“Just Google it!” is perhaps the most common answer to questions people ask someone.
This is the reason why every business owner needs to grow their online presence. If you have a website (which is very crucial to have), you’ll have to learn to optimize your content to show up in the search results.
There is, therefore, several types of SEO that every entrepreneur should know to run a successful business.
But why does SEO matter?
The key is to understand that SEO helps you get traffic, which helps you rank better leading to better conversions and higher sales.
Numbers don’t lie. And according to Hubspot [1], 57% of B2B marketers confirmed that SEO brings in more leads than any other marketing method.
Types of SEO
Here are the types of SEO you need to understand to run a successful online business.
1. On-page SEO/On-Site SEO
This type of SEO relates to the content on your website. And how friendly it is to the users and search engines (SE).
Although Google looks at your site as one platform, it ranks every page independently.
On-site SEO, helps search engines to determine whether or not your content is relevant to the readers.
Following are factors to consider when doing on-site SEO.
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Optimize your H1 Tag
Although the page title is shown in the SERPS, the H1 is what appears as the heading of a page. Best H1 practices include only having one per page. Usually, the H1 is one of the strongest keywords.
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Optimize your headings
If you’re writing long-form content, you need to have subheadings (H2, H3) to make it easy for the reader to follow through.
These headings also help search engines to scan your work easily.
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SEO for images
Content writing includes being able to use visual representation to communicate with your readers. Google “can’t see,” so if you don’t optimize your images, it won’t know what your images mean.
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Content
It doesn’t matter if you have tonnes of articles on your site, if it doesn’t align with the user’s intent, then you still won’t rank.
To optimize your content, you need to fit the keywords in your article naturally.
A long form content usually ranks higher than a small article because it has more opportunities to place the relevant keywords. That said, always let the searcher’s intent be your guide because Google will catch you if you’re just publishing a bunch of words.
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Website design and usability
Regardless of how great your content may be, if your visitors can’t easily navigate through your site, you’ll likely have a high bounce rate.
Make sure your website is professionally designed for more success.
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Meta description
Article description (meta description) 180-300 characters. If it’s too long, Google cuts it off. Always include one or two keywords on your metadata.
2. Off-page/Off-Site SEO
This is generally about promoting your content. When well done, it improves your ranking in search engines as well as increase the number of visitors on your site.
You can use the following options to promote your content.
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Link building
This involves getting other bloggers to link back to your site. High-quality backlinks (especially with no-follow tags) can improve your ranking, as Google sees this as a form of “review” that your content is relevant.
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Brand promotion
Google cares about the security of their users. They, therefore, rank known brands higher as it means people trust them.
Besides link building, it is essential to promote your brand online. Find the social media platform that your persona uses and start a community. Engaging with potential clients help you gain loyal customers. Not only do they boost your sales, but they also influence your ranking because they’re likely to search for you on search engines organically.
3. Technical SEO
Technical aspects include the non-content parameters of the website. It includes the foundation and improvements of the backend side of a website.
A site with a good technical SEO boosts the site’s readability. And enhancers the user experience.
This can improve the engagement and traffic of your site. Following is a list of things you have to consider for technical
- SEO
- Site speed
- Security
- Indexing
- Site architecture
- Mobile-friendliness
- Crawlability
- Structured data
4. Local SEO
Local SEO is hard to execute, but with a few tactics, you can get it right. This helps if your aim is to drive people in a mortar shop.
With that said, you’ll need to use all of the tips mentioned above as well. First, you’ll need a business name, contact details, and address on all your pages.
Here is a small structure on how to do Local SEO.
- Add a local business schema
- Form a business Google account
- Register your business with known directories like Yelp, Foursquare, Yahoo small business, etc.
- Promote your website on other sites and local directories (e.g., local online newspapers)
- Get as many reviews as possible from your clients. Customers trust other people’s experiences.
5. Mobile SEO
This type of SEO is no longer optional. Many searches are now done on mobile devices. It’s therefore vital that your website loads faster on mobile. Even Google is now using mobile SEO as a factor when ranking sites.
Although mobile and desktop SEO are the same, there are a few differences. Here are four guidelines you can use to improve mobile SEO.
- Popups can be hard to exit from and can be a little different from the desktop version. If you have one on your site, be sure to convert it to a mobile version, for greater user experience.
- Restructure your menus. If your navigation bar has multiple pages, consider creating separate menus for the mobile devices and the phone.
- Page speed. Testing your loading speed on mobile devices will help you avoid massive bounce rates. Online readers don’t have time to wait for a page to load.
- Lastly, keep an eye on new trends such as the voice search and incorporate them when the time is right.
White Hat Vs. Black Hat SEO
These two can be very confusing to beginners.
For clarity, black hat SEO involves a few tricks that people use to acquire links and rank on Google, by “cheating” Google Algorithms.
However, since these methods are not based on the user’s intent, Google catches them and penalizes them.
There’s also grey hat SEO. This one doesn’t use too many risky tricks, and may even get away with it for a while.
That said, Google is not a great enemy to have. So avoid them as well.
Any other type of SEO we discussed in this article is what is referred to as White hat SEO.
Check out our short informatory YouTube video to learn more about White Hat and Black Hat SEO
Do you want to learn more about SEO?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a broad topic. Don’t get frustrated if you don’t understand all these concepts at a go. Give it time and focus on one at a time. If you’re under pressure to grow your brand in Malaysia, we recommend seeking services from an SEO company in Malaysia.
If you want to learn about the details of all types of SEO, visit our blog for more insights.
References
1. https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics
