What Is SEO? Definition, Best Practices, and Examples

Search Engine Optimisation or SEO is one of the digital marketing strategies used by companies in this digital era. 

SEO has helped many businesses from various industries to show up on the search results’ top ranking. 

Sitting on the top ranking on Google or other search engines can increase the website's visibility; thus, it can be easily spotted by the users. 

When your website is well-recognised, you will gain more visitors, conversions, and great authority. If you are interested in learning more about SEO, you’ve come to the right place!

This article will guide you in exploring more about what is bSEO, including how it will work for your business. 

What Is SEO? 

Before implementing SEO on your website, you should know what is SEO. SEO is a series of procedures aimed at increasing organic traffic and website exposure in search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing, and more.

Specifically, SEO targets the first-page ranking of search engine result pages (SERPs) for keywords that are most important to the target market since more people will visit your page if you rank higher.

In fact, compared to a website ranking in 10th, the 1st organic result has a 10x higher chance of being clicked--says a report by backlink.io. Furthermore, almost half of all clicks are directed towards the top three organic results.

The SEO procedures include keyword research, technical optimisation, content creation, content optimisation, and link building. 

Those processes will make your website accessible, pertinent, and prevalent for user search queries. Consequently, it will rank higher in search engine results.

Yet, SEO will benefit your ranking on search engines and the search experience. This is because SEO satisfies user’s search needs by optimising the content. 

It entails using pertinent keywords in titles, meta descriptions, and headings, having descriptive URLs with keywords instead of just numbers, and using schema markup to define the significance of the content.

As a result, the content produced will be relevant to what the users have been searching for. Moreover, people may locate online information by using search engines. Therefore, using SEO for business provides a great chance for company owners to drive targeted visitors to their websites.

Types of SEO

After knowing what is SEO, now let’s dive into the types of SEO. There are three primary types of SEO, namely on-page SEO, technical SEO, and off-page SEO. 

1. On-Page SEO

The first type of SEO for marketing is on-page SEO. On-page SEO is a process of optimising the website content to escalate rankings. 

Your website must have easily accessible content if you want to rank well in search results and draw visitors. Furthermore, Google emphasises that it favours beneficial information.  

You may need to improve your on-page SEO if the content on your website isn't hitting keywords or isn't very useful overall.

To do on-page optimisation, you need to execute some practices, such as: 

• Placing targeted keywords on important pages.
• Making content plans for customer journeys. 
• Optimising page titles with targeted keywords.
• Using the appropriate HTML elements to give content organisation.
• Updating SEO product descriptions. 
• Restructuring an outdated article or service page.
• Updating a blog's content. 

Besides those practices, you need to optimise the on-page SEO elements, namely:

• HTML code: Enhancing the HTML coding of a website can lead to faster page loads and higher search engine rankings. As a result, the website may become more visible and its conversion rates may rise.
• URL optimisation: URL structure is how a website's URLs are structured and created to enhance user experience and make link-building activities easier. Moreover, URL optimisation assists search engines in comprehending website content and ranking websites higher.
• Internal linking: Internal linking is the process of adding links within a website that hyperlink pertinent pages together, enhance user experience, and aid search engines in deciphering the structure and content of the website.
• Image optimisation: Image optimisation is the practice of refining website pictures using meaningful alt tags, file names, and captions to improve user experience and search engine exposure.
• Metadata optimisation: Metadata optimisation is optimising HTML components like title tags, meta descriptions, and heading tags to effectively and succinctly communicate the content of the page to search engines and users.
• Structured data: Structured data provides Google with all the necessary information for it to understand your website.

2. Off-Page SEO

Different from on-page which optimises the content inside the website, off-page works outside the website and on other online segments. 

The objective is to improve the website's presence in terms of authority, reputation, and relevancy. This might lead to improved search engine ranks and a rise in organic visitors.

You may require more off-page SEO if no one is talking about your website, which is causing no one to visit it.

You can do the practices below for off-page SEO:

• Getting high-quality backlinks. 
• Beware of backlinks that are unnatural since they may harm your SEO.
• Carrying out online public relations and advertising.
• Handling reviews. 
• Producing content for other platforms, like social media. 

3. Technical SEO

Last but not least, you can do technical SEO which is concerned with the backend elements of your website that affect site performance, crawlability, and user experience.

Technically sound SEO makes your website easy to read and navigate for both users and search engines. In contrast, broken images, slow-loading pages, and complicated navigation might impact the user experience. 

Ensuring the user experience of your website is crucial for technical SEO since it affects both search engines and humans. Search engines are unable to access the most crucial pages on your website if they are inaccessible to humans.

There are some practices you can do in technical SEO, such as:

• Creating a mobile-friendly website.
• Performing site audit. 
• Addressing and repairing duplicate content.
• Migrating the website. 
• Utilising robots.txt file. 
• Handling crawl budgets. 
• Making a clear sitemap. 
• Maximising file size and coding to promote pages that load quickly.

