Editor's Note: This post was originally published in September 2020 and has been updated with additional information in April 2024.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is as vast as it is misunderstood. It's one of the most essential concepts driving digital marketing today and a must-know for marketers who want to see their business succeed online. 

If you've spent as much time as we have researching the ins and outs of SEO, you've probably realized that algorithms change often, and the strategies that work for you one day can become almost meaningless the next. It's enough to drive even the most level-headed marketing pros up the wall. 

Still, some things never change regarding SEO, and those are the things we're here to discuss. While you can never predict where SEO is heading, you can ensure you're an expert on the basics. From this ultimate guide, you'll get an explainer on everything from keyword research to why your SEO efforts may not be working. Let's get started on everything you need to know about SEO.

What is SEO Marketing?

SEO stands for search engine optimization and is the act of improving your web content to be more favorable in the eyes of both readers and search engines.

SEO can help your business and make your website gain more exposure, generate organic traffic, and reach better-qualified leads.

Your SEO strategy is the backbone of your digital presence, bringing traffic to your page. Alternatively, it can be what keeps traffic away. But as you're probably well aware by now, the nuances of your SEO success or failure are complicated.

Why Does SEO Matter?

Consider this:

• Up to 90% of all internet traffic comes through search engines.
• Over 70% of search traffic comes from organic internet searches, compared to just 30% from paid advertising (MarTech).
• Generating traffic and leads is a #1 concern of companies, with 66% of marketers noting that improving SEO and growing their organic presence is a top inbound marketing priority (HubSpot).

Why is SEO important for you? The short answer is that prospective customers don't stand a chance of finding you on the massive cavern that is the internet without it. If you're a business, your customers would have to know your URL and browse directly to your website to get in touch with you or make a purchase.

Search engines act as gatekeepers to the broad expanse of the internet, helping people find what they're researching. And while they're smart, they're not nearly as smart as we want them to be. As a result, you have to optimize your web content to help search engines like Google and Bing fill in the blanks. You have to construct content that appeals not just to your readers but to the gatekeepers that bring these internet users to you.

In other words, you have to do SEO.

In an interview, Andrey Lipattsev, Search Quality Senior Strategist at Google, confirmed that content and link-building are two of the most important factors that Google uses to decide where it ranks your site on a search results page. When it comes to those factors, the quality far outweighs the quantity. 

But SEO is not just about optimizing your website and the internal links that live right on your page. SEO is about your digital presence, not only your website. Pay attention to everything that factors in, which includes:

• On-site SEO / On-Page SEO: The content and links on your site.
• Off-site SEO: The content and links on other sites that lead back to your site. 
• On-SERP SEO: Content related to your page that lives on the search engine results page itself. 

Most brands know what SEO is. Many of them have been taking – and continue to take – significant steps to ensure that they don't get lost somewhere below the first five organic search results (or worse, below the first page!). These efforts' goals are varied, but ultimately, SEO helps you achieve one of your site's primary objectives: it brings more traffic to your site. And if you're among hundreds of thousands of companies competing for eyes on the web, you know how crucial that is. 

How Does SEO Work?

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the process of improving your website's visibility in organic (non-paid) Google search results. The goal of SEO is to attract more qualified website traffic by ensuring search engines like Google can easily crawl, understand, and index your pages. This involves optimizing various aspects of your website, including content quality, technical setup, user experience (UX), and gaining backlinks from reputable sources. Over time, SEO helps build authority and trust with search engines, leading to higher rankings for relevant keywords. The key is continuous optimization to adapt to search engine algorithms, user behavior changes, and industry trends.

SEO Vocabulary

• SERP (Search Engine Results Page): This is the page search engines show after a user enters a search query. The SERP contains organic listings (based on relevance), paid ads, featured snippets, and sometimes knowledge panels or local results.
• Organic Traffic: Refers to visitors who visit your website through unpaid search results. It's a crucial metric in SEO, as it reflects how well your website is optimized and how relevant it is to the search queries it targets.
• Crawling: Search engines use bots (or spiders) to "crawl" the web, following links to discover new and updated content. This process helps search engines find pages to index and rank.
• Indexing: After a search engine crawls a webpage, it indexes that page in its database, making it available for future search queries. If a page isn't indexed, it won't appear in search results.
• Ranking: The position at which a webpage appears on the SERP for a specific search query. Websites that rank higher generally receive more traffic, with the first result often getting the most clicks.

