WISSE BLOM
SEO SPECIALIST
Written on: 2023-03-06
Modified on: 2023-03-06
10 min. reading time
What is SEO? We have both a short and a long answer for you. Well, not that long, of course. In a maximum of 10 minutes reading time, we explain exactly what search engine optimization is and how you can get started with it. You will learn how to rank higher in Google because, after reading this article, you will truly understand what SEO is all about.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization.
SEO is nothing more than supply and demand, where you perfectly align your offering with customer demand. When customers search online for your services or products, your offering must match that as closely as possible.
Search engines determine which offering best matches the demand. To do this, Google uses a complex algorithm with hundreds of ‘ ranking factors’. These are factors of websites and web shops that Google considers to determine who aligns their offering best with user demand.
For example, Google looks at the content, readability, and quality of texts. The better those texts align with user demand, the better the offering. Consequently, the higher your position in the search results. Those who optimize their pages best appear at the very top of the search results.
What does an SEO expert do?
SEO experts optimize your offering for the demand of potential new customers, the users of the search engine. By understanding exactly what someone is looking for (the search intent) and aligning the offering accordingly, the ideal combination is created.
More specifically, an SEO expert looks at the ranking factors of the algorithm, for Google and other search engines. If you understand these important factors for websites, you can optimize the website accordingly. For instance, if Google places great value on a URL containing the search term for the page, an SEO expert will include the search term for that page in the URL.
SEO is, of course, much more complex than that. However, that is what it boils down to. SEO experts focus on two things:
- Search intent of your new customer
By understanding the user well, the search intent becomes clear. The challenge is to optimize the website or web shop for the actual demand of new customers.
The search engine algorithm
Those who understand the algorithm well know what search engines look for on websites. By optimizing these components, the search engine sees the website as the best offering for the query, and the website is rewarded with a high position in the search results.
How to rank higher in Google?
The best page ranks highest in Google. The best page provides the best offering for the users’ query.
SEO consists of three components:
- Technical optimization
A technically well-optimized website loads quickly, uses clean (HTML) code, and has no dead links, for example. Technically, the website performs optimally and everything is correctly set up for SEO. - Optimized content
Optimized content provides exactly the information visitors are looking for. Meanwhile, it contains the right search terms in the right quantity. - Backlinks to the website
Links from other websites to yours are referrals. They point to your website, as it were, to indicate that there is something of value there.
These three components are important in this order. Optimize the website technically, then write (or have someone write) the content. After that, start working on backlinks to the website.
Become an online authority
Use optimized content and backlinks to the websites to become an online authority. This provides two benefits:
- The target audience recognizes you as the online authority
As an online authority, you win the hearts of your potential new customers. You provide valuable information, explain trends in a way the target audience understands, or organize the best promotions. Ensure you become the most well-known and popular name within the industry.
Search engines reward you with increasingly higher positions
Search engines notice that your pages provide the information the target audience is looking for. And that other websites link to your website, for example, to articles about trends and promotions. For this, the search engine rewards you with higher positions in the search results.
Getting started with SEO in 5 steps
Does SEO remain vague to you despite all the explanation? You can get started with it in 5 steps.
- Keyword research
Start with keyword research. Brainstorm about the products and services you offer, and the questions the target audience has about them. Or the terms they use to search for them.
Research general terms (such as ‘seo’ and ‘what is seo’) and specific terms (such as ‘what is the best cms for seo’ and ‘how to write good web content’). Think of general and specific terms for your industry. Additionally, consider both product- or service-related terms as well as the problems, challenges, or needs and desires the customer thinks about in a broad sense.
Collect a list of relevant search terms. Select the 50 or 100 most relevant terms from a list of hundreds of terms that users search for. Ensure a selection that perfectly fits what you offer.
- Competitor analysis
Look at the competition. Search for the relevant search terms you selected yourself. Discover which websites are at the top and what information they offer. Use that as inspiration and determine, for the selection of search terms, which terms you can say the most about. Choose an original angle or gather input and inspiration.
Please note: always write unique content. Look at the competition, recognize what scores well, and then get to work yourself. If you copy content or parts of it, Google will never reward you with a higher position in the search results.
- Creating a content plan
Create a content plan for the selection of relevant search terms:
- Choose 25% of the selected search terms as main keywords. These main keywords get their own page. Choose search terms with high search volume or, for example, with remarkably little competition. Choose search terms that are not too similar, so you can write different content for them.
- Use the other 75% as secondary keywords for the main keywords. Supplement a main keyword with a number of secondary keywords that fit substantively. In this way, create a cluster of 1 main keyword and 3 to 5 secondary keywords per page. The terms are similar, so they belong together on one page.
Ensure you categorize all relevant search terms as main keywords or secondary keywords. Also, make sure you use the terms in only one place. This prevents pages from competing with each other later on.
- Writing content
Write SEO content based on the content plan, or outsource it to an SEO copywriter.
For example, write a few landing pages or blog articles every month. Or have everything written at once. Only when you publish 100 pages or more at the same time does it affect the effectiveness of new content. Up to that number, you can just publish everything at once, but you don’t have to. Whether you do it all at once or every month makes little to no difference.
Tip: perform a baseline measurement on the search terms before you start writing content. Determine if you are already findable for the terms, and if so, at what position. Then write the content and publish it. Subsequently, perform a new measurement every month to track whether findability improves.
- Building online authority
Actively look for backlinks from other websites. Approach clients, customers, and other relations with a website or web shop. Ask them to place a link to your website, possibly in exchange for a link back.
Additionally, use the SEO content you wrote. Perhaps other websites would like to link to it? Otherwise, offer to write a unique article for other websites. Use your own SEO content and write a unique copy of it. Use the same content, but write it in unique text. If another website publishes that text with a link to your website, your online authority increases.
Use link building to further build online authority. The more valuable links you collect, the greater the effect of the SEO content you wrote. In this way, the components of SEO reinforce each other.
How quickly will you see results?
How quickly you see results depends heavily on the competition and the search terms you choose. With little competition and search terms with a low difficulty score, you will see results within a few weeks. With a lot of competition and search terms with a high difficulty score, it can take up to a year or longer. Furthermore, you will have to write a lot of content for those search terms and collect many valuable backlinks. On average, it takes a few months for good SEO content to show the desired results.
