What are the Basics of SEO?

SEO Basics

SEO Basic learning starts from Web and Search Engines. As you may know, SEO tends to bring traffic to your website by using related keywords all over the 'Search Engines' and 'The Web'.

To understand Search Engine Optimization, you have to go through the basics of SEO:

  1. Web
  2. Web Transitions
  3. Web Formation
  4. Search Engines
  5. Crawlers & Bots
  6. Optimization
  7. SEO Ranking Factors

That will expand your knowledge with reference to Organic Ranking. SEO Skol provides detailed knowledge that will help you in every phase of Google Ranking Process. So, lets start with the basics:

What is Web?

The web is a short word but it has depth like an ocean. The web is a part of internet that supports formatted documents which are interlinked. The electronic links which connects the information: can provide users, simple access to them. They are interlinked with the help of following terms:


Hypertext

The term Hyper-text was cointed by Ted Nelson, around 1965. "Hypertext is a text which contains links to other text." For Example: When you search the topic 'SEO Types' and get the information and while reading that, you find a link on the phrase such as the 'On-Page SEO', if you click on that, the hyperlink will take you to another page or document. In that document, you can read all the information related to the article of On-Page SEO. This interlinking is known as Hypertext. The given picture can help you to understand Hypertext in an easy way:

Hypertext - SEO Basics "Hypertext contains links that are used for Link-Building in SEO"

Hypermedia

As from the suffix 'media', you can relate this to other means of digital world. Hypermedia is a term used instead of Hypertext but is not restricted to the text. It includes: Graphics, Videos, Sounds.

As I have already mentioned that pages may be interlinked with each other on the web:

Hyper-Media - SEO Basics "Hypermedia also creates Backlinks for effective Ranking"

Web Transitions

  • HTTP
    • HTTP is a Hypertext Transfer Protocol. This manages the connection between the client and server. It aids to transfer files on the World Wide Web.
  • HTML
    • Hyper-text Markup Language (HTML) is a code that structures the web and its content. Moreover, it is one of the most prevalent formats for publishing web pages or documents.
  • URL
    • Uniform Resource Locator is the abbreviation of URL. It is a unique address that provides the access to web pages.

Web Formation

Web formation is the combination of following terms:

  • World Wide Web
  • Internet
  • Applications (Web Application & Mobile Apps)


    • World Wide Web (www)

    The web is also known as the "World Wide Web." It can be recognized with WWW and W3. It is a system of information that is based on hypertext. As you are aware of the hypertext, that it aids to reach another document with the support of a link. It can handle a variety of unique documents, which can be created on the World Wide Web and searched by different keywords. That's why, if we want more individuals to read our written data, we should use SEO based keywords. The World Wide Web utilizes "hypertext and multimedia tools" to enable anyone to explore, browse, and contribute to the web.


    Internet

    In the postmodern era, the Internet is one of the most important thing which is connected by every gadget such as the computer and mobiles. The internet can assist people to connect across the world to grab information and for communication purpose.


    How the Internet and World Wide Web are connected?

    Www is a software service that operates on the internet. Internet is a network that supports to the different devices and software. The World Wide Web, which supports websites and URLs, is a subset of these interactions.

    Web - SEO Basics

    How is the web string attached with Websites and Applications?

    The websites and applications are attached to the web or World Wide Web because every website has a different URL and they can be connected with each other with hypertext. Additionally, it can contain video and graphics. Moreover, if it comes to applications so, it is a software that can be accessed by the browser. To convey information, the Web Application utilizes a combination of server-side scripts, client-side scripts and a server is required to manage user requests.

    There are plenty of web applications that can be a good example of it, such as:

  • Amazon
  • YouTube
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

    • Web Applications - SEO Basics In a nutshell, the web, which is also known as the World Wide Web, is a system of information that is used for sharing information. Moreover, the internet has become an important part of our lives and the web and internet all are connected with each other.
    Whenever we are searching for anything. We move to the search engines.

    What are Search Engines?

    When we desire to obtain information, we often use the search engine named as Google. An application that allows us to find information on the internet by utilizing keywords. Search engines enable visitors to easily access information that is true and according to their interests. For that, you don’t have to go through the useless multitude of web pages.

    To obtain information, we often use the search engine named as 'Google' and 'Bing.'


    Google

    Whenever we want to grab the information we run towards google that’s why it is at the top of the search engines list with a strong worth. The website traffic is what determines who will be at the number one spot.