On-page and Off-page Optimization

• On-page Optimization: Refers to all the strategies and techniques implemented directly within your website to improve its position in search rankings. This includes optimizing content, HTML source code, title tags, meta descriptions, URL structure, headers, images, and internal linking. Effective on-page SEO ensures that search engines can easily crawl and understand your pages. It also improves user experience, which is a critical ranking factor.
  • Key elements of on-page SEO:
    • Title Tags & Meta Descriptions: These are crucial for SEO and user experience as they appear in search results.
    • Content Optimization: Ensure content is relevant, high-quality, and answers user queries.
      URL Structure: URLs should be simple, clean, and include relevant keywords.
• Off-page Optimization: Involves activities outside of your website that influence your rankings. The most common off-page tactic is acquiring backlinks—links from other websites pointing to your site. Search engines use backlinks as a signal of trustworthiness and authority.
  •  Key elements of off-page SEO:
    • Backlinks: The number and quality of backlinks pointing to your site are significant ranking factors.
    • Social Media: Shares, likes, and mentions on social media can drive traffic and influence rankings.
    • Brand Mentions: Search engines value mentions of your brand even if they don't include a link.

White Hat SEO vs. Black Hat SEO

• White Hat SEO: Refers to ethical SEO practices that follow search engine guidelines and focus on providing value to users. White hat techniques prioritize long-term, sustainable results and include practices like content creation, link building, and improving website accessibility.
  • Examples of white hat SEO tactics:
    • Writing high-quality, original content.
    • Obtaining backlinks from authoritative sources.
    • Improving website speed and user experience.
• Black Hat SEO: In contrast, black hat SEO refers to manipulative practices designed to trick search engines into ranking a website higher. These tactics often violate search engine guidelines and can result in penalties or even bans from search engine results.
  • Examples of black hat SEO tactics:
    • Keyword stuffing (overloading content with keywords).
    • Cloaking (showing different content to users and search engines).
    • Using paid links or buying backlinks.

What are Search Engines?

Search engines help users find information online by typing in search queries. Popular search engines include Google, Bing, and Yahoo. They use complex algorithms to index and rank webpages based on relevance to the search query. Search engines have crawlers (bots) that continuously scour the web, looking for new and updated content to index and present to users.

How Do Search Engines Work?

Search engines function by first crawling the web to discover content, then indexing that content in a massive database. When a user searches, the search engine retrieves relevant pages from its index, ranks them based on hundreds of factors (like content quality, keywords, backlinks), and presents the most relevant results.

Crawling

Crawling is the process by which search engines use bots (spiders) to visit and discover new or updated web pages. The bots follow links from page to page, collecting data about the site's content, structure, and relevance. Crawling is the first step before indexing, and without it, pages cannot be included in the search engine's index.

Indexing

After crawling, search engines index pages in a massive database, organizing them so they can be retrieved when a relevant query is made. Not all pages are indexed; only those deemed valuable and relevant by the search engine's algorithm will be included.

Picking the Results

When a user performs a search, the search engine uses its algorithms to select the most relevant results from the index. These results are ranked according to various factors like relevance, authority, and user experience.

Google Algorithm

Google's algorithm is a complex set of rules and processes that determine how websites rank in search results. The algorithm considers hundreds of ranking factors, including content quality, backlinks, site speed, and more. It's regularly updated to improve the relevance and quality of results. Major updates like Panda, Penguin, and RankBrain have refined how Google evaluates pages.

SEO Ranking Factors

SEO ranking factors are the elements that search engines evaluate to determine how pages are ranked in search results. They include on-page elements (like content and keywords), off-page elements (like backlinks), technical factors (like mobile-friendliness and page speed), and user experience (UX) factors.

Keyword Research

Keyword research is the process of finding the terms and phrases people use to search for products, services, or information related to your website. It's essential for understanding user intent and optimizing content to match what people are searching for.

What are Keywords?

Keywords are the words or phrases that users type into search engines when looking for information. They represent the core concepts of a search query. By optimizing your site for relevant keywords, you increase the likelihood of your pages being found by users.

