy?

1. Define Your Goals

 Determine what you want to achieve with your SEO efforts.
 Common goals include increasing organic traffic, improving ranking for specific
keywords, boosting conversions or enhancing brand visibility.

2. Keyword Research
 Conduct thorough keyword research to identify relevant keywords and phrases that
your target audience is likely to use when searching for products, services or
information related to your website.
 Consider using keyword research tools like Google keyword planner, SEMrush or
Moz Keyword explorer.

3. Competitor Analysis
 Analyze your competitor’s website to identify keywords they are ranking for, their
content strategies and their backlink profiles.
 Indentify gaps and opportunities to differentiate your website.

4. On-Page SEO
 Optimize your website’s on-page elements for the selected keywords.
 Include keywords in title tags, meta descriptions, headers and content.
 Ensure your content is high quality, informative and engaging.
 Use descriptive alt text for image.
  Implement schema markup to enhance search engine understanding.

5. Technical SEO
 Address technical issues that can affect your website performance in search results.
 Optimize page load times.
 Ensure mobile friendliness.
 Create an XML sitemap and submit it to search engines.
 Fix broken links and 404 errors.
 Set up proper URL structure and canonical tags.

6. Content Strategy
 Develop a content plan that aligns with your keyword research and audience needs.
 Create valuable, evergreen content that answers user queries and solve their
problems.
 Diversify content formats (e.g blog posts, videos, infographics) to cater to different
audience preferences.

7. Link Building
 Earn high-quality backlinks from authoritative websites in your niche.
 Build relationships with industry influencers for potential collaborations and
mentions.
 Disavow toxic or spammy backlinks to maintain a clean backlink profile.

8. User Experience (UX)

 Enhance user experience on your website to reduce bounce rates and improve
engagement.
 Ensure easy navigation
 Make content scannable with headings and bullet points.
 Optimize for mobile device.
 Improve site speed and loading times.

9. Local SEO
 If you have a physical location or serve a specific geographic area, optimize for local
search
 Claim and optimize your Google My Business listing.
 Encourage customer reviews.
 Build local citations

10. Analytics and Tracking

 Implement web analytics tools like Google Analytics to monitor website traffic,
conversions and user behavior.
 Set up goals and conversion tracking to measure impact of your SEO efforts.

11. Regular Monitoring and Optimization

 Continuously monitor keyword rankings, traffic and conversion metrics.
 Make data driven decisions to refine your SEO strategy.
  Stay informed about search engine algorithm updates and adjusts your strategy as
needed.

12. Reporting and Communication

 Share SEO progress reports with stakeholders and team members.
 Communicate the impact of SEO on business goals and ROI.

2.9 SEO Success Factors

1. High-Quality Content: Content is king in SEO, Create valuable, informative and engaging
content that addresses the needs and interests of your target audience. High quality
content not only attracts visitors but also encourages them to stay on your site longer and
return for more.

2. Keyword Research: Thorough keyword research helps you understand what your
audience is searching for. Identify relevant keywords and phrases, including long tail
keywords and incorporate them naturally into your content.

3. On-Page Optimization: Optimize on-page elements for SEO, including title tags, meta
descriptions, header tags and URL structures. Ensure that your content is well structured
and easy to read.

4. Technical SEO: Technical aspects of your website play a critical role in SEO success.
Focus on:

 Page load speed optimization

 Mobile friendliness and responsive design
 Proper URL structures and canonical tags.
 XML sitemaps
 Secure HTTPS Connections.

5. Mobile Optimization: With the increasing use of mobile devices, having a mobile
responsive website is essential. Google uses mobile first indexing, which means it primarily
considers the mobile version of your site for ranking.

6. User Experience (UX): Provide a positive user experience to reduce bounce rates and
improving rankings. Focus on site navigation, readability and overall usability. Ensure that
your site is accessible to people with disabilities.

7. Backlinks: Earn a high quality backlinks from authoritative and relevant websites in
your industry. Quality is more important than quantity, so focus on natural link building
strategies. Avoid spammy or low quality links.

8. Local SEO

 If you have a physical location or serve a specific geographic area, optimize for local
search
 Claim and optimize your Google My Business listing.
  Encourage customer reviews.
 Build local citations

9. Social Signals: While the direct impact of social media on SEO ranking is debated, a
strong social media presence can indirectly boost SEO by increasing brand visibility,
driving traffic and attracting backlinks.

