SEO: A Complete Guide to Win SEO in 2020

Depending on the specifics of the business and their financial capabilities, entrepreneurs usually choose one of the advertising strategies:

- more intense and costly. With the help of contextual advertising, targeting in social networks, cooperation with bloggers, etc. The main disadvantage of such advertising is that it only works as long as funding continues;

- less costly, but more extended in time. For example, SEO optimization. The budget of this method does not mean its low efficiency, and the skillful use of a SEO site will allow it, after a certain time, to provide it with a high position in the search results without investing funds.

What is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization - search engine optimization. This term is understood as a set of activities carried out in order to improve the position of the site in the search results. Any entrepreneur who wants to attract the attention of as many users as possible to his resource is inevitably faced with the need to get to know this technique more closely and figure out what is SEO optimization? The importance of staying at the top of the SERP is explained by the fact that 95% of traffic for commercial requests is on the first page, and 60-80% on the first three lines. That is, the higher the position of the site, the more users go to it, which means that an ever wider audience will be notified about your products.

Types of SEO?

Internal Optimization

Website SEO is usually divided into internal and external optimization. The first one includes:

- building a semantic core, that is, determining the keywords by which the resource will be promoted. Semantics studies the semantic content of language units, therefore the semantic core answers the question;

- what information and with what queries can be found on the site;

work on the elimination of technical errors (duplicate pages, broken links), as well as increasing the site loading speed;

- image processing to speed up their loading;

- improving the usability of the resource (usability);

- organization of linking by pages (cross-linking);

- correct compilation of meta tags and subheadings.

Focusing on one SEO category and ignoring another will result in poor promotion performance.

External Optimization

All website promotion activities that take place outside of it are considered external optimization. The ultimate goal of these steps is, first of all, to expand the link mass: the more third-party sites link to the promoted resource, the more significant the latter looks in the eyes of search engines. It is important that the methods used for external optimization do not contradict the rules of search engines. Promotion tools in this case can be:

- social networks. Backlinks on these sites bring the expected result if you include them in the content in a natural way (for example, at the end of an expert publication or in a comment to a post);

- thematic resources, which, unlike social networks, are of interest to users for a long time;

- directories and link exchanges;

- forums. When posting links here, it is important to ensure that they do not look like obvious spam.

Components Of SEO

The duties of a modern SEO specialist include:

- continuous tracking of updates of ranking algorithms in search engines and adaptation to constantly changing requirements;

- checking the relevance of search queries and adjusting them if necessary;

- preparation and updating of the semantic core. For this, different methods and tools are used. For example, special search engine services: Google Analytics, Google AdWords;

- internal optimization, i.e. improving content, code and architecture;

- external optimization - getting links to the promoted resource from other sources;

- monitoring the behavior of users of the resource and timely response to the emergence of adverse factors;

- analytical work related to evaluating the effectiveness of SEO optimization measures.

Varieties of SEO

All optimization methods that exist today are conventionally divided into white, gray and black. It is in these colors that a search engine sees this or that promotion technique. It is easy to guess that the first of the methods is considered the most preferable, the last one is the least promising.

White Optimization. The most correct methods that require a professional approach to promotion and more painstaking work are those that do not violate the rules set by search engines. The collection of methods is called white optimization. This includes:

- analysis of the structure, code, content of the site and taking measures to improve them. Do the same with the resources of competitors to identify their strengths and weaknesses;

- development of a long-term website development strategy;

- work on the compilation and updating of the semantic core, i.e., the definition of the most relevant search queries;

- filling the resource with high-quality content with a natural occurrence of SEO-keys. This point is one of the most important, since search engines analyze the actions of a site user, this factor is often decisive.

Gray Optimization. This method involves inserting keywords into the created or already existing content, by which users most often try to find information of interest. In this case, the text may turn out to be poorly readable and awkward, so an SEO copywriter should try to correctly present such material, giving it harmony and attractiveness. In addition, gray-scale optimization allows:

- slightly exceeded the keyword limit. This is done within reasonable limits (by 3-5%) so that the search engine does not consider keywords as spam;

- buying links from fairly reputable partners, when the search engine turns a blind eye to the paid nature of the transaction and considers this process as a natural build-up of the link mass;

- creating doorway sites that are relevant to the needs of the target audience. Unlike black ones, gray and white doorways are used as ad complements and link donors.

Black Promotion. There are optimization techniques that break the structure and reduce the search quality. These methods, which are called black promotion, are classified as prohibited, and their use is subject to penalties from the search engine. Among the most well-known methods of such an illegal technique:

- doorway creation. These rambling pages are optimized for specific queries, invisible to the user, but indexed by search engines;

- using clickers - automatic ways to follow links;

- cloaking - duplicate pages;

- attraction of satellite sites created to post links to the promoted resource;

- sending spam in the form of intrusive advertisements.