    Google - SEO Basics "No matter if you are looking for a video, image, or website you will get it all in Google"

    It is an ocean of information and entertainment. Google has a 92.07% market shares.


    Why Google is Most Powerful?

    Google has collected massive information that no other platform had. Quality is the factor that makes google most reliable and powerful rather than the rest of the search engines. Moreover, the algorithm of Google is so powerful that it provides the users with accurate information.

    Over the years google is on the top!

    In 1999, Google founders "Sergey Brin" and "Larry Page" attempted to sell the Google Company for $750,000, however, the offer was rejected and google was added to the list of "bad business calls". Google parent company alphabets are now valued at more than $1.012 trillion.

    The founders thought that the “websites which are referred by the other websites” are more reliable and we call them Back-Linking. That’s why we take the backlinks from the website which have high Domain Authority and Page Authority (DA & PA). Blacklinking is also a part of Basic Search Engine Optimization. The paid search (Ads) on Google is way more expensive than other search engines. As it is obvious, we can obtain any information through Google. Additionally, whether you need Shoes or Furniture, you still search on Google and then visit an app or website.

    For Example: If we need “leather jackets”. We will search on google best leather Jackets or even leather Jackets, we will get the websites that sell the leather Jackets and from there we can order a jacket and get all the information related to the product.

    Leather Jackets - SEO Basics

    In the future, if some other search engines will try to beat Google, it will be difficult for them. Moreover, Google is on the top but not the only search engine. The search engine after Google is Microsoft Bing.


    Microsoft Bing

    Bing is one of the search engines that has always strived to out-perform Google. That is why, they take different approaches in the advertising space in order to compete with Google.

    Microsoft Bing - SEO Basics

    Furthermore, they added a number of elements to Microsoft advertisements. However, they are all an effort to catch up.


    Bing Importance

    It is the second number after google with a 3.04% marketplace. In 2022, the Bing name was updated to a Microsoft Bing and is owned by Microsoft. Although their algorithms aren't as powerful as Google's, they're making significant strides in the AI sector. Additionally, it is easy to use and offers more beautiful backgrounds daily.

    Bing - SEO Basics "If you look for videos and graphics so, this can be an ideal platform for you"

    Crawlers and bots

    The crawlers are also known as bots and spiders. A crawler is an automated software and it's purpose is to crawl and gather information around the internet by visiting sites reading the data. Most people call it, Spider or robot. By using their own crawlers, search engines crawl billions of pages. Search Engines can navigate the web by downloading web pages and following links on these sites to locate newly accessible pages.

    Web Crawlers - SEO Basics "Search Engines do not Index anthing unless it is crawled"

    How does Web Crawlers Work?

    In a sense, a crawler is similar to a librarian. The key objective is to index the website, so that the information can be found by search engines and delivered to the users. Such as, If you want Google to index your website, you must submit a request. As a result, the crawler will come to your website and go through all of the data of your site. If everything is fine according to the Google Guidelines, your website will be indexed.

    Google Indexing - SEO Basics "This diagram depicts the link association discovered by a crawler"

    Search Engines are Secure to Use

    Search Engines are an excellent source of information, and one of the top search engines is Google, which contains a plethora of informational websites.

    It works quickly!
    If you want your website to appear faster, first index it to Google Search Console. You must request that the crawler or bots visit your site for this to happen. Everything is done as per the google requirements.

    If we look for search engines, Bing will come in the second position after Google. It is simple to use and has several benefits, but Microsoft Bing is less popular than Google.

    Introduction to Optimization (Ranking)

    According to the research, 95% of people who seem to want information turn to the internet. The others acquire their knowledge from books or other sources. A search engine like 'Google' contains a variety of material, but only a limited content of it, is read. They read mostly from seo ranking sites or the content that has been optimized. For example, the sites which come on the first page of Google are ranked.

    Website Optimization - SEO Basics "They got able to rank because of Search Engine Optimization"

    If your site is effectively optimized, it will generate more visitors over time, which will assist you to receive more profit. That is why SEO can assist your website to be the greatest!

    As a result, ranking and SEO optimization should be just as valuable to you as your business.

    Firstly, the important thing is ranking your site so, your desired audience can reach you!

    How to Rank a Website?

    To rank the website you have to do correct Search engine optimization. SEO helps you to align your website into Google rankings. Google consistently changes the SEO ranking requirements after some time. That’s why it is also compulsory to stay updated with the Google algorithm.


    Ranking Methods

    There are two methods from which you can rank your website or can generate more traffic.

