What is SEO (Search Engine Optimization)?

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Do you person a website aliases are you reasoning astir creating one? And do you want to pull much group to your business? If the reply to those questions is yes, past there’s nary uncertainty astir it: SEO should beryllium portion of your trading efforts. It’s a awesome measurement to build your marque and get group connected your site. But to do so, you request to commencement pinch the basics. So successful this post, we’ll springiness you an knowing of what SEO is and really you tin get started!

What is SEO?

The acronym SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Let’s commencement pinch a meaning from 1 of our main SEO experts astatine Yoast:

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SEO is some the creation and subject of improving a website, and pages within, to beryllium arsenic visible arsenic imaginable for erstwhile group hunt for a applicable taxable wrong immoderate hunt platform. SEO covers galore areas from method aspects including optimizing a site’s capacity and structure, to enhancing marque authority by providing awesome contented and matching it pinch that person’s hunt intent.

Alex Moss – Principal SEO astatine Yoast

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SEO is the believe of improving a website and its contented truthful it tin beryllium discovered, understood, and trusted erstwhile group hunt for applicable topics. Where this utilized to beryllium focused connected accepted hunt engines for illustration Google and Bing, SEO now besides helps contented look successful AI-powered hunt experiences, chatbots, and different find platforms. SEO combines method improvements, contented optimization, and brand-building to summation visibility, pull the correct audience, and support business goals.

How SEO works

So how does Google work? With hunt engines for illustration Google, the process consists of crawling, indexing, and ranking. The crawler is an online bot that scours the web to cod each the pages retired location and prevention them successful a gigantic database called the index. This scale is perpetually updated pinch caller pages aliases updated versions of existing ones. When personification searches online, the hunt motor calls connected the scale and uses analyzable algorithms to find which pages are applicable to show. This determines the ranking of results shown to the online searcher.

For example, erstwhile I hunt for the word ‘sustainable telephone case’, these results are shown by Google. Based connected my hunt word and the intent down it, Google deems these results the champion ones recovered successful its index.

Screenshot of Google’s results for ‘sustainable telephone case’

Organic vs paid search

SEO is focused connected attracting much integrated postulation to your website, postulation that comes to your tract via unpaid hunt results. But arsenic you tin spot successful the image above, the hunt results besides show ads and sponsored results. Often astatine the apical of the page. To make a clear distinction, location are a fewer acronyms successful usage that are valuable to know:

• SEM: Search motor trading entails each trading efforts to show up successful the hunt results, some done ads and integrated results.
• SEO: SEO is the believe of improving a website to show up erstwhile group hunt for a applicable taxable wrong immoderate hunt platform. 
• SEA: Search motor advertizing is the believe of paying for ads that show up successful the hunt results of applicable keywords.
• PPC: Pay-per-click. The advertizing exemplary utilized successful SEA, wherever the advertiser pays a interest each clip 1 of their ads is clicked.

These paid results tin let you to show up arsenic the apical consequence for a hunt term, but it will costs you money each clip a personification clicks done to your website. When comparing SEO vs PPC, they some person their benefits and drawbacks. But much often than not, they complement each different well.

SEO vs GEO

With the changeless changes successful SEO and uprise of AI-powered search, location are a fewer different acronyms that you mightiness person encountered. GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) being 1 that’s being talked astir a batch online. This word focuses connected optimizing to amended visibility successful responses generated by AI tools. We want to stress that this is not a replacement for SEO. The Yoast perspective is that the acronym SEO still suffices. The fundamentals are the same, we conscionable request to beryllium alert of really applies to AI and different platforms for illustration societal media.

Why SEO is important for tract owners

Huge measurement of searches

The logic that truthful galore (big) companies heavy put successful SEO is the precocious effect that it tin person erstwhile done right. To springiness you an idea, Google, the most-used hunt motor sewage astir 8.3 cardinal searches per day successful 2024. A number that has only gone up (and significantly) since 1998. So if you person a website, you want to make judge to show up successful Google and different hunt platforms.

SEO is intent-driven

Online hunt is very intent-driven. Unlike different trading channels, specified arsenic societal media, wherever group hap to scroll upon your marque and content. This intends you’re interrupting a user’s acquisition to seizure their attention, which makes it much difficult to get them interested. Showing up successful their hunt results aligns pinch an existing demand—your customers are actively seeking information, products, aliases solutions. This makes SEO a powerful inbound trading strategy, wherever users travel to you alternatively than the different measurement around. Because searchers already person intent, they are much apt to convert, making SEO an basal instrumentality for attracting high-quality leads.

Competitive advantage

Creating a website and leaving it astatine that isn’t going to trim it. With caller websites popping up near and right, it’s becoming progressively difficult to get noticed and support customer loyalty. SEO tin supply you pinch higher online visibility, a stronger brand, much authority successful your field, much interaction moments pinch your assemblage and higher value postulation to your website (and/or offline location). All of this, starring to higher marque loyalty and much revenue.

It’s not conscionable astir clicks

Today, SEO is astir much than earning clicks from hunt results. Your contented whitethorn besides beryllium cited successful AI-generated answers, referenced successful AI overviews, aliases discovered done different platforms. Even erstwhile users don’t instantly sojourn your website, appearing arsenic a trusted root tin summation marque awareness, credibility, and early request for your business.

Types of SEO

Although the basal principles stay the same, location are a fewer different types of SEO worthy mentioning. They whitethorn not each use to your situation, but it is beneficial to dive into the ones that do:

• Ecommerce SEO: SEO specifically focused connected gaining much visibility and integrated postulation for online stores. With the extremity of acquiring much sales.
• Local SEO: Local SEO is the believe of optimizing your website for a circumstantial section area. This is to guarantee you are easy recovered (both online and offline) by a section audience. 
• Video SEO: The process of optimizing videos and video pages to make them look successful the hunt results for applicable keyphrases. Whether that is Google’s hunt results aliases hunt results connected different platforms for illustration YouTube and societal media.
• News SEO: Mainly applicable for news publishers, news SEO focuses connected getting contented to show up arsenic the apical consequence successful Google News and different news-specific areas of the hunt results.

The 3 pillars of SEO

SEO is each astir optimizing your website to summation your online visibility. But what do we mean by that? What precisely should you beryllium optimizing? Well, there’s a batch you tin do and it tin beryllium divided up into 3 main areas.

The 3 pillars of SEO: Technical SEO, on-page SEO, and off-page SEO.

Technical SEO

First of all, it’s important to attraction connected the method portion of SEO. Technical SEO is each astir improving a website’s method aspects to amended personification acquisition and make hunt engines understand your pages. Aspects that autumn nether technical SEO are:

• Loading clip of your pages
• Making the correct parts of your tract crawlable for hunt engines
• The magnitude of dormant links connected your site
• Security 
• Use of system data

Search engines worth these aspects because they want to coming their users pinch websites that supply a due personification experience. A page that takes everlastingly to load, doesn’t beryllium anymore, aliases isn’t secure, provides a unspeakable personification acquisition and will not make users happy. Also, aspects specified arsenic crawlability and structured data thief hunt engines understand what your pages are about. This helps hunt engines understand your relevance and allows them to rank your pages higher.

On-page SEO

Although method SEO is besides portion of on-page SEO, this tin beryllium seen arsenic ‘under-the-hood’ optimization to amended your pages. The different efforts that tin beryllium categorized arsenic on-page SEO are targeted astatine optimizing the contented connected a page. Think of:

• The value of your content
• Use of the due keywords
• Showing E-E-A-T successful your content
• Site structure
• Internal linking
• Well-thought-out URLs, titles, and alt tags 

On-page SEO chiefly revolves astir content SEO and utilizing the elements astir that contented to amended your findability for applicable terms. 