Aside from those three main types, you can find other types of SEO, such as:

• Image SEO: Optimising the HTML tags of images so that they can appear on Google SERP features. 
• Video SEO: Optimising the title, URL, tags, and description of video content to appear on SERP.
• E-commerce SEO: Optimising product information as well as a brand on online marketplaces to drive more traffic and sales. 
• Mobile SEO: Optimising websites to be more mobile-friendly and looking for keywords used by mobile users. 
• Local SEO: Optimising content on Google Business Profile and website to target local audiences. 

SEO vs. SEM: What’s the Difference?

As both are digital marketing strategies targeting search engines, many people are still confused about SEO and SEM. 

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) employs both paid advertising and organic search traffic to drive visitors to a website, whereas Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) concentrates on optimising a website for organic search traffic. 

However, SEO is part of SEM. To be clear, SEM consists of SEO for organic search results and PPC (Paid Per Click) for paid search results. 

The major difference between SEO and SEM lies in how they work. SEO for digital marketing is a website optimising tactic to rank on the top of search engine result pages. The practices include on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and technical SEO. 

On the other hand, SEM uses a paid approach to get online visibility on search engines, such as Google Ads. 

Technically, marketers using SEM will look for relevant keywords and analyse the competitors’ ads. After that, they will create pertinent campaigns. 

You can easily spot SEM and SEO content on search engines, in which SEM content usually has “Ad” or “Sponsored” tags above the title and SEO does not. 

Despite working with different strategies, both SEO and SEM target brand awareness and traffic. 

How SEO Works

Now that you know what is SEO, the types, and the differences with SEM, let’s delve into how it works. 

Google ranks pages using "algorithms," which are rather intricate procedures. These algorithms determine the ranking of a certain website by considering an enormous amount of ranking criteria. Yet, it does not mean that you must understand how it works. 

On the contrary, you can learn how SEO works to optimise your website better. Below are how you can work with SEO. 

1. Make Relevant and Top-Notch Content

To sit in the higher spot, you must offer the most relevant content to your users because Google only shows relevant results to users. 

In this case, you must consider the search intent, or why people input a certain query to the search bar. Not only that, you must find the most relevant keywords to user queries. 

After you find the most relevant keywords, you can create content based on them. You have to produce content that is truly in the top 10 on a specific topic if you want to rank highly in Google. 

To achieve it, make sure the content covers the topic thoroughly, answers users’ questions or problems, is unique, and is readable. 

Moreover, Google places a high value on E-E-A-T, or Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness. Thus, you must offer precise and trustworthy information and give both on- and off-site demonstrations.

Then, how does Google determine relevant content? Google will consider the keywords you use on your web pages and whether they match the query. 

In addition, it will see how relevant the type of content you provide on your website is. Regarding this, you can analyse what type of content appears in the search results for the targeted keyword. 

Next, make sure that you offer recently updated content for queries that have time constraints. With that, your content will always be fresh. 

Last but not least, Google may provide various results depending on where a user is searching. In this case, you can apply local SEO to your content. 

2. Provide User-Friendly Website

Google favours user-friendly websites; therefore, you must strengthen your technical SEO. Besides, you must ensure the usability, crawlability, and indexability of your website. 

To ensure that your website has a great technical SEO, you can perform a site audit on Sequence Stat’s Site Audit feature. 

3. Enhance Website Authority 

Search engines evaluate your site's trustworthiness based on some off-page indications, one of which is backlinks. 

Backlinks fundamentally serve as search engines' votes of trust. Google views pages with a higher volume of high-quality links as having more authority. Therefore, the more authority you have, the higher your ranking will be. 

Benefits of SEO for Business

Knowing what is SEO is important for your business, but learning the advantages of SEO will benefit you. Here are the benefits of SEO for business you should know. 

1. Boost Online Visibility

The first benefit of SEO for business is boosting online visibility; therefore, users can easily find your site. 

To locate the answers they need, search engine users input relevant terms. Next, the search engine results page (SERP) will display websites that are relevant to the user's query.

Owners of websites optimise their web pages, blog posts, and articles to rank well in search results and increase traffic and clicks. Additionally, more clicks equate to more visitors to your website, otherwise, more organic traffic. 

2. Increase Brand Awareness

Next, SEO can increase your brand awareness. Regularly appearing in search results gives the impression that your company is a reliable authority. 

This is because Google only levitates dependable and user-based content to search results. Therefore, audiences can trust your site since it appears more in search results. 

In addition, a strong SEO strategy also impacts the topical authority, which facilitates consumers' and search engines' ability to trust these topics.

3. Offers Cost-Effective Marketing Strategies

SEO comes as one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies since you can utilise many free SEO tools, like Google Keyword Planner, even though you can opt for paid tools. 