Different Types of Keywords

• Short-tail keywords: These are broad, generic terms with high search volume but low conversion rates. Example: "shoes."
• Long-tail keywords: Longer, more specific phrases with lower search volume but higher conversion potential. Example: "Best running shoes for flat feet."
• Branded keywords: Keywords that include a specific brand name, like "Nike running shoes."
• Geo-targeted keywords: Keywords that target a specific location, like "restaurants in Miami."

How to Find Keywords for SEO

• Google Suggestions: When you start typing a query into Google, the search engine offers suggestions based on popular searches.
• Keyword Tools: Tools like Google Keyword Planner, Semrush, and Ahrefs provide data on keyword volume, competition, and trends.

Keyword Metrics

Keyword metrics refer to the data and insights that help you evaluate the potential of a keyword for your SEO strategy. These metrics are crucial for selecting the right keywords that will help improve your website's visibility and drive qualified traffic. Key keyword metrics include:

Search Volume

The number of times a keyword is searched for within a specific period (usually per month). It helps you determine how popular a keyword is.

Keyword Difficulty

This measures how hard it is to rank for a particular keyword. It is typically determined by the level of competition and the strength of other websites ranking for that keyword.

Click-Through Rate (CTR)

This refers to the percentage of users who click on your website after seeing it in search results. A high CTR usually means your page is well-optimized for the keyword.

Cost Per Click (CPC)

In paid search campaigns like Google Ads, CPC represents how much you must pay for each click on an ad targeting that keyword. This can give you an idea of how competitive a keyword is.

Competition

This metric indicates how many advertisers or other websites are targeting the keyword. A highly competitive keyword typically requires more effort and resources to rank.

Search Volume

Search volume refers to the number of searches made for a specific keyword over a given period, typically per month. It is one of the most critical metrics in keyword research because it indicates the level of interest in a keyword or topic. High search volume keywords tend to bring more traffic but also come with increased competition, making them harder to rank for. On the other hand, keywords with lower search volume can be easier to rank for and may provide more targeted traffic.

For example:

• A keyword like "shoes" may have millions of monthly searches, but it's very broad and competitive.
• A keyword like "best running shoes for flat feet" may have lower search volume but is more specific and has less competition.

Why Search Volume Matters:

• Identifies potential traffic: Knowing how many people are searching for a term helps you gauge the potential amount of traffic your site could receive if it ranks for that keyword.
• Strategic targeting: You can choose whether to target high-volume, competitive keywords or low-volume, long-tail keywords depending on your business goals and resources.

What is Local SEO?

The key difference between SEO and Local SEO is the type of search results your business shows up in. Local business SEO is a search engine marketing strategy that helps businesses boost their visibility in local search results.

Unlike regular SEO, which relies on national and international search results, local SEO boosts your web pages' visibility in region-specific results. For example, if you own a boutique hotel in New York, you'd want to appear for "boutique hotel near me" or "boutique hotel near the Hudson River." These keywords and searches help users find products or services near their location.

Here are a few other types of businesses that can benefit from local SEO for business:

• Coffee shops
• Local consultants
• Manufacturers
• Local marketing agencies
• Museums
• Auto dealers
• Photographers
• Colleges and universities
• Casinos

Search engines consider many things when ranking web pages for specific search terms.

Here are some things search engines will consider:

• Is your website up to scratch? (Does it provide users with a fantastic experience?)
• Where is your store located, and are you near the person searching?
• What product or service do you offer, and does it fix the searcher's problem?
• Do you have an excellent online reputation?

Here are four ways you can boost your website's local SEO:

• Optimize for Google Business Profile: A Google Business Profile page can help customers find and learn more about your business efficiently. Prospective customers can also get a quick summary of your business – reviews, opening hours, contact info, and more.
• Contact details: Ensure your name, address, and phone number are consistent across every publication and website. This makes it easier for potential customers to find you. Additionally, if Google can't determine which information about your business is correct, your website might not be shown in the search results.
• Optimize online directories and citations: Map aggregators like Express Update and Foursquare provide map data to search engines. Submitting your business to online directories can further boost your website's visibility.
• Local SEO audit: You can use SEO audit tools to check how well-optimized your website is. When it comes to local SEO, this could include a Google Business Profile audit, Google Search Console audit, citation audit, and more.

