What is SEO and How Does it Work? Here You Will Find Out the Basic Elements of SEO
What is SEO?
Search engine optimization or SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a method that is seen high in the search engines 'organic', 'editorial' or 'natural' search results, thereby attracting relevant traffic to their website without having to pay for every click.
SEO means that you customize your website and its content according to what the target group is looking for in parallel with ensuring that the website meets the technical requirements of the search engines.
Basically, SEO is about taking ownership of the topics in which you offer products and services and reaching those who are looking for solutions and answers within what you offer.
Successful SEO work often leads to sharply increased revenue with a long-term high return on investment. However, it is important to remember that SEO is a work in progress and thus not comparable to campaigns in other media, which usually last for a limited period.
When, after a while, SEO work has resulted in a steady stream of traffic and conversions, continued work is required to maintain the improved search engine rankings and constantly exploit new opportunities to increase traffic.
How long does it take to achieve results with SEO?
SEO should be seen as a long-term investment in your digital presence rather than an individual campaign focus. PPC media is better suited for individual campaigns or temporary messages.
How long it takes to achieve results with search engine optimization depends on factors such as the size of the competition, the scope of work, the web site's technical starting position, and how old and influential the domain is.
The latest in SEO
The conditions and methods of search engine optimization are constantly changing and evolving. On the one hand, search engines update their algorithms for organic ranking, and on the other hand, people's behavior develops as they search for and consume information.
Here is a description of the latest changes and trends affecting SEO right now:
For those who want to delve into Google's organic search results, Moz lists all major Google updates since 2000 on https://moz.com/google-algorithm-change. Details
Optimize content against intent - not keywords
Until recently, SEO was primarily about optimizing landing pages against individual keywords and thus creating landing pages that contained each keyword enough times.
For example, a travel company could typically have different landing pages for the following types of search phrases, even though the intent behind doing these searches is the same:
"Holiday Barcelona"
"Barcelona Travel Packages"
"Trip to Barcelona"
Rather, it is about understanding what intentions are behind what and how users search and create and optimize content based on these intentions, rather than creating multiple landing pages that cover the same intention. This generally means that the emphasis shifts towards creating fewer pages than before with longer content where the deciding factor is the intention, not keywords.
Generally, this also means that the content must be of a higher quality because it is no longer enough to write text that contains just the right keywords enough times.
Longer texts
For several years, a trend has been going on that means that the web pages that rank in the top 20 positions in Google's organic search results contain more and more words.
Consequently, the content of the pages that rank at the top of Google becomes more detailed and holistic, and better tailored to meet the target group's information needs.
Of course, however, it is not a self-purpose that a page contains many words, but it must primarily be adapted to the user intentions that the page is trying to meet.
Mobile first
Already in 2015, Google confirmed that more searches are being done on mobile devices than on desktops or laptops.
This has led to Google initiating a change, which means that its algorithm will primarily evaluate websites' rankings in the organic search results based on the mobile version of their website content. Previously, this evaluation was done based on the website's desktop or "Desktop" version.
This trend is still in its infancy and Google says they will first introduce the update on a larger scale when they are sure it will not harm the user experience of those searching.
Mobile first means that how “mobile-friendly” a website is will have an influence on how high up in Google's search results it gets. Whether the search itself is done on a mobile or desktop device.
For those who use separate mobile websites (for example, m.minhemsida.se) or responsive websites that do not provide as good an experience or content as the desktop version, this means that their website risks losing visibility in Google. The same goes for those who have not adapted their website at all.
Voice Search
Smart mobiles are increasingly used via voice control rather than via touch screen or keyboard. This means that consumers use their voice to control their mobile phone including doing searches in search engines.
According to Google, 20 percent of all searches are done on mobile devices by voice instead of typing the search query into the search field.
With this new search behavior, there is a trend toward search phrases becoming longer and more formulated as part of a conversation rather than as traditional short keywords. When speaking instead of writing, it simply becomes more natural to use more words and to design search phrases more specifically.
Search phrases thus become more “long-tail” and more often formulated as questions. Something that should be taken into account when designing, structuring, and writing website content.
Mobile first
Already in 2015, Google confirmed that more searches are being done on mobile devices than on desktops or laptops.
This has led to Google initiating a change, which means that its algorithm will primarily evaluate websites' rankings in the organic search results based on the mobile version of their website content. Previously, this evaluation was done based on the website's top or "Desktop" version.
This trend is still in its infancy and Google says they will first introduce the update on a larger scale when they are sure it will not harm the user experience of those searching.
Mobile first means that how “mobile-friendly” a website is will have an influence on how high up in Google's search results it gets. Whether the search itself is done on a mobile or desktop device.
For those who use separate mobile websites (for example, m.minhemsida.se) or responsive websites that do not provide as good exam patience or content as the desktop version, this means that their website risks losing visibility in Google. The same goes for those who have not adapted their website at all.