What is SEO and why is important

What is SEO? Understand better about this subject so talked about nowadays. In addition to knowing what keywords are and what Keyword Stuffing means.

2 years 10 months AGO

What is SEO

SEO means Search Engine Optimization. It is a set of techniques to promote good positioning and increase the visibility of a website in search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing.

When pages on a website appear in Google's search results, it means they are indexed, meaning that the search engine robots are reading this address.

What makes SEO an interesting strategy is the fact that appearing among the top positions occurs organically, without the need to pay for ads or advertisements.

When there are ads on the page, SEO pages appear under paid ads, as shown in the image below. If there are no non-page Ads, the organic result appears right at the beginning. See how to identify the difference between paid search results (Ads) and organic:

Difference between paid search results (Ads) and organic

For this to happen, there are several rules and requirements that a website must have.

It is important to remember that the results obtained from SEO work do not happen overnight. It is a constant work and must always be updated according to search engine rules. Google, for example, releases new updates every year to improve the user experience. Therefore, websites must comply with these rules to continue ranking positions and gaining domain authority.

How to know how many pages on the site are indexed?

To find out how many pages the search engine robots are reading, just put in your browser's search bar:

site:domain.com

Look:

“About 74 results” refers to the number of pages the search engine, in this case Google, is reading on the site.

On-Page Optimization: It is the information carried out within the website to offer better content and good usability for the user. For that to happen, there are some basic rules to be followed, how to properly use the Title, Description, Canonical (URLs) tags, keywords, internal links, etc.

Off-Page Optimization: If On-Page SEO is what comes from inside the site, Off-Page refers to what is outside it, that is, the requirements that make the site have greater authority and credibility, such as backlinks and mentions of other sites to yours.

Also check out this Google SEO Starter Guide.

Keywords

Search engines already have the intelligence to identify the context of user searches, which is called semantic search.

However, to analyze the best terms and get closer to the language used by users, a study of keywords is carried out based on the search volume of each one of them, which is the average of monthly searches for the terms analyzed, and the difficulty of positioning.

These keywords should be used strategically on the website's pages, meta tags, and content (to learn more, check out the content guide).

The study of keywords is based on the terms that users search for a particular product or service in search engines. For example, "Gluten-Free Beers".

Keywords are separated into two ways:

‘Short tail’- short keywords, high search volume. Example: "Beers".

‘Long tail’ - long keywords, high conversion rate. Example: “Best Wheat Beers”.

To perform keyword research, there are some tools and extensions that provide data on search volume, placement difficulty, competition, among other information. Check out some options:

Tools/ websites: Ubersuggest, Semrush, Keyword Planner, KW Finder, Answer the Public

Plugins Google Chrome Web Store: SEO META in 1 CLICK, Keyword Surfer, Keywords Everywhere

To learn more about keywords and how to do an analysis, check out our Keyword Analysis guide.

Keyword Stuffing:

Keyword Stuffing is the name given to keyword excess, that is, an exaggerated repetition of keywords to manipulate search engines.

Current search engine algorithms are capable of detecting this technique, classified as Black Hat, that is, a punishable bad SEO practice (deletion of the page from the index). Therefore, when creating your Meta tags and content, beware of excessive keyword repetition.

Why SEO is important

If we stop to think, whenever we need to ask questions or find out more about a product we need to buy, the first thing we do is: search on Google. And when we see the results, we hardly go to pages 2 or 3 to find more information. The reality in which we live does not allow us to waste much time.

Digital Marketing is essential to position your product or service on the internet, using various techniques and tools for this, including SEO, which makes it easier for Google robots to understand the content you publish on your website, blog and virtual store.

And to ensure the efficiency of an internet strategy, SEO is paramount, with the function of improving the ranking and organic reach of your page so that it appears in the first search results, as explained above.

If used correctly, SEO strategies help to increase brand authority and improve sales. But of course, in addition to well-applied techniques, quality content is needed. To learn more about creating quality content, click here.

It is important to say that SEO should be part of the company's culture because if there is knowledge about the use of keywords and optimizations from the beginning of the construction of a website, the results will be more efficient. That's because, the sooner the best practices are implemented, the smaller the problems and corrections in the future.

Benefits of SEO for your business

Strengthening your brand reputation

One of Google's requirements for ranking websites in search results is brand reputation. This includes the creation of quality content that is in line with the user's quest to offer the best solutions.

Engine updates, which we call Core Updates, have further introduced the importance of page quality, from content creation to customer brand ratings and user experience.

So, if you want your website to appear in the top positions, take into account its reputation in the digital world.

Having credibility builds trust for the public. And when SEO techniques and strategies are applied, you improve the credibility of your page, both for users and for search engines. After all, the reader will see your content as a reliable source of real knowledge.

Consequently, if you show credibility of what you offer to the public that seeks you, that person will probably come back to you.

Increase in traffic and sales

When you have a website with friendly pages, Core Web Vitals according to the rules, a good design and relevant content, you increase the chances of being indicated by Google in the first positions of the search results. This attracts more people to your pages.

That way, your website will have more traffic volume and sales conversions.

Website health monitoring

Website monitoring reports are part of the SEO work, which generates several reports from tools such as Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Semrush, among others.

Keeping track of these reports is essential to ensure the health of your website, including security issues, such as the possible invasion of your domain.

In addition, you will have a clearer view of user behavior, traffic, bounce rate, among other important data.

New Google rules and updates

Google's algorithm is the program that works behind search engines to filter and deliver information on result pages, according to each user's search and ranking factors. To make this happen, frequent updates are released.

Daily updates: Every day the Google algorithm undergoes small changes to improve the results delivery processes.

Core Updates: Are the major updates made throughout each year to the main algorithm to generate more abrupt changes in organic results.

These updates are always linked to User Experience, which encompasses everything possible to make the sites easier for people to use. That is, content, speed, design, navigation, etc.

All these rules are part of SEO techniques. And keeping track of new updates is very important to keep your site up to date and ready to serve users in the best possible way.

To learn more about major updates released by Google, check out our content on Core Updates.

Search Engine Marketing

SEO, “Search Engine Optimization” is commonly confused with SEM. SEM or “Search Engine Marketing”, is a set of strategies and techniques used to promote Digital Marketing or as it is usually called, Internet Marketing.

SEO is part of SEM, which is divided into two categories. The first, which is SEO and the second, are paid links, or Google Ads. If compared to SEO, they are characterized as a short-term gain and approach different strategies and techniques from SEO.

Conclusion

If we stop to think about it, SEO is no longer optional, but essential in digital strategy. These are essential strategies to ensure the success of projects and business results.