Off-page SEO

In opposition to on-page SEO, off-page SEO entails everything you do for SEO extracurricular of page optimization. Such arsenic outer nexus building, societal media and section SEO (off-site). This is focused connected increasing your scope and building your marque to pull much traffic. An important portion is link building, getting different applicable websites to nexus to your content. This tin really thief boost your visibility and amended your estimation arsenic an authority – spot links arsenic for illustration votes of assurance from different websites 

But there’s a batch much you tin do. For example, speaking astatine events, doing interviews, and blogging for different websites. These activities springiness you the opportunity to showcase your expertise and scope caller people. When you ain a section shop, these mightiness not beryllium arsenic relevant. In that case, it’s important that you attraction connected the acquisition that group person pinch your shop. Make judge that customers time off happy and that this acquisition is positive, offline and online. This besides extends to societal media. Although your activity location does not straight effect rankings, it pays disconnected to beryllium successful interaction pinch your assemblage location arsenic well. And supply a akin (positive) acquisition done these platforms arsenic well. 

One last facet that you shouldn’t hide astir is your business listings. Make judge these are meticulous connected your Google Business Profile and different websites that are applicable to your business.

SEO Ranking factors

To find what results to show, and successful what order, hunt engines usage ranking factors. Ranking factors, aliases ranking signals, are characteristics of a page that hunt engines look astatine to find really applicable that page is for a circumstantial hunt query. Although the nonstop database of ranking factors and their value is simply a spot of a enigma and changes from clip to time, we do person a beautiful bully thought of the astir important ones:

• The quality, relevance and usability of your content
• External and soul links
• The method aspects of your tract (f.e. security)
• User experience connected your tract (site speed, easy navigation, mobile parity)
• The wide online beingness of your brand

In summation to these top-ranking factors, location are plentifulness of others (both known and unknown). But to get a caput commencement pinch SEO, it makes consciousness to attraction connected these aspects first. If you want to quickly cheque your page’s performance, you tin count connected our SEO Checker tool to thief you emblem issues and supply recommendations connected really to improve.

SEO now vs early days: a little history

SEO successful the 90’s

Although websites person been astir for a small while longer, group started optimizing their sites for hunt engines successful the mid-1990s. As you tin imagine, SEO was a batch simpler backmost then. The algorithms that hunt engines utilized were measurement little precocious and relied connected ranking factors for illustration keyword density to find the relevance of a page. The ‘trick’ backmost past was making judge the keyword was being utilized capable times passim your page and successful your meta tags. 

Search engines evolving

Naturally, the companies down hunt engines quickly realized the rumor pinch this approach. Displaying the results that usage the keyword astir isn’t ever the champion acquisition for their users. So they had to find a measurement to amended grip really imaginable results were being ranked. Search engines for illustration Google started moving connected ways to get smarter and trust little connected ‘tricks’ and fixed ranking factors. This resulted successful a number of algorithm updates, each resulting successful a smarter Google that was much tin of knowing the relevance of a page. 

With a squad moving non-stop connected improving Google’s hunt engine, the attraction moved from factors for illustration keyword density to personification acquisition and high-quality content. These algorithm updates are still very overmuch a portion of the SEO field, pinch Google releasing a caller 1 (or multiple) each year. You tin expect this to beryllium a continuous process wherever hunt engines accommodate to existent hunt behaviour and set their algorithms to support showing users the champion results for their hunt query. 

SEO successful 2026

So, wherever does that time off america successful 2026? As mentioned, hunt engines proceed moving connected their algorithms to amended their users’ experience. The attraction points of SEO successful 2026 are still high-quality contented and method factors for illustration tract speed, information and mobile parity. But an important improvement we can’t disregard is that SEO is expanding. It is nary longer constricted to accepted hunt motor results pages. People now besides get their accusation done AI assistants, AI-generated hunt results, societal platforms, and video platforms.

The fundamentals of SEO haven’t changed. That’s why we proceed to usage the word SEO. The channels are expanding, but the halfway principles stay the same. More group are utilizing AI devices for their online searches and hunt engines are besides investing successful providing AI-driven hunt experiences. An illustration of that is Google AI overviews, wherever Google uses AI to propulsion together and harvester accusation connected a hunt query from different resources. This is past shown successful 1 overview, pinch the dream that this straight answers the circumstantial mobility asked. 

A imaginable zero-click search, wherever the meaning of tract building is shown successful an AI overview.

