Search Engine Optimization In the digital era, most product or service searches begin on search engines. Thus, Google is a starting point for 86% of users seeking information about something they need. What does this mean for businesses and brands? First, companies should ensure their online presence. Second, they should ensure their names and offers appear in the search results generated by users’ requests. The next question is this: how can you force search engines to include your brand in the results they generate? This is exactly when search engine optimization (SEO) comes into play. SEO is a methodology that allows businesses to influence the rank that search engines assign them in their listings. If the ranking is high, the information about your brand will show up often, and your position will be close to the beginning of the result page. Companies worldwide recognize the meaning of SEO in business. 61% of marketers admitted that this is their top marketing priority in 2021, which puts a particular focus on digital marketing services. Continue reading, and you’ll discover what SEO is and how it works, and in which ways you can influence the position of your website in search engine results. What is SEO? Search engine optimization implies a range of efforts, including website content optimization, to attain a higher rank on search engines. In particular, SEO deals exclusively with non-paid searches also referred to as organic searches. Today, this is a crucial long-term marketing channel that delivers value in terms of lead generation, conversions, and brand reputation. How does SEO work? When ranking websites in search results, Google aims to enhance user experience, meaning that its algorithms work to present the most relevant and valuable information. Because Google cares for its searchers, it wants to present the best possible information available. Therefore, to excel in your SEO undertakings, you should focus on a SEO strategy to help search engines recognize your website content as most appropriate for a specific search request. How Search Engines Work The operation of search engines is based on complex algorithms which continually change and evolve. Google utilizes robots to inspect millions of webpages on the internet in order to identify the types and quality of their content. These robots scan code and analyze all the available information, including written text, pictures, videos, and more. Once they have collected sufficient data from each webpage, they evaluate the usefulness of this content to their searchers and add the pages to their index accordingly. The index encompasses all possible web results stored by a search engine for further presentation to a potential searcher. When search engines receive a user query, they determine the best results based on both the search request and the other information existing online. Specifically, their algorithm correlates the searcher’s query to the corresponding information in their index and provides the most accurate answers to the query. The kinds of content that would appear in the results and their order depend on the hundreds of factors that search engines assess and analyze. Mastering these factors is the task of SEO experts. The ranking factors include but are not limited to: Page load speed Backlink profile (list of all of the links on other resources pointing to your website) Keyword popularity Mobile-friendliness Overall, Google uses over 200 ranking factors to identify what content will appear on the first page of search engine results. Why is the first page so important? Because 75% of users never move beyond it when browsing their search results. Notably, Google does not reveal the details of how their algorithm works. Therefore, specific factors affecting indexing and ranking are unknown, meaning that website SEO isn’t a precise science. However, it has a set of proven tactics, methods, and approaches that lead to winning results if applied thoughtfully, patiently, and continually. What Does SEO Include? Essentially, you can classify SEO tactics into three categories.