  • Paid
  • Unpaid


    • As you can see in the given picture where there are sites that are on the first page and on the left of them is written “Ad”, these are paid ways to rank your site. These are known as PPC (pay per click) Ads, which are quite expensive.

    Paid Ranking - SEO Basics "Once you stop paying, the Paid Rankings are gone"

    Unpaid Ranking (SEO)

    When you say the word “organic” so, that refers to Search Engine Optimization Ranking. SEO is an organic method of ranking your site and generating traffic from that.

    UnPaid Ranking - SEO Basics "Once you have done Organic Ranking, it lasts for Longer Period"

    It is being said that you can never know all the Types of SEO Ranking Factors. You can learn from the experiment or practice.

    Important SEO Ranking Factors

    Some of the Basic Important SEO Ranking Factors defined below:

  • Content Quality
  • Backlinks
  • Mobile Friendliness
  • Page Speed


    • Content Quality

    One of the most important factors in SEO ranking is the Quality of Content. Each and every detail related to the content, affect your ranking. Your content length, title, content optimization, and reference, everything does matter. For optimization, you should utilize your keyword in the title or headers. Furthermore, your content should be related to your keywords.

    For example: If you have an SEO website and you use keywords related to 'politics' so, it will affect your rankings because the user will not be able to find what he is looking for.

    Moreover, your content should be up to date and unique. If the content you are posting is available on other pages so, why would users visit your site?


    Backlinks are a part of Off-Page SEO that plays a vital role to rank your site. They are also known as inbound links. Backlinks are hyperlinks that connects one website to another. A backlink can from any website or from one website to another website entirely. They can generate organic traffic to your website, which is the primary goal of it.

    To rank your website through back-linking process, there are plenty of things that you should keep in mind. Your links should be relevant and you should also include internal linking. The crawler uses the links to crawl the website and it will crawl each link that will be attached to the website. Relevant links increases the web authority of your site & the links should be related to the content otherwise, it will be a drawback for you.

    The critical aspect is how many links your website requires is a sensitive part to focus on, that an SEO Expert can deal with but we can tell you pros and cons of the links & the methods such as profile linking, social bookmarking, and many more in Off-Page SEO Guide. The site from which you obtained the links will refer to your website and sometimes they pass on some domain authority to your site. If someone visits that site and notices your link, there is a high possibility they will click on it and visit your site as well. A website with a lot of high-quality backlinks is more likely to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) than a website with fewer or lower-quality backlinks.


    Mobile Friendliness

    Most people use mobile nowadays because they find it more convenient which is why, they mostly explore websites on their mobile. No matter whether you have a Blogging or E-Commerce brand website, or any other website, you should indeed make it mobile friendly, so that people who will visit your site can have a satisfactory experience.

    Mobile Friendly Site - SEO Basics

    The mobile-friendliness of a site is determined by how well it functions on mobile devices. A mobile-friendly site should be easily navigable and have all the same features as the desktop version. If your site is mobile-friendly so it will be easy to read the content and the buttons should be large enough to be clicked on without difficulty, it will automatically make the user experience better. If your site is not mobile-friendly, it will be difficult to view your site and if it is then it will lower your audience rate and will reduce your chances of ranking.

    There are various ways that can assist you to know that, is your website mobile-friendly or not? just take a Mobile-Friendly Test.


    Page Speed

    Page speed is also considered the most important factor of SEO ranking since Google prefers to make the User Experience better. Page speed notifies you about how quickly the site's pages load when accessed by a user. A low page speed can negatively impact a user's experience of a website.

    For Example: if your website takes too much time to load so, people will prefer to leave your site because they don’t have that much time to wait for your website to get loaded. Page speed is also a factor in search engine ranking because it has been proved that sites with high page speed have a higher chance of being ranked than sites with low speed.

    In a nutshell, page speed can increase or decrease the user experience and site ranking also depends on it, so a faster site will tend to rank higher in search results. There are a number of ways to improve a website's page speed such as AMP Web-Pages or Fixing Load Time, optimizing images, Hosting, and a lot more. Every way of it plays a crucial role in it, that’s why you should keep them in mind and should follow the most of them.

    To sum up, now you should be familiar with all of the fundamentals of the web, search engines, and optimization. What are the different factors, and how might Basic SEO helps you in the ranking. Everything is here to assist you and clear your mind. These would undoubtedly aid you in ranking any website.


    Let's move to the Types of SEO..