Particularly, if you're on a tight budget, SEO may be more desirable than sponsored advertising due to its affordability. 

To do sponsored ads, you may need to spend more on ad campaigns, landing page design, content creation, and testing. Yet, once your ad ends, you may also see a sharp decline in traffic.

However, it does not imply that you ought to forgo advertising. Paid advertisements should ideally be used in conjunction with your complete SEO strategy and organic traffic. 

4. Advance User Experience

SEO can help advance your website’s user experience, leading to increased conversion rates. 

If users have an unpleasant experience, they will either visit your website for a shorter period or leave right away. This informs Google that visitors' demands aren't being met by your website.  

However, if visitors spend time on your sites and locate what they need on your website, they have a good experience. Additionally, it lets Google know that you're meeting consumer needs.

Pages that exhibit great user experience facilitate Google's ability to locate and comprehend them, allowing for accurate indexing. Moreover, it streamlines users' search engine results, which may boost your leads or sales.

5. Target Local Audiences

As mentioned above, local SEO can help you target audiences in certain geographical areas, especially if you have a physical location or store. 

Google utilises a user's location when conducting a local search to suggest well-known and pertinent companies.

In fact, according to Google, 88% of mobile searchers visit a connected store within a week and 76% do so in a single day. Therefore, optimising your local SEO can widen the opportunity to get visited.

6. Outrank the Competitors

Not only can gain revenue from your business, but you can also excel your competitors, especially in search engines. 

Your competitors are likely optimising their websites to rank for industry keywords, which implies that they are bringing in potential customers.

Therefore, you must analyse the websites of your competitors to find out how they draw visitors, then utilise that knowledge to develop a winning plan of action. 

7. Understand the Audiences

Last but not least, SEO can help you understand your target audience. This is because search engines aim to provide users with the most pertinent results possible. 

You can learn customers' needs and wants are revealed to you through SEO data and insights, enabling you to satisfy them and rank better in search engine results. 

In this case, you can benefit from Google Analytics 4 to see some SEO data you need, including revenue and engagement. 

Along with that, you can analyse the search intent, whether it is informational, navigational, commercial, or transactional. 

Understanding search intent will help you utilise keywords wisely and produce content that appeals to your target audience and may even get you a higher search engine ranking.

Who Needs SEO the Most?

After knowing what is SEO and how you can benefit from it, now is the time to see what business needs SEO the most. Below are some sectors that need SEO.

1. Food and Beverages Industry

The food and beverages industry is one of the businesses needing SEO. This is because they have low-profit margins and depend mostly on local clients.

These companies may benefit from SEO by becoming more visible in local search results, drawing more customers, and taking in more bookings or orders. For more information, you can see details about SEO for food retail.

2. Legal Industry

Legal services are quite competitive and significantly dependent on exposure and reputation on the internet. Legal services companies may benefit from SEO by becoming more visible in search results, demonstrating their subject-matter knowledge, and drawing in new business.

For example, you can utilise SEO for a personal injury lawyer if you work in this liability sector. 

3. Real Estate Industry

Next, the real estate industry is the sector that needs SEO. Real estate companies may benefit from SEO by becoming more visible in local search results, showcasing their listings to prospective buyers and sellers, and establishing themselves as authorities in the area.

You can see more detailed information about SEO for real estate agents to figure out how SEO works for this sector. 

4. YMYL Industry

If your business operates in the YMYL niche, SEO surely will help you. YMYL, or Your Money Your Life, describes information that might significantly impact a person's financial or personal choice. 

Higher standards of quality are expected of this material since it is deemed more significant than other categories of information. Some industries in the YMYL niche are financial services, banking, medical and health, law, and e-commerce.

Therefore, if you run a business in that sector, you might need SEO to levitate your business, such as banks or finances.

5. Small Industries

Last but not least, one industry that would surely feel the impacts of SEO is small industries. SEO for small industries works by optimizing local SEO; targeting keywords that are specific and localized for each targeted region. 

A courier business in Malaysia, for example. A small business in the niche might benefit more from targeting keywords like “kuala lumpur courier services” or “penang courier services” rather than just “courier services”. 

Moreover, SEO contents are evergreen. So long it stays on the website and is optimized, it will generate organic traffic and leads. In return, it is relatively budget-friendly compared to paid digital marketings.

Professional SEO Services

Those are what is SEO and the details you should know. SEO may help escalate your business organically through search engines.

However, doing it alone may become a challenge to your business since you perhaps require in-house SEO specialists. Worry no more, you can benefit from the best SEO companies providing SEO services. 

Regarding this, you can rely on SEO Services by cmlabs. cmlabs is an SEO company consisting of expert teams who are ready to help you implement comprehensive SEO strategies. We’ll cover all your SEO needs and let you focus on other business areas!

Secure your meeting with our marketing team and tell us your SEO needs now!