Focus Keyword Optimization

Focus keyword optimization refers to using a specific target keyword strategically throughout your content to improve search engine rankings for that term. Optimizing for a focus keyword helps search engines understand the central theme of your page.

• Use in the Title: Include your focus keyword near the beginning of the title tag for optimal SEO benefits.
• Incorporate in Meta Descriptions: Use the focus keyword in the meta description to ensure users can quickly identify that your content is relevant to their search query.
• Headers: The focus keyword should be present in at least one header (H1 or H2), ideally near the start. This helps search engines understand the content's structure and the importance of the topic.
• Content Body: Incorporate the focus keyword naturally throughout the content. Avoid overuse or "keyword stuffing"—ensure the flow remains natural for readability.
• Image Alt Text: Include the focus keyword (or a variation) in the alt text of relevant images. This enhances the image's SEO value and helps improve rankings in image searches.

Anchor Text of the Internal Links

Anchor text refers to the clickable text used in hyperlinks. It is a key element of internal linking, which connects pages within your website.

• Descriptive Anchor Text: Use descriptive, keyword-rich anchor text when linking to other pages on your website. This helps both users and search engines understand the content of the linked page. For example, use "learn more about SEO" instead of "click here."
• Avoid Over-Optimization: Don't overuse exact-match keywords as anchor text. It's important to vary the anchor text to create a natural link profile.
• Internal Linking Structure: Use internal links strategically to guide users through your content and encourage them to explore other relevant pages on your site. This also helps distribute link equity across your site.

LSI Keywords

LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) keywords are terms related to your main keyword, helping search engines understand the context and relevance of your content. LSI keywords are not synonyms, but terms frequently appear alongside your main keyword in relevant content.

Quality of Content

The quality of content is one of the most critical factors in SEO. High-quality content provides value to users by answering their questions, solving problems, or delivering insights. It plays a crucial role in achieving higher rankings, driving traffic, and engaging visitors. Several factors can be used to assess content quality:

• Relevance: Content should directly address the needs and interests of the target audience.
• Comprehensiveness: Thoroughly covering a topic gives users all the information they need in one place, improving user satisfaction and reducing bounce rates.
• Originality: Content should be unique and not duplicated from other sources, which helps build credibility and trust with both users and search engines.
• Engagement: Well-written content that keeps users engaged through a clear structure, compelling writing, and multimedia (images, videos, infographics) can increase time on page and lower bounce rates.

Linking to Other Websites

Linking to other websites (also known as external linking) is an essential aspect of SEO and content quality. By linking to authoritative, credible, and relevant external resources, you can:

• Enhance Content Credibility: Linking to trustworthy, authoritative sources shows search engines that your content is well-researched and trustworthy.
• Provide More Value to Users: External links can offer users further reading, additional details, or related tools that enrich the content experience.
• Improve SEO: Google and other search engines view external links as a signal of content quality. However, avoid excessive external linking that could distract from your core content.

Better Design

Website design plays a critical role in SEO and user experience. A well-designed site enhances usability, makes navigation intuitive, and encourages engagement. Key elements of better website design include:

• Aesthetic Appeal: A visually appealing site creates a positive first impression and encourages visitors to explore more content.
• Intuitive Navigation: Easy-to-follow navigation ensures users can find what they're looking for without frustration. A clear menu structure, breadcrumbs, and a search bar improve usability.
• Mobile Compatibility: A responsive design ensures the website looks great and functions well across all devices, which is essential given mobile-first indexing by search engines.

UX (User Experience)

User Experience (UX) refers to how visitors interact with your website. A positive UX leads to better user engagement, higher conversion rates, and better SEO performance. Key aspects of UX include:

• Navigation: Users should be able to find information easily without frustration. Simple, clear menus and search functionality are essential.
• Load Time: Websites that load quickly enhance user experience and reduce bounce rates. Google uses site speed as a ranking factor.
• Mobile Friendliness: With a growing number of users browsing on mobile devices, a responsive, mobile-friendly design is crucial for a positive UX.
• Clear Call-to-Action (CTA): Guide users through your site with clear, visually prominent CTAs that tell them what to do next (e.g., "Sign up," "Learn more," "Buy now").

