Promotion, promotion, increasing the visibility of the site in search engines. It’s all about SEO . However, the experience of cooperation with small businesses, entrepreneurs who are just going to go online, shows that people do not understand what SEO is and why it is needed.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a set of measures and actions that eliminate, prevent or minimize technical errors on the site and improve the readability of the resource by search engine robots. The essence of SEO is for the user to find the information he needs faster and easier, and for this information to correspond as closely as possible to what he was looking for in Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines.
The task of SEO specialists is to pump up the site and gain the trust of robots that will help the target audience find your site, product, service or content on it and take the intended action. That is, buy, order, subscribe and become your permanent loyal customer, subscriber, reader.
Search promotion is long, not cheap, without guarantees. That’s why many projects put off SEO work, and now clients can’t find them on Google.
What, how and where are users searching?
When a person wants to find some information on the Internet, he enters keywords (search query) in the search bar, which, most likely, will help him find the answer to his question. For example, to find out the definition of “SEO”, users kill the following search queries: “what is SEO?”, “SEO optimization is”, “what is search engine optimization” and others.
Each of them can have its own list of answers. After entering a query and clicking on the “Search”/”Find” button, a numbered list of 10-15 sites is displayed on each page (search output). Sites can occupy a certain position (ranked in a certain order) depending on many factors.
As practice shows, users rarely go beyond the second search page. And therefore, in order to attract more users to the site, it must get into the TOP (a list of sorted pages that the search engine gives for a certain request). The higher a site is in search results, the more likely a user will click on it.
Blocks of search output
By entering a query in the search bar, you can see not only a list of sites in certain positions, but also blocks of information without any number. For example, on the query “what is seo” – on the right is a block with a definition and several infographics, at the bottom are some sites divided by positions, and a little further down is a block with “similar queries”.
What can be blocks of search results other than TOP? The main ones include:
- similar requests;
- extended snippet;
- block of exact answers;
- carousel;
- blocks of contextual advertising;
- graph of knowledge.
Such blocks of answers can be called “zero position” because they do not have their number in the issue. For example, a block “similar queries” with a drop-down list in the form of questions and short answers to them:
In response to queries such as “how to do something”, “stages”, a recipe for something, the search returns a block with lists:
These are information blocks of output, and they are usually displayed in the form of lists, tables, paragraphs, video materials. Information blocks or zero position and the TOP itself can be influenced by SEO, others cannot. Examples of other blocks :
- Blocks with quick answers. For example, “How old is Bill Gates?”
- Block “Carousel” – photos of actors, the most relevant products, brands, etc. can be located here.
- Contextual advertising units are advertisements that are shown to the user according to his request. This block is above all items, on the side, or below the numbered issue upon request.
- A knowledge graph is a block with an accurate and broad answer to a query about an object or a person.
Search engines always strive to satisfy the user’s request as much as possible, which means that they arrange sites in order of decreasing relevance and potential usefulness for the user. How do search engines work?
The work of the search engine
In order for a site to be included in a search , it must go through three stages: scanning, indexing and ranking. There are search robots or crawlers that check sites: the content of their pages, the relevance of information, its reliability, etc.
- At the scanning stage, robots go around the site and find new pages by following the found links. The crawler can either find new pages by itself or be pointed to them manually. For example, through webmaster tools (Google Search Console).
- At the stage of indexing, the robot determines what kind of page it is, studies its subject and content. Then he can add it to his database, to his own index, if he considers the content of the page useful for users.
- At the last stage, the robot selects the most suitable pages from its own index and issues them in response to a specific request. The order of issuance depends on how much, in the robot’s opinion, the content (its quality, domain reputation, etc.) meets the user’s expectations.
The work of the SEO optimizer is to improve the site – then the search engine will find its content useful, add it to the index and issue it as high as possible in the top in response to the request. For this, there are various methods of site optimization.
Optimization methods
Search engines at the very beginning of their existence were primitive, and the site could easily be brought to the top by dishonest means. For example, a huge number of keywords on the page or massive addition of the site to all kinds of directories and directories.
Nowadays, search engines have improved, and the old methods no longer work (or they hardly work, or they give results for a short period, and then the site falls under the filter and disappears from the search results). Due to the fact that search engines constantly develop their algorithms and introduce new rules, SEO optimization is conventionally divided into white, gray and black methods.
White methods of site optimization
White optimization methods (natural methods) are methods “allowed” to promote the site, which do not violate the rules of search engines.
There are internal and external optimizations for white methods.
Internal optimization
Internal optimization begins with niche analysis. It is necessary to identify competitors , analyze and understand what needs to be done in order to reveal the subject of the site and provide the most complete information for user requests in this niche. Each topic should have its own promotion strategy. You need to know which pages should be optimized, how to work with link mass, and more.
One of the important optimization steps is collecting the semantic core . Keywords are selected for which the site will later be optimized. Thanks to a correctly compiled semantic core with analysis by categories and filters, you can understand how:
- work with the structure — expand or remove pages, menu items/categories, form page URLs;
- optimize tags and metatags — add certain “markers” to pages that show the user and the search engine what is here;
- add text content to pages.