10. Regular Content Updates: Fresh and updated content signals to search engines that
your website is active and relevant. Regularly update and refresh your content to maintain
its quality.

11. Site Security: Google gives preferences to secure websites with HTTPS encryption.
Ensure that your website is secure to gain the trust of both visitors and search engines.

12. Site Structure: Use a clear and logical site structure with well organized categories and
internal linking to help search engines crawl and index your content effectively.

13. Analytics and Monitoring: Implement web analytics tools like Google Analytics and
Google Search Console to track website performance, monitor keyword rankings and
gather insights for optimization.

14. Adherence to SEO best practices: Stay up to date with SEO best practices and
guidelines and avoid black hat tactics that can lead to penalties from search engines.

15. Patience and Persistence: SEO takes time to produce significant results. Be patient
and persistent in your efforts and regularly assess and adjust your strategy based on
performance data.

2.10 Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

Search engine marketing (SEM) is a digital marketing strategy used to increase the
visibility of a website in search engine results pages (SERPs).

While the industry term once referred to both organic search activities such as search
engine optimization (SEO) and paid, it now refers almost exclusively to paid search
advertising.

Search engine marketing is also alternately referred to as paid search or pay per click
(PPC).

Why is SEM important?

With an increasing number of consumers researching and shopping for products online,
search engine marketing has become a crucial online marketing strategy for increasing a
company’s reach.

In fact, the majority of new visitors to a website find it by performing a query on a search
engine.
In search engine marketing, advertisers only pay for impressions that result in visitors,
making it an efficient way for a company to spend its marketing dollars. As an added bonus,
each visitor incrementally improves the website’s rankings in organic search results.

Since consumers enter search queries with the intent of finding information of a
commercial nature, they are in an excellent state of mind to make a purchase, compared to
other sites such as social media where users are not explicitly searching for something.

Search marketing reaches consumers at exactly the right time: when they are open to new
information. Unlike the majority of digital advertising, PPC advertising is non-intrusive and
does not interrupt their tasks.

Results are immediate with SEM. It is arguably the fastest way to drive traffic to a website.

SEO vs. SEM

SEO and SEM use many similar tactics; however, they are distinctly different methods of
ranking high on a SERP.

SEO

SEO is the practice of structuring content so it ranks high in organic search results, which
are the unpaid content listings on a results page. The key aspects of SEO include the
following:

 It is based on the limited knowledge of the secret ranking factors, also known
as signals, that search engines like Google use.

 SEO methods are constantly changing to keep pace with the

evolving algorithms search engines use.

 SEO-driven results rank directly below paid searches.

 Successful SEO relies on creating useful, authoritative and trusted content. SEO
practitioners take steps such as the following:

o increasing the number of external webpages linking to a page, also known

as backlinks;

o identifying and adding relevant keywords to content;

o expanding trust signals based on website security, cumulative site traffic and
user engagement; and

o ensuring the website provides a good user experience (UX).

SEM

SEM focuses largely on using paid advertising to increase traffic through services such as
Google ads or Bing ads. The following are key aspects of SEM:

 It is based on keyword analysis. Marketing departments identify keyword terms

that might draw users to a webpage. Like SEO practitioners, search engine
 marketers use keyword research analysis and tools to identify keyword phrases
audiences are searching for. They then buy ad space on the results pages from the
search engine provider for the search terms they want to target.

 SEM paid search results go at the top of the SERP.

 SEM benefits from webpages that are easy for web crawlers to scan and include
trust signals such as linking to other websites.

How SEM works

Search engine marketers first identify keywords with large search volumes and then buy
ad space on the SERPs for those keywords. These campaigns pay per click (PPC), which
means the marketer pays the search engine provider every time a user clicks its ad. For
organizations selling products and services, the revenue generated from customers buying
products they access via the SEM ad should outweigh the cost of PPC.

SEM ads are placed at the top of a SERP, above the organic results generated by SEO. They
appear similar to organic results and include the following characteristics:

 headlines or title tags;

 summaries of the webpage content, known as the meta description;

 calls to action, meaning text that inspires visitors to make a certain action, such as
buying a product or subscribing to a service; and

 URL hyperlinks.

What are Search Engines?

 Search engines are searchable database of web content.

