What is SEO?

Search engine optimization, or SEO, is one of the most important digital marketing practices in existence today. When executed well, SEO will help you bring more qualified traffic to your website and convert those visitors into paying customers. It's a compelling marketing strategy that can help you expand your reach and grow your business faster than ever before. Still, it can also be challenging to learn and implement appropriately if you don't know where to start or what to do first.

Defining Search Engine Optimization

The term search engine optimization is a broad one, encompassing numerous online marketing strategies. These strategies aim to help you improve your search rankings and increase traffic to your website from search engines. If you're looking for specific digital marketing terms and definitions, be sure to read our beginner's guide on digital marketing terminology. In it, we'll explain how search engine optimization (SEO) differs from social media optimization (SMO), pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, and more.

Understanding how search engines work

According to Search Engine Watch, a website's ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs) can be affected by as many as 200 ranking factors. There are many moving parts in today's digital marketing landscape, which makes it easy for aspiring digital marketers to feel overwhelmed. With so many keywords, tactics, and best practices in play, digital marketers need to understand how each piece fits into its place on the proverbial puzzle board. So let's take a look at a few key terms every aspiring digital marketer should know.

The importance of keywords

Keywords help people find your website through search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. When you create content, it's a good idea to include a list of your primary keywords at its base so that search engines can quickly locate it when someone searches for those terms. Make sure you stay up-to-date on new trends in digital marketing because algorithms and search engine preferences change often. It can mean extra work for marketers who want to ensure their strategies remain current, but it also means more efficient advertising opportunities for websites and search engines alike. If you'd like to read more about digital marketing terms or explore other career opportunities in digital marketing, check out some of our other articles below!

How you can improve your SEO

There are several ways to enhance your organic search rankings and increase traffic, resulting in more freelancing gigs. You can improve your website's user experience by optimizing for mobile, improving load times, and building your social media presence. Utilize keyword research tools like Google AdWords Keyword Planner or Moz Pro's free tool to identify the terms people use in search engines to find help like yours. Build out a content marketing strategy that includes blogging, guest blogging, and videos with relevant keywords in them.

Getting started as a freelancer

The three things to consider before you quit your day job, Freelancing can be a great way to make some extra cash, but it's also going to take up a lot of your time. Before you do anything else, decide whether it's something you can commit to – or if other factors need to come into play. Here are three things you should consider

Common mistakes to avoid

On-page optimization, site speed, and social media marketing have the highest return on investment of any digital marketing strategy. If you get these basics wrong, you won't succeed in the search. Consider these points if you're just getting started with search marketing: It's hard to get it right early on—but it's also more accessible than ever to recover from an initial stumble. So don't make excuses. Be proactive and invest in a professional audit by a third party who will help fix any issues with your website or other assets hurting your search engine ranking. And then use tools like Google Search Console or Screaming Frog to monitor progress in the future so you can tackle issues proactively before they snowball into big problems down the road.

Keyword research tools you can use for free

Now that you've determined what keywords to focus on, you need to get your website found. The best place to start is with a keyword research tool like Google Keyword Planner, Wordtracker, or Ubersuggest. These are free and easy-to-use tools that will help you precisely determine which keywords you should be targeting for a given page. You can also use these tools if you have a client who wants to know how competitive their market is before investing in paid advertising.

WordPress plugins you can use for better SEO

There are several WordPress plugins you can use to help optimize your site for search. Plugins such as Google XML Sitemaps and All in One Schema Markup help make your website easily readable by human visitors and Google spiders. WordPress Meta Tags can help with search engine optimization (SEO) and improve user experience, making it easier for users to click through to what they're looking for. If you'd like a little more control over how your site looks, then you might want to look into some custom CSS or JavaScript tweaks, depending on which extensions are available on your hosting platform.

Final thoughts on the definition of SEO

Search engine optimization, or SEO, is a complex concept to explain without scare tactics. The basic definition of SEO can be summed up in one word: visibility. You want to create visibility for your websites in search engines like Google and Bing. You want people searching on Google to find your site, and you want them to spend time there once they arrive at your website. Many confuse search engine optimization with pay-per-click advertising such as AdWords or Facebook's promoted posts; However, both methods are used by businesses to gain visibility; they operate through different means.