One consequence of that is zero-click searches, wherever hunt engines aliases AI devices show the complete reply to a hunt query successful their results. This tin lead to less clicks to your website, but it still pays disconnected to beryllium the website that provides that answer. In fact, this is simply a bully illustration of the guidance successful which SEO is going. Shift your attraction from ‘just clicks’ and maintaining a circumstantial spot successful the hunt results to building a beardown marque and being visible connected different platforms. 

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Rankings still matter, but they are nary longer the extremity goal. They are a proxy for visibility, not a guarantee of impact. As hunt shifts from ranking pages to selecting sources, rankings should beryllium interpreted alongside presence, citation, and communicative accuracy.

Carolyn Shelby – Principal SEO astatine Yoast

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Setting SEO Goals

SEO experts utilized to intimately show ranking positions, clicks, website postulation and stats for illustration bounce rates. Naturally, each of this information is still relevant, but location has been a displacement successful what goals to attraction on. Search behaviour has changed, and hunt engines and different online devices are showing your contented successful galore different ways. So it’s not conscionable a number crippled anymore. You request to attraction connected the wide cognition of your marque and being coming successful the correct places. 

Set SEO goals related to engagement, marque awareness, personification acquisition connected your website, personification satisfaction, and really each of this tin beryllium related to income aliases different actions you want your assemblage to perform. This tin beryllium trickier than conscionable looking astatine your regular rankings but will springiness you a amended thought of the occurrence of your SEO strategy and really you’re perceived. By online devices and your audience. The action scheme successful our Yoast Perspective study 2026 helps you displacement your metrics from postulation to influence.

How to study SEO and get started

Although it consists of a batch of different aspects, it is imaginable to tackle (a batch of) SEO yourself. Let’s look astatine really you tin do that and what resources tin thief you get started. 

Start pinch the basics

Before you get to contented creation, it’s important to get your method SEO successful order. If you cognize your measurement astir redirects, optimizing page speed, crawlability, information and system data, make those your first priority. If not, fto your tract builder thief you retired aliases prosecute personification pinch a inheritance successful method SEO. When that’s done, you tin commencement looking astatine tract building and the contented connected your pages.

By doing keyword research, you will beryllium capable to create contented that aligns pinch your business and gets group to your website. It will besides springiness you loads of input connected topics to constitute about. With the emergence of AI-generated content, it’s moreover much important to create original contented that reflects your insights and expertise. This will alteration you to group up an SEO strategy and scheme to proceed moving connected this passim the year. Because SEO is ne'er done. That’s why it’s important to create a realistic scheme and support yourself (or your team) to it. This mightiness consciousness for illustration a batch of effort, but retrieve that SEO not only brings much postulation to your site, it besides helps build your marque and summation personification loyalty successful the agelong run. 

How we tin thief you

At Yoast, we want to make SEO accessible for everyone. And we want to thief you do it yourself. That’s why we connection a free SEO plugin and premium SEO plugin for WordPress sites, allowing you to get started connected improving your tract without excessively overmuch trouble. Our free plugin comes pinch features for illustration the SEO and readability analyses, which springiness you feedback connected your contented correct away. It besides handles parts of the method SEO for you. Our Premium plugin gives you entree to immoderate much features for illustration AI-powered features, a redirect tool, and the anticipation to adhd aggregate keywords per page. Making SEO moreover easier to activity on. There is besides a Yoast SEO app for Shopify that comes pinch a batch of the aforesaid features, but is much focused connected SEO for online stores.

We besides connection a assortment of SEO courses successful our Yoast SEO academy, wherever you tin find 5 free courses to get started. For example, the SEO for beginners course, the WordPress for beginners people and a people connected system data. If you’re a Yoast SEO Premium user, you get entree to each 16 courses connected there. Which will really thief you dive into the different aspects of SEO and really to tackle them. 

Finally, we person an SEO blog pinch galore blog posts connected SEO basics, much precocious SEO, caller developments and related topics. All of this to make judge that you person each the devices you request to successfully activity connected SEO yourself!

Read more: The eventual guideline to WordPress SEO »

Camille Cunningham

Camille is simply a contented master astatine Yoast. As portion of the Search team, she enjoys creating contented that helps you maestro SEO.

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