It is important to remember that the technical capabilities of search engines do not stand still and most of the black optimization techniques have not been secret for a long time and are easily recognized. For using this technique, the site can be sent deep down the search results or even blocked.

How SEO Works?

The main goal of online business owners is to increase leads, leads and sales. An effective way to do this is to take the lead in SERPs using SEO.

Most users choose sites that are in top positions. The first positions give potential buyers more confidence. But how do you keep them occupied? The answer is SEO. It is necessary to optimize the site for the requirements of search engines. The process covers a set of actions on the site to eliminate technical errors, fill with useful content, build up the link mass, etc.

The main goal of SEO is to improve the visibility of the resource and raise the position in the search results. The higher the site, the more users go to it. The result is high sales and many orders.

Development Stages Of SEO

SEO methodology has evolved over time and from primitive practices to sophisticated and highly accurate ways to optimize Internet resources. From the creation of the first website in 1991 until the late 90s of the last century, SEO promotion was limited to the use of keywords, tags and external links. In the early 2000s, search engines began to implement special algorithms that took into account an increasing number of factors. At the same time, the first standards of external design and internal content of sites appeared, which contributed to getting to the top search positions. The period that prepared the basis for modern SEO methodology is considered to be the period from 2016 to 2019. The issues of site quality and behavioral factors have now come to the fore. The most characteristic features of modern SEO promotion:

- search personalization;

- optimization for mobile search;

- increasing the role of low-frequency and long-tail queries.

What is Search Results?

It will be convenient to understand the concept of search results using google. In response to a user's request, the system generates a search results page (SERP), which includes:

1. The main part is the so-called organic search results. Here you can see the top sites offered by the system for a specific request.

2. Contextual advertising from AIMagnus. Ads in this block correspond to the interests of the user and are close to natural results, but are paid.

3. Block of offers from AIMagnus.

4. Mini-markings with reviews of products, prices, etc.

5. Search results by pictures. It should be remembered that the images on the promoted site also need improvement.

6. The region in which the search takes place. For geo-dependent queries, this section is especially important.

Why SEO is Important?

Every minute about 34 thousand new sites appear on the World Wide Web, more than two million of them are already typed in an hour, and almost 50 million in a day! Of course, this includes not only regional resources, but the essence of the matter does not change - the site must meet the requirements of the search engines Google if you want to achieve good results in its promotion.

Success in our case can be called the presence of a resource in the top 10, that is, on the first page, and, as a result, the flow of targeted visitors to the site. Is it on the first page that their searches stop? users, and only? goes to the second. Accordingly, without a large "tail" of targeted queries in the top 10, you lose 75% of traffic from organic (natural) results.

What are SEO Strategy?

An SEO strategy is a special plan created to achieve a specific goal. It specifies the time frame, that is, the length of time for which a specific task must be achieved. The goal of promotion can be different: increasing traffic, reaching the top 10 for a number of significant queries, etc.

SEO strategy is a kind of "lifeline" in case of unsuccessful website promotion. Often, the introduction of a new algorithm in a search engine nullifies all the efforts of the optimizer. A well-designed SEO strategy reduces the risk of a new failure on the way to achieving your chosen goal.

The tasks must be realistic and match the capabilities of the optimizer. Otherwise, time and financial resources will be wasted.

Features Of The Formation Of The Plan

An action plan is created on an individual basis. The strengths and weaknesses of the promoted resource are taken into account. The formation of an SEO strategy depends on the influence of such external factors:

- Geography. It is advisable that website promotion starts in the local region. Promotion in foreign and distant regions will not bring the expected result. On the contrary, it will only aggravate the situation. Therefore, the site is advised to be divided into regional subdomains. If this is not possible, the promoted service is registered in the AIMagnus.

- The structure of the Internet resource. The structure of the site being promoted must correspond to the structure of search demand. In some cases, the web resource will need to be modified. The promotion strategy largely depends on the appearance of the site.

- It is important to know the previous history of promotion and development of the Internet resource. For example, has the address of the main page of the site changed? What changes have occurred in the very structure of the web service?

- In the process of forming a plan, it is necessary to determine and identify as much information as possible about the topic of the developed site. It is important to understand the size of the core of search queries, as well as get the latest data on how popular and popular the topic of the site is.

- Age and characteristics of the search engine. It is harder to promote young and new sites than web resources with experience. At first, it is recommended to use the search engine GUGL to promote the site.

The process of drawing up an SEO strategy includes three main steps: web resource audit, optimization and direct promotion. Site audit involves a thorough study of its positions and traffic. In the process of optimization, the semantic core of the Internet resource is formed. External and internal website optimization is encouraged. While promoting, you should pay attention to the quality of the links available.