When working with internal optimization, the technical part of the work is also important — checking the functionality of the site and the relevance of the content on it. Example:
- checking the operation of the site navigation — checking the functionality of all buttons, forms, interactive elements on the site;
- search for duplicate pages and broken links — drawing up a technical task for their elimination;
- loading speed check – the user will not wait if your site takes too long to load;
- correctness of indexing – it is important to ensure that such pages as the cart, search, sorting pages and others are not included in the search.
It is necessary to check every month how the site works, whether errors have appeared and whether everything meets the requirements of search engines. This helps to detect problems that affect the ranking of the site in time .
External optimization
External optimization — work on mention of the site/brand in other sources, work with reputation , reviews, incoming links.
Inbound links are links that lead to your site from other resources. The set of such references is called a reference mass. It is desirable that the reference mass builds up naturally. For this, you need to create high-quality content, be able to interest the user, create information drives so that users themselves want to share your articles, videos, information about promotions and discounts.
If the site’s referral mass does not increase compared to competitors, various methods of artificial growth are used.
Important : often with improper growth (when a large number of links to the site suddenly appear, spam methods are used, links from low-quality sites) you can receive sanctions from search engines. Such an increase is already more similar to “gray” or “black” promotion methods.
Black and gray methods of optimization
When using gray and black optimization, you can get to the top faster, but at the same time, the risk of receiving sanctions (measures in case of violation of the rules) from search engines increases: a decrease in output or a complete ban, exclusion from the index in the future.
The more violations of search engine rules during optimization, the more black methods are used.
Black methods are dishonest and prohibited by search engines methods of site promotion.
Examples of black optimization methods:
- written text with keyword spamming;
- links from portals – sites aimed only at advertising;
- various spam for the purpose of attracting traffic;
- cloaking — when the user sees one thing (for example, a good text), but another is done for the search engine with keyword spamming;
- links on invisible small pictures (1×1 size) or on punctuation marks;
- buying temporary links that will later be deleted or links from low-quality sites (automatic and bulk buying of links).
Important : search engines almost always and very quickly recognize black optimization methods, so you should not use them if you do not want to fall under the filter and receive sanctions.
Gray methods are those that have not been banned by search engines, but have not been approved by them. White optimization methods are often used for internal optimization, and some of the gray methods can be used for external optimization (for example, using exchanges for permalinks, registration in directories).
Advantages and disadvantages of SEO
Now let’s not discuss whether SEO is necessary or not. Undoubtedly, site optimization is necessary. But there are features of online promotion that you need to be aware of in order not to lose touch with reality: business owners sometimes either put too much hope in SEO (and, accordingly, optimization specialists), or “don’t believe” in this tool. So, about the advantages :
- Profitability .
Engaged traffic is users who entered a keyword they are interested in and came to the site from search. These are people who are ready to take a targeted action (for example, buy). That is, by increasing the visibility of the site in search, SEO increases the income of the site.
- Long-term effect .
The effect of optimization persists for a long time (compared to work on the contextual component). After working on one or another category, the site will take a high position in the issue (for specific requests). This means that the search engines liked the page and will rank well until (unless) the search engine requirements/rules change.
- Trust relations with the client.
Users may not trust advertisements and prefer to go to sites that are at the top of search results.
In addition, in the process of internal optimization, the site becomes more convenient for the user, which leaves a pleasant impression and causes the desire to return to the site, make another purchase, advise friends and acquaintances to make an order.
Disadvantages:
- Long terms of execution and obtaining results.
Unlike contextual advertising, you shouldn’t expect quick results from SEO. Search engine optimization brings results, but it is a “long-distance race”.
- No guarantees.
No specialist can give you 100% guarantees in SEO. After all, at a certain moment, the requirements of search engines can change and negatively affect even a well-optimized site. So, for example, over time, it became necessary to focus on the mobile version of the site, because with the growth of traffic from mobile phones, the algorithms of search engines have changed.
- The need for complex technical improvements.
A really large number of improvements to the site and their timely implementation are needed to achieve the set goals.
Conclusions
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a set of measures and actions that eliminate, prevent/minimize technical errors on the site and improve the readability of the resource by search engine robots.
- By entering a query in the search bar, you can see not only a list of sites in certain positions, but also blocks of information without any number. There are the following issuing blocks:
- similar requests;
- extended snippet;
- block of exact answers;
- carousel;
- blocks of contextual advertising;
- graph of knowledge.
- In order for a site to be included in a search, it must go through three stages: scanning, indexing and ranking.
- The job of an SEO optimizer is to improve the site – then the search engine will consider its content useful, add it to the index and issue it in response to a request as high as possible in the top. For this, there are various methods of site optimization. SEO optimization is conventionally divided into white (external and internal), gray and black methods.
- SEO has its advantages:
- profitability;
- long-term effect;
- helps to build a trusting relationship with the client.
But there are also disadvantages:
- long terms of execution and obtaining results;
- lack of guarantees;
- the need for complex technical developments.