Technical SEO

To get your website higher in search engine results, you'll need to focus on technical SEO. Key areas of technical SEO include improving your website's load speed, ensuring mobile-friendliness, optimizing your site's structure, and ensuring that search engine crawlers can easily access all of your pages. These factors directly impact your website's ability to rank higher in search engine results and enhance the overall user experience.

What is a Backlink?

A backlink (also known as an inbound link) is a hyperlink from one website that links to your website. Backlinks are a fundamental part of SEO because they act as votes of confidence from one site to another, indicating trustworthiness, authority, and relevance. Search engines like Google use backlinks as one of the primary ranking factors in determining how pages are ranked in search results. The more quality backlinks a page has, the higher it will likely rank.

Why is a Backlink Important?

Backlinks are crucial for SEO because they serve as endorsements for your website. They signal to search engines that other websites trust your content, which can help boost your site's authority and rankings. The quality, quantity, and relevance of backlinks directly impact your site's performance in search results.

Link Equity

Link equity (also known as "link juice") refers to the value passed from one site to another through a backlink. When a page links to another, some of its authority is passed to the destination page. This link equity contributes to the destination page's ability to rank in search engines.

Google PageRank

PageRank is a Google algorithm that ranks web pages based on the quantity and quality of backlinks. The more high-quality backlinks a page has, the higher its PageRank. Although PageRank is no longer publicly visible, the principles behind it still influence SEO. PageRank considers not only the number of backlinks but also the quality and relevance of the linking pages.

Types of Links

There are several types of links that play a role in SEO:

• Internal Links: These links point to other pages within the same website. Internal linking helps with site navigation and helps search engines crawl and index your content more effectively.
• External Links: These are links from your website pointing to other websites. High-quality external links, especially from authoritative sources, can help improve your site's credibility and SEO.
• Outbound Links: These links point from your website to other sites. While they can be useful for context, too many outbound links may detract from the authority of your site.
• Backlinks: These are links from other websites pointing to your site, and they are the most significant for improving your site's SEO.

Attributes of a Valuable Backlink

• Relevant: The backlink should come from a site in a similar niche or industry. A link from a relevant source is more valuable because it signals to search engines that the linked content is important within that context.
• From a Trustworthy Website: Links from authoritative, high-quality sites (e.g., reputable blogs, news outlets, or government websites) pass more link equity and are more likely to have a positive impact on SEO.
• Unique: Unique Links, such as guest posts, original content, or infographics, tend to hold more value than repetitive or spammy links.
• Has Relevant Anchor Text: The anchor text (the clickable text of the link) should be relevant to the target page's content. Well-optimized anchor text helps users and search engines understand the topic of the linked page.

Should You Do Link-Building?

Yes, link-building is an essential part of a successful SEO strategy. Obtaining high-quality backlinks helps increase your site's authority, boost search rankings, and drive referral traffic. However, it's essential to focus on white-hat link-building techniques, which are ethical and align with search engine guidelines.

Link-Building Strategies

Effective link-building strategies are crucial for improving your site's authority and SEO. Here are a few strategies:

1. Linkable Assets: Create high-quality content that is valuable and worth linking to. This could be a comprehensive guide, infographics, industry research, or an original study. High-quality, shareable content naturally attracts backlinks.
2. Guest Posting: Write articles for other reputable blogs or websites within your industry. In return, you can usually include a link back to your site. Guest posting helps you build authority, expand your reach, and get high-quality backlinks.
3. Competitor Backlinks: Analyze your competitors' backlink profiles using tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Moz. Identifying their backlink sources allows you to find opportunities to secure similar links for your website.
4. Other Techniques:
   • Broken Link Building: Find broken links on authoritative websites and suggest your content as a replacement.
   • Resource Pages: Look for resource or "link roundup" pages in your niche and pitch your content to be included.
   • Skyscraper Technique: Find highly-linked content in your niche, create a more comprehensive version, and reach out to sites linked to the original content to suggest linking to yours instead.

Analytics and Metrics

Tracking your link-building efforts and monitoring performance is crucial for understanding the effectiveness of your strategies.

