How to Get Started with SEO & How Does Google Rank Websites?

SEO

Basic SEO isn’t hard to get started with, it just takes time and plenty of patience. Web pages don’t typically rank overnight for competitive keywords. If you are willing to create a solid foundation of optimization for your website, and put in the time to build upon it, you will achieve success and grow your organic traffic. Businesses that cut corners may achieve short-term results, but they almost always fail in the long term and it is very difficult for them to recover. So how do you go about optimizing your website? You must first understand how the search engines work as well as the various techniques that make up SEO. To make it easier to navigate, we have linked each section below so that you can jump to the section that interests you.

  • How Does Google Rank Websites?
  • On-Page SEO (HTML, Content, Etc.)
  • Off-Page SEO (Link Building, Social, Etc.)
  • SEO Success Metrics
  • Creating a Winning SEO Strategy
  • When Should I Expect to See Results?
  • White Hat vs. Black Hat SEO
  • The Future of Search Engine Optimization
  • SEO Tools & Resources

How Does Google Rank Websites?

The search engines use automated robots, also known as web crawlers or spiders, to scan and catalog web pages, PDFs, image files, etc. for possible inclusion in their massive indexes. From there, each web page and file is evaluated by programs called algorithms that determine if a file offers enough unique value to be included into the index. If a file is deemed valuable enough to be added into the index, the file or web page will only be displayed in search results that the algorithms have determined are relevant and meets the intent of the user’s query. This is the true secret to the success of the search engines. The better they answer a user’s queries, the more likely it is that the user will use them in the future. It is generally accepted, as evidenced by the sheer number of their users, that Google delivers more relevant results because of their highly sophisticated algorithms that they are constantly improving. In an effort to maintain their competitive advantage, it is believed that Google makes 500-600 updates to their algorithm each year. User intent is playing a greater role in how search engines rank web pages. For example, if a user is searching for “SEO companies,” is the user looking for articles on how to start an SEO company, or are they looking for a listing of SEO companies that provide the service? In this case, the latter is more likely. Even though there is a small chance that the user may be looking to start an SEO business, Google (with their expansive data on user habits) understands that the vast majority will be expecting to see a listing of companies. All of this is built into Google’s algorithm.