If you work with anything digital-related, then chances are you’ve heard about the term SEO. But what is SEO and how can it improve your online presence?

What is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. In simpler terms, it’s a set of tools that individuals or businesses use in order to gain more traffic through search engines such as Google, Yahoo and YouTube – which we’re all very familiar with. This can be categorised into numerous branches and has evolved extensively over the years.

Despite its broad description, all branches of SEO share a common goal, which is to help its users engage with an audience. The most important key factor to consider when trying to master this tool is keyword research.

Keyword Research is Key

Keywords are one of the many building blocks of

SEO – this is a common phrase you’ll often hear when people are talking about this branch of digital marketing. Keywords are words or phrases related to the topic you’re writing about, ranked by search trends and volume.

If there’s a trending topic – or you’re anticipating one to do so – you can incorporate the relevant keywords into your content. Knowing how to perform good keyword research can help you unlock the content you have on your website and find new verticals that you could target with your content.

Study Your Competitors 

Take a deep dive into any of your competitors’ data:

• Keywords
• Backlinks
• Ad campaigns
• Top performing content

We are never too good for this, marketing in the digital space will continuously be a highly competitive industry so it’s vital to keep up with the latest developments, be it in the digital world or your competition.

Use Competitor Analysis to see who you’re up against online and what their current strengths and weaknesses are.

Always remember, your competitors are just one click away so it’s important to keep up to date with what they’re doing and how you can upscale them.

How To Boost Your Content

Always Research Topics in order to gather thousands of new topics related to your field of interest. Tune in on the popular headlines in your niche, trending subtopics and on the real questions people ask. These will assist you in navigating through this particular process.

Free SEO Tools at Your Fingertips 

There are a few SEO tools you can use, completely free, for your business or merely to help build your content growth, Wordstream and AnswerThePublic to name a few. 

Another useful tool to use is a Google Chrome extension called SEOquake which helps guarantee that your page fulfils the minimum requirements, also completely free!

Basic Linking

When it comes to linking, always bare in mind that Google uses links as an important ranking factor. One thing to remember, if your website has been linked a lot of websites, the chances are it will rank high in the search engine results pages.

Summary

SEO can be tricky sometimes, but we encourage you not to lose hope! There will be times when it seems like a complete waste of time, but just remember that it’s a marathon, not a sprint. All successful websites use SEO to their advantage so that it absolutely does work.

Useful SEO resources to help you jumpstart your know-how

• The Ahrefs YouTube channel: Teaches you about the SEO basics in a very easy-to-understand way
• Moz SEO Guide
• YouTube – always make use of this free search engine, there’s absolutely nothing you won’t find here relating to the digital space and improving your knowledge in any field.