Why To Choose SEO Specialist or Company 

You should choose a specialist or company for SEO-website promotion based on the specifics of the tasks to be solved and the goals for which the project was created. As a rule, the following options are considered:

- enrollment in the staff of an employee who will be responsible for this part of the work. The main advantage of such a solution is the organization of a continuous optimization process, the most obvious disadvantage is the large risks associated with the presence of the entire volume of information about the carried out and planned SEO activities in the same hands;

- using the services of specialized companies, if you need to carry out a set of measures to promote the site, or a freelancer to perform small and simple tasks (for example, collecting requests of the required frequency or writing an SEO text).

Outsourcing optimization seems to be the preferred solution. Marketing agencies offer a wide range of services that are handled by highly specialized employees, which serves as an additional guarantee of the effectiveness of promotion.

Control Of Order Fulfillment

Having decided on the contractor, it is important to take control of the work progress. This will allow the customer to see the picture of the ongoing changes, independently assess the effectiveness of the steps taken, and, in addition, will keep the optimizer in good shape. For example, ask for weekly and monthly progress reports and analyze how current results are in line with expectations. Indicators of the effectiveness of SEO-activities, to one degree or another, can be:

- changing the positions of your site pages in the search for queries from the semantic core. A quick hit in the TOP-10 is unlikely, but some upward movement should be noticeable within a few weeks;

- increasing the importance of traffic from organic search results.

In addition, it will be useful to make sure that the purchased links are always available and permanent. This requires access to the exchange where the links were bought.

Helpful Hints

Experienced specialists know a variety of techniques for promoting a site to the top of search results. So, it will be useful for an SEO-optimizer to know that:

- website promotion by means of SEO is just one of the ways to get to the top of the search. If this method does not meet expectations, you can try to promote a facebook group or a YouTube channel. They are indexed in the same way as sites, and often end up at the top of the search results;

- domain renewals for 3 years often have a positive effect. This step increases the degree of trust in the site from the search engine;

- search engines are interested in promoting their services, including maps. If your company is marked on the map, users can rate it. For a positive assessment, you can offer them bonuses;

- it is better if the target request is fully included in the URL.

SEO & Contextual Advertising

Contextual advertising (PPC) is considered to be the main competitor of SEO-promotion among the methods of website optimization. Each of these methods has advantages and disadvantages. So, PPC:

- easy to configure and run;

- gives quick results;

- provides for the possibility of promptly making changes to the advertising campaign;

- allows you to use any requests for advertising, the price of clicks for which is set by the level of competition in the segment.

At the same time, contextual advertising:

- works only after payment;

- is less trusted by users than top search results;

- can rise in price significantly with increased competition.

Advantages & Disadvantages Of SEO

Advantages:

- independence of the volume of attracted traffic from the investment;

- long term (organic traffic continues to work after the end of the event);

- natural increase in the number of requests without cost due to occurrences in the texts.

Disadvantages:

- postponement of the result for some time;

- the need for long-term painstaking work, taking into account many factors.

Who SEO is Not Suitable For

SEO optimization is the most popular type of Internet resource promotion, but it is not suitable for everyone. More precisely, everyone can use it, but you can count on a positive result only if a number of conditions are met. Engaging in SEO promotion can be pointless when this method does not bring economic benefits, that is, it does not pay off. Most often, the use of SEO is inappropriate in cases when:

- a completely new product is advertised that is unfamiliar to a wide range of users;

- a mono-brand store with a narrow assortment is being promoted;

- the site was created for a niche with a sharply falling demand;

- the niche is occupied by large aggregators, retailers, message boards, etc.;

- you need to raise a low-budget project with a high level of competition;

- you need a quick result;

- investments are unprofitable. The actual and planned return on investment is estimated using such an indicator as ROI - the return on investment ratio.

Best Tool For SEO

The work of an SEO optimizer is inevitably associated with the use of various programs and helper services. The most popular ones are:

- Google Analytics- collection of data about visitors, keywords, link sources, etc .;

- Google AdWords - selection and analysis of the popularity of key phrases;

- KeyCollector - a program for compiling a semantic core;

- Screaming Frog SEO Spider is a paid crawling app. Free counterpart - Xenu;

- Advego Plagiatus, ETXT Antiplagiat - free services for checking the uniqueness of texts;

- Open Site Explorer - backlink analysis;

- Yazzle - a service for taking metrics for analyzed sites and link donors;

- SeoLib is an update analyzer. Shows changes in search engine results;

- AdVse - search for competitors by contextual advertising;

- Builtwith.com - showing the main technical characteristics of the resource;

- Whoishostingthis.com - hosting check.

