Now it’s time to look at one of the biggest pillars of internet marketing of all: SEO
SEO is ‘Search Engine Optimization’ and this basically means that you’re trying to get your website to show up in search results. Of course, you’re not going to be able to show up high in every search result and so this is where keywords and targeting come in.
A keyword is essentially a word or a phrase that people are going to search in order to find your site. When people go shopping online, they will almost always start with Google. And when they start with Google, they will begin by searching for the thing they want. Very often, this will mean that they search for something like ‘Buy Hats Online’.
If you can target that precise phrase so that your page is the top result, then you will not only be able to reach the right demographic – but you’ll be able to target them at the precise moment that they’re actually planning on buying something! The same thing happens when someone looks for information – they might search for ‘How to Lose Weight After Christmas’ or ‘Fitness Articles’.
Again, you can bring more people to your site and that way hopefully create more loyal followers, simply by making sure that your pages come up as top results for those terms.
How SEO Works
In order to get to the top of Google, the aim is to try and understand how Google works, how Google decides which sites are worthwhile and then how you can manipulate those factors in order to move your site to the top.
Google works using ‘spiders’ or ‘robots’. These are small programs that search the web by following from one link to the next.
Each time they find a new website, they then add that website to a giant index and will assess the subject matter and the quality of that site by looking at who is linking to the page, how the page is laid out and what the subject of the content appears to be.
If we knew precisely how Google’s algorithm worked, then we could get to the top of the search results with guaranteed certainty. As we don’t know this though, all we can do is make educated guesses and hope that those get us to the top of Google.
SEO: Then and Now
When Google first became the dominant search engine, the algorithm was fairly straightforward and was generally quite well understood by marketers. Back then, we knew that:
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Google finds sites by looking following links on sites already in the index.
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Google thinks of a link as a testimony. The more people linking to your site, the better your site must be.
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Google attempts to match search terms with the content on your pages. If you repeat the same phrase often enough, then you will stand a better chance of ranking for that term.
Back then, it was easy enough to manipulate Google into doing your bidding. All you had to do was to create a website with lots and lots of content, repeat the same keywords over and over again and get lots of other sites to link to you.
Unfortunately, this led to spammy tactics. So, Google clamped down and introduced smarter rules and algorithms: Penguin and Panda.
A few examples of the changes:
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Google will now penalize websites for ‘keyword stuffing’. A density of 1–2% is generally recommended.
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Google now prefers long form content and will reward it thusly.
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Google will penalize sites that associate with spam sites.
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Low quality links are worthless.
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Links from established authorities mean much more. A single link from Harvard is worth a million links from spam sites.
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Google now understands synonyms and related terms and will look for you to have written around a subject.
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Google penalizes links that are from sites that aren’t related to yours.
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Google clamps down hard on paid links.
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Google clamps down hard on stolen or re-worked content.
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Google can now monitor how long people spend on a website or page.
Modern SEO Best Practices
So, with all that said, how do you go about carrying out SEO for your site in this day and age?
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Fill your site with as much relevant, long-form content as possible.
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Include links to other high-quality, relevant sites.
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Conduct keyword research using tools like Google Keyword Planner.
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Use your keyword naturally, with related terms and synonyms throughout the content.
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Build backlinks from high-authority websites using tactics like guest posting.
Local SEO
Local SEO helps you avoid competing with national brands. If you live in Santa Monica and run a hairdresser, try to rank for ‘Santa Monica Hairdresser’ and get links from local businesses.
Even international businesses can benefit from building local momentum before expanding their reach.
Final Words
Avoid manipulative or spammy SEO. Focus on:
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Great content that people want to read and share
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Organic, natural anchor text
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Encouraging users to link to your content
The best SEO aligns with Google's goals: to deliver value and relevance to users.