 Search engines go through three stages

 Crawling

 Indexing

 Ranking and Retrieval

Crawling

 A web crawler is a program used by Google to make an index.

 It is designed for crawling, which is a process in which the crawler browses the web
and stores the information about the webpages visited by it in form of an index.

 The search engines have the web crawlers or spiders to perform crawling and the
task of crawler is to visit a web page, read it and follow the links to other web pages
of the sites.

 Each time the crawler visits a webpage, it makes a copy of the page and adds its URL
to the index.
  After adding the URL, it regularly visits the sites like every month or two to look for
updates or changes.

Indexing

 The copies of webpages made by the crawler during crawling are returned to the
search engine and stored in a data centre.

 Using the copies, the crawler creates the index of the search engine.

 Each of the webpages on search engine listings is crawled and added to the index by
the web crawler.

 The index comprises the URL of different webpages visited by the crawler and
contains the information collected by the crawler.

 This information is used by search engines to provide the relevant answers to uses
for their queries.

 If a page is not added to the index, it will not be available to the users. Indexing is a
continuous process; crawlers keep visiting websites to find out new data.

Importance of SEM

SEM marking strategies are important for the following reasons:

 Digital marketing. Online purchases are one of the most popular ways customers
shop. SEM campaigns attempt to expand the reach of digital marketing by
identifying and using keywords that will attract the people most likely to be
interested in the marketer's product or service. Essentially, SEM campaigns target
the most profitable keywords.

 High conversion rates. One of the biggest advantages of SEM marketing efforts is
that they position an organization's product right in front of customers when they
are ready to make a purchase. For example, by purchasing an ad for a product
keyword -- "food processor," for example -- customers looking to buy a food
processor online will see a company's product ad first. With SEM, there is a good
chance that the visitors clicking on an ad want to make a purchase, increasing an
organization's customer conversion rates and optimizing customers' purchase
intent.

 Speed. An SEM strategy often drives increased traffic more quickly than SEO, which
can require long periods of time to analyze keywords and shape content to SEO
research. SEM puts products and services right in front of customers immediately by
placing them at the very top of SERPs.

 PPC model. The PPC model, which is similar to the cost per engagement model, is a
cost-effective strategy that enables organizations to only pay when their ad is
clicked. Organizations can also control exactly how much they spend by setting a
maximum cost per click (CPC) and daily budget.
  Increased organic rankings and trust signals. Increased traffic to a page through
paid ads ultimately increases overall traffic to a page and enhances trust signals
ranked by Google. If a product performs well enough through an SEM campaign, it
can rank high on a SERP organically, making SEM no longer necessary.

 Segmentation. Besides keywords, SEM campaigns can control what geographic

location, language and online behavior to target, ensuring they only reach the users
that might be interested in their product or services.

 Deep insight. Tools like Google Analytics give organizations highly detailed reports
on the state and evolution of their SEM campaigns in real time. This gives useful
insights into how SEM campaign ads are performing, which helps organizations
analyze how they could improve their campaign.

Disadvantages of SEM

SEM also has some downsides and challenges, including the following:

 Cost. Even with cost-effective models like PPC, SEM can become expensive over
time, as organizations have to pay every time their ad is clicked on. With SEO, there
are no click- and ranking-related costs.

 Competition. Depending on the campaign's target audience, buying ads and

ensuring the top spot at the top of SERPs can become challenging and expensive. An
increase in companies competing for the top ad spot is causing CPC and related
costs to rise.

 Customer trust and ad blockers. Many customers don't enjoy or trust ads and
block them with ad blockers. Ads can be seen as disruptive and less trustworthy
than inbound marketing techniques, which generate organic search results.

2.11 Ranking and Retrieval

 Search engines are answer machines. Whenever we perform an online search, the
search engines scour its database for the most relevant results. Also it ranks these
results based on the popularity of the websites.

 Search engines use algorithms to improve the search results so that only genuine
information could reach the users. Eg. PageRank is a popular algorithm used by
search engines. It shifts through the pages recorded in the index and shows those
webpages on the first page of the results that it thinks are the best.

 Relevance and Popularity are the most important factors to be considered by these
search engines to provide satisfactory performance.

 Ranking algorithm differ for different search engines. An engine might assign a
weight to each entry, relative to their appearance in the title, meta tags or the sub-
headings.