How to SEO – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the cornerstone of being relevant in today’s world. Your business can have all of the social media following in the world but if it doesn’t appear on Google search results, it is like you don’t actually exist.

Here are some of the top SEO FAQs that you might have in your mind:

Do You Really Need SEO?

While social media has changed some dynamics, a major portion of website visitors come from online searches. Google is the undisputed king in this space with over trillions of hits every month. While search engines differ in their algorithms, SEO is done around Google except for China where Baidu’s search reigns supreme as the former is banned.

Essentially, search engines like Google are online portals where people can search for relevant information. If you have a business, you need it to appear on search results, period.

How Does SEO Work?

SEO algorithms are now complex processes that are very difficult for many to understand. They started off as simple as very basic programs since the number of websites in existence was small, functionality was limited, and costs were too high.

Nowadays even as Google SEO improves constantly over time, there are three main factors that a search engine will assess while ranking your website. They are:

• Domain Authority
• Relevancy
• Crawlability

What is Domain Authority?

Domain Authority is the overall outlook of your website on major search engines and Google itself. It is the reputation of the website that is built over time. This is where backlinking comes into play and how other websites are pointing to you.

It used to rank much higher previously, but as other factors have gained importance over the years in the latest iterations, the DA has taken a hit.

What is Relevance?

Relevance or Relevancy is how appropriate your website is for a particular type of content. For example, a website named www.weratecars.com needs to be about cars and the overall automobile experience. It doesn’t need to have irrelevant information and unnecessary advertisements. People visit your website for relevant information, and they better get it.

What is Crawlability?

A more recent ranking factor is called Crawlability. It is a way for Google to verify the information on the website and index it for later usage. It usually follows the links on the website and keeps updating the index over time.

Depending on your website’s importance to Google, the crawler can visit your website in varying frequencies.

Why Doesn’t My SEO Work?

Your SEO probably doesn’t work because you are doing something wrong in any of these three departments. If you build useful links, have plenty of hits on the website and the crawler rates you well enough, the SEO should work.

Common SEO mistakes include:

• Using outdated information/SEO tools as it is one of the most advanced systems in the world with continued improvements over time.
• Not having the right content strategy
• Not targeting the right audience

What are Keywords?

Keywords are essentially groups of words or phrases that best define your business’s sector or what people are searching for. You need to research what people are searching for that relates to your business. You can then use the appropriate keywords to build up content on your website. Previously, outdated techniques like keyword stuffing could be used to a great effect but not anymore. There are multiple advanced tools that can help you with trending topics and finding the right keywords, two of the most popular ones are Buzzsumo and Twinword.

Can I Buy Just a Lot of Backlinks? Will that Work?

No. Previously, excessive, purposeless backlinking used to work but not anymore. Google’s algorithms are very advanced, and they can deduct points due to this behaviour. It is much better to build up more useful backlinks over time and one of the new advanced techniques being used is HARO link building.

I Used to Get a Lot of Hits from Google but Now they Have Decreased. Why?

Google updates its search engine considerably over time. The end goal of the company is to give relevant results to users over time and increase its monopoly on the sector, like every other company. So, it is a common phenomenon that many businesses that were relevant in searches have become less relevant over time while others have become more relevant with time.

Therefore, these Google updates can literally make or break your website rank on Google. It is important to keep track of them and edit your content accordingly. However, a strong organic SEO strategy is rarely likely to go completely out of fashion.

What is the ROI of SEO?

The Return on Investment (ROI) of SEO varies differently from one industry to another. The costs involved in doing SEO are also very different based on industry and geo-location. It also depends on a lot of other factors but if your business is doing well with great customer feedback, you need your SEO to be able to do well.

Overall, the role of SEO in bringing new customers into the fold and helping retain older ones is a long-term strategy with long-term effects.

Concluding…

SEO optimization is one of the most basic improvements you can do on your website to attract more traffic to it. We discussed in detail the most common questions asked regarding the space, starting from the very basic ones. It is important to know their answers before working on it to make SEO better.