Major SEO Mistakes

Search does not guarantee that after indexing a web resource will take high positions in the search results. To get closer to your goal, you need SEO promotion that eliminates major mistakes.

1. The structure and key SEO queries are not worked out

Promotion does not work for various reasons. One of them is that there is no well-developed page structure and program part. Lack of architecture or its incorrect formation negatively affects the usability of the site, reduces its usefulness for users. The chaotic structure is poorly indexed by search engines. It is also a signal to search bots that the optimization was performed poorly, which reduces the trust in the resource.

2. Non-unique and unreadable SEO content

One of the most common mistakes that negatively affects the promotion is the lack of a block for text description. SEO content should be unique, high-quality, filled with key queries. It is important to place keywords evenly throughout the text. It is recommended to use one occurrence for 400-500 characters.

3. Poor meta tag optimization

Optimization also affects the display of a resource in search results and its visibility. To improve the ranking, you need to correctly fill in the meta tags that give the search engine basic information about the page.

4. Lack of linking strategy

The absence of the necessary pages in the search results list may be due to the fact that the search engine does not trust the resource. To ensure its loyalty, external factors are necessary - link building. The more sites link to a resource, the better the search engine treats it. Effective external optimization is based on high-quality content and a well-thought-out placement strategy on authoritative domains.

5. SEO without behavioral factors

Metrics based on user actions also affect the ranking of an Internet resource. Especially in a highly competitive environment. Ranking is based on behavioral factors such as bounce rate, return to repeat searches, time spent on site and browsing depth, traffic sources and click-through rates. Without considering behavioral factors in SEO, it is impossible to create an Internet resource that is convenient and understandable for the user. This factor requires constant attention, renewal and improvement.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is SEO promotion and why is it needed?

SEO promotion is a set of measures to bring a website to the TOP of organic search results in Google. High positions allow you to attract more visitors to the site, which means more income from sales or advertising.

How quickly after the start of the promotion will I see the result?

The result of SEO promotion is not immediately visible. Much depends on the age of the site, its initial state, the level of competition in the industry and the region. As a guide: if the site is just launched, it should take at least 3-4 months before stable traffic goes. If the site has been working for a long time, then the results may be noticeable in less than 1 month. The main mistakes in website promotion are listed here .

Is it better to invest in SEO or contextual advertising?

SEO and PPC advertising are different customer acquisition strategies and cannot be opposed. Sharing them works best to ensure a wider reach of the target audience. But there are areas where contextual advertising is prohibited (medicines, alcohol sales, adult products, etc.).

In each specific case, it is worth looking for a balance between SEO and contextual advertising and distributing the budget depending on the goals. If you need to quickly attract traffic (for example, during seasonal sales or promotions), then contextual advertising will cope with this task. At the same time, SEO provides consistent traffic that does not depend on funding. Even if you completely stop investing in SEO, the effect will persist for a long time, unlike contextual advertising, which is shown only when the advertiser has a positive balance.

I started investing in SEO, traffic started, but there was no sales. What is the reason?

Traffic and sales are not identical concepts. There are many reasons for insufficient conversion: poor website design, inconvenient usability, poor support service, overpriced prices, etc. Another common mistake is attracting inappropriate traffic. This means that visitors are coming, but they are not initially interested in your product. In order to understand the reasons for poor sales, you should conduct a marketing audit of the site and correct the shortcomings.

Who should you entrust website promotion to?

There are 2 fundamentally different models of promotion organization: “in-house” and “outsourcing”. In the first case, full-time SEO specialists are hired, in the second, all SEO functions are transferred to a third-party company.

Inhouse is suitable for large companies that have a large volume of work and which can afford to create additional jobs. It is more profitable for small and medium-sized businesses to turn to outside specialists - in this case, there is no need to spend money on personnel search, job creation, salary and social benefits.

There is also an intermediate option for organizing SEO - partial outsourcing. In this case, the work is supervised by a full-time SEO specialist, and individual tasks (compiling a semantic core, link building , copywriting) are outsourced. A special place is occupied by automated promotion systems (for example, SeoPult ). With their help, you can start promoting without having deep knowledge of SEO.

Conclusion

Website SEO as a marketing tool is constantly evolving, proving its effectiveness with the proper use of all its capabilities. In fact, this tool is used not only for direct website promotion, but also for indirectly attracting users to your resource by posting your materials in other sources. Maximum effectiveness is usually achieved by properly combining several methods, such as combining SEO and PPC advertising. It should be borne in mind that modern search engines are more supportive of user-oriented resources, that is, with high-quality content, easy navigation, fast loading speed, etc. A thoughtful professional approach to SEO-optimization will inevitably raise your site to the very top lines of search results.