What Is SEO Search Engine Optimization Made Easy

Definition: What Is SEO?

SEO means search engine optimization. It's a sub-topic of online marketing , many topics are related to content marketing .

With SEO, you turn a few screws on your website so that your page ranks better on Google. The goal is to bring a website to number 1 on Google . Without advertising, that means organically .

In a nutshell: Google selects the best websites and brings them to the first Google page. With SEO you implement measures that make your site better.

• Page 1 on Google = Page 1 and 1st place are possible goals of search engine optimization, this is where most users click on the search results
• Pages 2-4 = hardly anyone clicks on the search results here
• from page 5 = nobody clicks anymore

What Do SEO, SEA And SEM Mean?

Differentiating the abbreviations can lead to confusion. This is how the various terms are defined:

• SEO = search engine optimization (Engl. S earch E ngine O ptimization)

The term is derived from English and literally means Search Engine Optimization. The term SEO includes organic search results . This is where Google decides which page delivers the best content for the user.

• SEA = search advertising (engl. S earch E ngine A ds)

Above the organic search results you will find a maximum of 4 ads, those via Google Ads (formerly Google Adwords), including a maximum of 3. These do NOT belong to the organic search results. The operator of the website pays for every single click on the ad.

• SEM = SEO + SEA => S earch E ngine M arketing

SEM is defined as the mixture of search engine optimization and search engine advertising . It is the ideal combination of paid and organic reach.

Here you will find other important SEO terms that you should definitely know.

Do I Even Need Search Engine Optimization?

Before you ask yourself whether you need SEO and should rather forget about the topic: You are guaranteed not to regret the investment. After all , everyone uses Google for search and you want your website to be found. After several weeks, the measures you have taken will pay off.

There is a lot of potential in your website , which you can bring to the fore with search engine optimization . You also make your site more user-friendly and your readers or customers happier.

If you want to give away your reach, you can do without SEO with a clear conscience.

Benefits Of SEO

• sustainable investment
• cheaper than Google Ads or Facebook ads
• your site will be more user-friendly
• helps you build your brand
• you generate more traffic
• Measures can be measured, for example with Google Tools
• you reach your target group and potential new customers much faster

Cons Of SEO

• you have to optimize regularly, otherwise the competition will overtake you
• Agencies are often very expensive
• Results are often only visible after a few weeks
• the Google algorithm is constantly changing, you have to be attentive and adapt

How Does SEO Work?

With good optimization, you can bring your website to the first page of Google search.

The Google search is very simple: A Google bot " crawler " visits your site regularly and looks at what has changed and how good your content is . It decides according to certain criteria (Google algorithm) which position your website will be in. When you publish a completely new post, it is usually not immediately on Google because the crawler still has to pay you a visit to assess whether and where it is placing you.

In order to better adapt your site to the Google algorithm, i.e. the criteria of Google, you can take content-related (e.g. blog posts) and technical measures (e.g. speed of your website) to make your website more attractive.

What Do I Have To Consider With SEO?

When optimizing, it is important to optimize your on-page SEO as well as your off-page SEO. If you handle both topics well, you will quickly rank well in Google search (depending on your competition).

I will explain briefly what these terms mean. If you don't know where to start, look into OnPage SEO first. You can influence these measures directly.

Topics From Onpage SEO

You can implement OnPage SEO measures directly. Here are some examples of the most important topics for optimizing your site:

• Keywords: Is the page found for the appropriate search terms? Are you in the right niche ? Is the search intention fulfilled? Can the user find what they're looking for?
• Structure : Does the page have a good structure (h1, h2, h3 ...) and is it relevant?
• SEO data : Have meta title & meta description been defined?
• Loading times : How fast is your page loading? (Check that with Page Speed Insights )
• Ease of use : Can the site be used well from the user's point of view? Does the user find what he needs? Is the page easy to read?
• Links : Are internal and external links used?

Offpage SEO Topics

Offage SEO measures do not relate directly to your own website, but to your reputation on other websites. Rather less extensive, but much more difficult than OnPage, because you are dependent on third-party content outside of your website.

Offpage SEO addresses these topics:

• Link building : External sites (with a good reputation) link to your site
• Social signals : Number of likes etc. on social media such as Facebook, Twitter etc.

What Does SEO Cost?

Investing in search engine optimization is definitely worthwhile from a long-term perspective.

Hourly rates from SEOs and agencies are between 5000 rupee and 20000 rupee per hour . For small businesses, it pays to take the subject into their own hands or to let an SEO expert look over your website from time to time.

To completely forego SEO because of the costs alone is not a sensible idea. With that you are wasting a lot of potential.

Also online SEO courses are highly recommended to learn the fundamentals. In such courses, the most important subject areas are dealt with step by step. There you learn what is necessary for good optimization.

Conclusion: What Is SEO And Is It Worth It?

In order to fully understand search engine optimization, you have to deal with the topic for longer. But a certain basic knowledge is enough to see the first small successes.

Optimizing for Google pays off in the long term if you do it right. It takes an average of 3-6 months to see results. If you start from 0 it can even take up to a year .

It also depends on the reputation of your website and whether you already have brand awareness. If you do not have a large budget to invest in advertising, you can achieve a lot with the optimization inexpensively. Especially if you are patient.