SEO is the work of making your website easier for search engines to find and more useful to people. Learn the five parts and where to start.
What SEO means
SEO, or search engine optimisation, is the practice of improving a website so it appears higher in search results for the searches that matter to your business. The goal is not traffic for its own sake. The goal is the right people finding you at the moment they are ready to act.
How search engines work
Search engines like Google do three jobs.
- Crawl. Automated programs follow links to discover pages.
- Index. The pages they find are analysed and stored.
- Rank. When someone searches, the engine picks the stored pages that best match the search and orders them by relevance and quality.
If a page can’t be crawled or indexed, it can’t rank. If it can, the question becomes whether it answers the search better than the alternatives.
Why SEO matters
Most buying decisions begin with a search. Unlike an advertisement, a page that ranks keeps working without a payment for every visit. SEO takes time to build, but its results tend to compound as your pages and reputation grow.
The five parts of SEO
SEO is easier to manage when you split it into five connected parts.
- Technical SEO makes your site fast, crawlable and error-free. Learn about technical SEO.
- On-page SEO shapes each page to match what people search. Learn about on-page SEO.
- Local SEO helps you appear on maps and in local results. Learn about local SEO.
- Content SEO answers the questions buyers ask. Learn about content SEO.
- Authority comes from trusted sites linking to you. Learn about link building.
How long does SEO take?
It depends on your competition and your starting point. Local improvements can show in a few weeks, while competitive searches often take four to six months or longer. Be wary of anyone who guarantees a ranking, because search engines make that decision, not agencies.
Where to start
- Check that your most important pages are indexed using Google Search Console.
- Make sure each key page has one clear topic, a unique title and a visible next step.
- Complete your Google Business Profile if you serve local customers.
- Fix obvious speed and mobile problems.
- Get an expert opinion with a free SEO audit.
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