Search Engine Optimisation: Grow Free Google SEO Traffic

When Search Engines perform a lightening fast search, they achieve this not by searching the web itself but by querying a massive database of the pages on the website they have built.  The process of finding the information on the website is known as 'Crawling' and the database is called the 'Index'.

When a search is performed, search engines query their Index for relevant content and then serve that content to the user in order of relevancy. This order of search results by relevance is called ranking. The higher a website's rank, the more relevant the search engine perceives that site is to the query.

Most SEO tactics fall into three categories:

1. On-page SEO

2. Off-page SEO

3. Technical SEO

All three are vital to your SEO performance. However, they are very different.

Search engine optimisation techniques divide into Black Hat and White Hat SEO. Black Hat SEO techniques try to trick search engines into thinking that a website is relevant for a particular search term. White Hat SEO techniques build long-term traffic through quality content and relevant links from other highly ranked sites.

Basic technical knowledge of how websites work and how Search Engines read them will help you optimise your site for natural search. Technical SEO is about ensuring that a website conforms to the technical requirements of search engines to maximise organic rankings.

Technical SEO is vitally important to your natural search performance because, to include your site in their results, Google and other search engines must be able to find, crawl, understand and index the pages on your website.

This lecture outlines the domain, brand and spam site factors influencing search engine ranking.

Technical SEO refers to the behind-the-scenes set-up of your website, which can improve (or at least not hinder) your SEO performance. This document discusses technical SEO factors related to your site's configuration.

On-page SEO (a.k.a "on-site SEO") is the process of optimising web pages so that users and search engines can better understand your content. The goal is to create content that appears high up on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) for search terms relevant to your business.

Keyword research involves finding and analysing keywords your ideal website visitors enter into search engines. It enables you to target the most effective keywords when creating content.

Once you have completed your keyword research and organised your content into topics, it is time to start planning your content. When people talk about content optimisation, they often refer to content that will drive organic search engine traffic. However, remember you should always be writing for the user and not specifically for Google.

Off-page SEO includes tasks done off a website to boost the site's search engine rankings. Off-page SEO activities include link building, encouraging branded searches, and increasing engagement on social media.

Off-page SEO aims to get users and search engines to see your site as more trustworthy and authoritative. It is one of the cornerstones of a successful SEO strategy.

Link building is the process of building hyperlinks (or "backlinks") to a website to improve search engine performance,

Backlinks are the most important factor used by Google to evaluate a site's authority. When reputable and relevant sites link to or cite your website's content, it is like a 'vote' in favour of that site. All other things being equal, Google and other search engines consider a site with more high-quality links to be of greater authority and places them higher in the search results.

You should encourage sites to link to your content to build authority. Strategies can be passive (i.e. creating content which attracts links) or active (i.e. actively approaching sites for links. Whatever your plan, your site's content must be high quality to make it worth linking to.

Local SEO optimises your online presence to increase local traffic, visibility, and brand awareness. Any business with a physical location or that serves a geographic area can benefit from local SEO.

Google Search Console (GSC) is a free tool that allows you monitor your site's search performance and technical SEO health.

Your ranking for a keyword is an unpaid position in search engine results when that keyword is searched on Google or another search engine. Establishing your keyword ranking will allow you to understand your SEO performance and where your site needs more work.

This video details a to-do list of the most important SEO actions you can take on your website.

Congratulations on finishing the course (shame on you if you have skipped straight to the end!) If you have any questions, please ask them next to the relevant lecture and we will answer them shortly.