• Google Search Console: This tool helps you monitor your website's backlinks, check for crawl issues, and track your site's performance in search results. You can view which sites are linking to you and analyze link growth over time.
• Google Analytics: Use Google Analytics to track referral traffic from backlinks. You can identify which links drive traffic to your site, allowing you to optimize future link-building efforts. Google Search Console is another tool that can help track the performance of your website by providing detailed reports on user behavior, traffic, and conversion rates.
• Rank Tracking: Rank tracking tools (like Ahrefs, Semrush, or Moz) allow you to monitor your keyword rankings and see how your backlink profile impacts your search rankings. By tracking keyword performance over time, you can assess the impact of your link-building efforts.

How to Achieve SEO Success

By this point, you may be a bit discouraged. We get it: SEO is a bit complex, and you may be disadvantaged if you don't have the experts, money, or time to implement a comprehensive SEO strategy. 

But don't despair! The steps that will take you to inevitable SEO success aren't relegated to just the top performers or the brands with the most money to spare. Even as the algorithms change (it's estimated that Google updates its search algorithm a mind-boggling 500 to 600 times a year), the pillars that define SEO success stay the same. 

There are seven unique areas of SEO best practice you need to pay attention to when optimizing a piece of content for search engines:

Keyword research: The foundation of your SEO strategy. What are the keywords and phrases that will drive people to your site? Identify your site's main topics, then build content around these topics using related keywords.

Competitive analysis: You don't have to do better than everyone, just the brands you compete against. What are your competitors at the top of the search results doing right? What are your competitors at the bottom doing wrong? If you can deliver something a little more helpful, interesting, or inspiring than your competitors, you'll be rewarded with a boost in page rank.

Website optimization: It's not just your blog that demands your SEO attention. Any landing pages, microsites, content pages, and other digital content should be optimized, too. Include alt text and image captions, update your terms and conditions (GDPR compliance is a must), and include your business's contact info. Keep your content mobile-friendly, and factor in the health of your website, too. Excessive redirects, broken links, navigation problems, horizontal scrolling, or other errors can cause search engines to penalize you.

Address domain authority: Forget your content for a second and consider how well your website performs. Do you have enough links from other sites with high domain authority? How can you get more? The reverse is also a consideration: if spammy sites link to yours, Google will likely assume your site isn't trustworthy.

Content strategy: It's today's mantra for a reason: content is king. Is your content interesting, informative, well-written, and well-designed? Do you use keywords correctly? If others share your content and link to it, this is a good indication that you're on the right track.

Social media strategy: Search engines pay more attention to your social platforms. Are they being used to promote your content? Are you getting good engagement?

Measure, report, improve: SEO isn't a one-and-done kind of deal. Are you regularly auditing your site to ensure it's optimized? What areas are you doing well in, and where are you falling behind?

Building a comprehensive SEO strategy requires following the above steps to identify your strengths, weaknesses, benchmarks, and barriers. Make sure you're doing all of it with a context in mind. For example, SEO must-dos for local businesses will vary slightly from the must-dos that apply to online-only companies or businesses without websites (yes, they exist, even in 2020). 

Another critical piece of context that merits some extra detail is desktop versus mobile. Search behaviors on mobile devices differ from search behaviors on desktops. Optimize your brand's mobile content – if you don't, you're missing out on critical connections with the 2.71 billion smartphone users worldwide.

Use SEO Software: SEO isn't a digital marketing strategy that can be managed manually. Fortunately, there are tons of SEO tools out there that you can use to manage your SEO and content strategy. There are keyword research tools, audit tools, rank trackers, backlink monitoring apps, and more.

With all-in-one SEO tools, you can ensure your content stands out from the competition, monitor competitors' backlink profiles, find lucrative keyword opportunities, avoid manual audits, and more. And most importantly, you can use SEO tools with built-in rank trackers to monitor your competitors' progress and your search rankings. This lets you see if you're achieving business goals and key performance indicators (KPIs). And if you own a digital marketing business, SEO tools can churn out visual data that can be quickly sent to clients. You can use this data to keep clients in the loop and boost customer acquisition rates.

Some notable SEO tools include:

• Ahrefs
• Semrush
• Google Keyword Planner
• Google Search Console
• Google Trends
• Accuranker

Common SEO Mistakes to Avoid

Now that we've reviewed what you must do to make your SEO efforts successful, let's switch gears and look at what you shouldn't do. Here are the most significant SEO mistakes you need to watch out for. 

Mistake #1: You misunderstand key SEO terms. SERPs. Click rates. Backlinks. There are many terms within SEO that you probably haven't encountered before, and it can feel like an entirely new language when you're a beginner. Ensure you're up-to-date on the meanings behind commonly misunderstood SEO concepts so you're not accidentally shooting your SEO in the foot. 

Mistake #2: Your keyword research is off. Not all keywords are created equally. Even within one topic, specific keywords will rank better than others. Your mistake may be that you're not choosing the keywords that rank best for your particular geographic location or ignoring easy-to-rank-for keywords with low search volumes. If your keywords aren't working, you may have the wrong ones. 

Mistake #3: You're focusing only on the content or only on link building. Both factors heavily affect your overall SEO success, but you're doing yourself a big disservice if you put all your energy into another's detriment. Weigh these relatively equally, and don't let either slip by the wayside. 

Mistake #4: You're trying to scam the system. Even if you don't mean to, you may be using low-quality SEO tactics that hurt your site's reputation with search engines. Things like keyword stuffing, link farming, and duplicating content will hurt you more than they help you. 

Mistake #5: You're ignoring something critical. Doing many things right won't make up for missing the essentials. In addition to optimizing content and links, ensure your website is crawlable and mobile-friendly. Look into optimizing your metadata and keep up to date on Google's algorithmic changes (something we refer to here at WSI as AdaptiveSEO).

Finding the Right SEO Service for Small Businesses

Any business can benefit from SEO, especially local businesses.

SEO can help organizations improve their search engine visibility, reach more customers and leads, and improve conversion rates.

Although paid ads are a great alternative strategy that can lead to quick results and highly targeted traffic, SEO is a long-term strategy that can help your business succeed in the long run.

However, SEO can be a complex strategy, and it's no surprise that some small business owners don't have the time or human resources to get the job done.

Fortunately, there are many SEO agencies out there that can help you build an effective SEO and content strategy.

When finding the right agency for your business, you must consider your company's budget, needs, and goals. Ensure you also check out the agency's reviews and testimonials, and ask if they have any case studies and client results you can review.

What is an SEO Company?

An SEO company is a business or agency that specializes in helping other businesses improve their online visibility through Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

An SEO company typically offers a range of services designed to enhance a website's ranking in search engines like Google, Bing, or Yahoo. The main goal of an SEO company is to drive organic traffic (unpaid traffic) to a website, improve its visibility, and ultimately, increase conversions or sales.

Benefits of Using an SEO Company

Here are four benefits of using an SEO agency:

1. More time to run your business: If you're new to SEO, it will take hours to understand the process and required tactics to get the ball rolling. However, by relying on an SEO agency, you can focus on your day-to-day business operations and business goals. The SEO agency will handle the SEO strategy and ensure your business's online presence is improving.
2. Faster and better results: As an SEO first-timer, you might not achieve the best results with your SEO strategy. Fortunately, you can rely on the services of SEO experts when working alongside an SEO company. They have the skills, knowledge, and expertise to help you succeed in your niche.
3. Get rid of technical site issues: One of Google's search ranking factors is user experience. Google and visitors prefer websites that provide them with a smooth experience. Fortunately, an experienced SEO team with web developers can help you improve your website's design and ensure the page loads quickly.
4. Access to professional advice: When working with an SEO company, you get the added benefit of having access to professional advice. If you have a great content idea or website design, you can run it by the SEO experts you work with to understand its viability.

When it comes to SEO, middle-of-the-road isn't good enough. To truly understand everything you need to know about SEO, you must realize that being at the top is essential. A strategy that encompasses all of the must-dos and must-not-dos is crucial. Once you've got a good game plan, tweak it as necessary to adapt to the ever-changing SEO landscape. If you do, you should see more traffic, conversions, and, ultimately, more online success. Sign up for expert advice from WSI, your trusted SEO and digital marketing company, today!

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