How SEO works: A quick example

When it comes to learning how SEO works, it's often helpful to have an example. So, say you have two websites: Website A and Website B.

Website A isn’t responsive, which means users on tablets or smartphones will have a tough time navigating and using the site. Website B, however, is responsive, which means a better user experience for tablet, smartphone, and desktop users.

For search engines, it’s an easy decision which website is more friendly: Website A.

Of course, how search engines work is a bit more complicated than that. Today, search engines use more than 200 different factors to generate search results, which means a lot of different elements influence your placement in search results.

Why do search engines care about SEO?

Why on earth does a search engine care if you use them or another search engine? After all, you’re not paying them? That’s right, you aren’t paying them…but someone else is! So the answer to this question is that they care because they make their money from advertising.

The page you are delivered to after you enter a search query is called the search engine results page (aka SERP). The SERP presents you with what are called “organic results” as well as “pay-per-click ads” (or PPC). The organic results are those that are influenced by SEO, while the PPC ads are paid for.

You cannot pay Google or any search engine to occupy any position in the organic results.

However, the ads on the page are how they make their money. So, the better the results they deliver you, the more likely you and others are use that search engine again. The more people using the search engine, the more ads they can show and the more money they can make. Make sense?

Why care about how SEO works?

The Internet has really put the world at our fingertips. We are usually not more than a few clicks away from almost any information we could be looking for. When people are looking for information, services, products, and so on, they go online.

Try to remember the moment you thought, “I should really look up how search engine optimization works.”

You knew exactly what to do: You got on the Internet and you searched for “how SEO works.”

What did you do then?

Odds are you clicked on one of the first few results, at least initially. If you didn’t find a site that met your expectations, you probably clicked the back button and scrolled down the page until you found what you were looking for.

If your site isn’t properly optimized, it’s safe to assume you’re only coming up on the first page for your branded search queries — although depending on the name of your business, that might not even be the case.

That means people who don’t know you exist but are looking for someone like you will never find you, and you’ll never even have a chance to tell them why you’re better than the competition.

That’s right: Without SEO, you’re giving leads away.

The good news is you’re making it really easy on your competitors who are doing SEO. Odds are, they are loving you for not putting up a fight.

So, who cares how search engines deliver results? You definitely should!

 

What is a responsive website?

Responsive web design, also called RWD design, describes a modern web design approach that allows websites and pages to render (or display) on all devices and screen sizes by automatically adapting to the screen, whether it’s a desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.

To define responsive web design means that your website (and its pages) can adapt and deliver the best experience to users, whether they’re on their desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. For that to happen, though, your website needs a responsive design.

SERPs & SEO: What You Need To Know

Internet marketing jargon tosses around a lot of acronyms, and you’ve probably noticed the term “SERP” referenced. But you may be wondering, “What is SERP and why does it matter?”

A search engine results page (SERP) is a page generated by a search engine in response to a user search or query. SERPs display a list of results or sites relevant to the user’s search. Paid advertisements, if relevant, may also appear in a SERP.

What did you Google last? Do you remember scrolling through results? The pages holding all the clickable options for new information are search engine results pages or SERPs.

Here’s a quick definition of SERP.

SERP stands for search engine results page, and it’s the kind of page that lists results after you plug a query into the search bar of Google or other search engines. Search engines deliver a ranked list of URLs that relate to the distinct keywords entered.

For each keyword phrase, suitable website pages containing the keywords are ranked from most appropriate to the least using the search engine’s unique ranking factors. 

The first SERP typically gets all the attention and clicks from users, but search engines can have multiple pages full of results.

Types of results in SERPs

SERPs have two main categories of results, organic and paid, although organic search results make up the bulk of the listings.

Let’s go over the differences so you can choose an effective approach.

Organic results in SERPs

Organic results are the page listings that naturally match the quality, relevance, and authority factors of a search engine’s algorithms. The ranking algorithms assess online content with a range of standards — for example, Google has over 200 ranking factors.

While the format frequently shifts on Google, organic text-based results typically hold around ten slots on page one. The goal for SEO is to obtain a prominent spot on the first SERP and avoid getting hidden on the second or third pages where few users reach.

 

 

All 200 (Known) Ranking Factors

A summary of all 200 SEO ranking factors,

Here are the top categories:

  1. Domain Factors
  2. Page-Level Factors
  3. Site-Level Factors
  4. Backlink Factors
  5. User Interaction
  6. Special Google Algorithm Rules
  7. Brand Signals
  8. On-Site Webspam Factors
  9. Off-Site Webspam Factors
  10. Your domain age
  11. Keyword in your domain
  12. Keyword is the first word in your domain
  13. Domain registration length
  14. Keyword in subdomain
  15. Domain history
  16. Penalized Whois owner
  17. Public WhoIs instead of private Whois
  18. Presence of the keyword in the title tag
  19. Having the keyword at the beginning of your title tag
  20. Keyword in your meta description tag
  21. Presence of the keyword in the H1 tag
  22. Keyword is frequently used in the content
  23. Content length
  24. Word count rankings
  25. Presence of a linked table of contents
  26. Keyword density
  27. Presence of semantically related keywords
  28. Semantically related keyword in meta title and description
  29. In-depth quality content
  30. Useful content
  31. Page loading speed via HTML
  32. Page loading speed tested on Chrome
  33. Core web vitals
  34. No duplicate content on the same site
  35. Image optimization through ALT, title, and  file name
  36. Content recency (the newer, the better)
  37. Page age
  38. How many edits were made to the content during updates
  39. Historical data on page updates
  40. Proper use of rel=canonical
  41. Presence of keyword in H2 and H3 tags
  42. Presence of keyword in the first 100 words
  43. Grammar and spelling
  44. Originality of the page's content
  45. Entity match
  46. Number of outbound links
  47. Mobile useability and optimization
  48. Hidden content on mobile (may not be indexed)
  49. Page optimized for mobile
  50. Presence of multimedia, for example, images and videos
  51. Number of outbound links
  52. The quality of outbound links
  53. Theme of outbound links
  54. Presence of helpful supplementary content, like free tools and calculators
  55. Content hidden behind tabs (it may not be indexed and wouldn't show up in search snippets)
  56. Number of internal links pointing to the page
  57. Quality of the internal links
  58. Presence of too many broken links (could lower ranking capabilities)
  59. The reading level of the page
  60. Presence of many affiliate links
  61. Presence of many HTML errors
  62. Authority/trust-level of the domain
  63. Authority/trust level of the page
  64. PageRank
  65. Length of URL
  66. Closeness of URL to the homepage
  67. Presence of keyword in URL
  68. Opinion of human editors
  69. Relevance of page's category to page
  70. Content formatting for user-friendliness and readability
  71. Priority of the page in the sitemap.xml
  72. UX signal from pages ranking for the same keyword
  73. Citing references and sources
  74. Use of a user-friendly layout
  75. URL string in Google search engine results
  76. Internal link anchor text to the page
  77. Use of structured data
  78. Presence of a contact us page or appropriate amount of contact information
  79. Content on site provides value or new insights
  80. TrustRank (how close your site is to a known and trusted site in terms of linking)
  81. Website updates for freshness factor
  82. Site architecture
  83. Presence of a sitemap
  84. Long-term site downtime
  85. Location of server
  86. HTTPs / use of a valid SSL certificate
  87. Presence of legal pages (terms and conditions and privacy policy)
  88. Unique metadata
  89. Use of breadcrumb markup
  90. Site-wide mobile optimization
  91. Site-wide user-friendliness (usability and interactiveness)
  92. Bounce rate
  93. Domain authority
  94. User reviews
  95. Site reputation
  96. Age of linking domain
  97. Number of referring domains
  98. Number of links from separate c-class IPs
  99. Number of referring pages
  100. Anchor text of backlinks
  101. ALT tag of image links
  102. Number of links from .edu and .gov domains
  103. Trust factor of linking page
  104. Trust factor of linking domain
  105. Presence of links from competitors
  106. Number of links from expected sites in your industry
  107. Links from bad neighborhoods
  108. Number of links that are not from ads
  109. Country TLD of referring domains
  110. Domain authority
  111. Presence of some nofollow links
  112. Diversity of link profile
  113. Context of content the content of linking page
  114. Presence of more follow links that sponsored or UGC
  115. Lots of backlinks to URL with 301 redirects
  116. The text that appears when you hover over a link
  117. Link location on page
  118. Location of link in content
  119. Links from relevant domains
  120. Links from relevant pages
  121. Presence of your page's keyword in the title of the linking page
  122. Natural rate of growth in number of links
  123. Spiky and unnatural rate of growth in number of links
  124. Links from top resources on a certain topic or hubs
  125. Number of links from sites that are considered authority sites
  126. Linked as a source in a Wikipedia article
  127. Words around your backlinks
  128. Backlink age
  129. Links from real sites vs fake blogs
  130. Natural link profile
  131. Excessive reciprocal links
  132. Links in real content vs. UGC
  133. Backlinks from a page with a 301 redirect
  134. TrustRank of linking site
  135. Fewer outbound links on linking page
  136. Links in real content vs links in forums
  137. Word count of linking content
  138. Quality of linking content
  139. Sitewide links = one link
  140. Organic click through rate for exact keyword
  141. Organic click through rates for all ranking keywords
  142. Dwell time
  143. Bounce rate
  144. Measurement of how users interact on your site based on RankBrain
  145. Total direct traffic
  146. Percentage of repeat visitors
  147. Blocked sites
  148. Percentage of visitors that click on other pages on the SERP after clicking visiting your page
  149. Page frequently bookmarked by Chrome users
  150. Number of comments on page
  151. Need for diversity in the SERP
  152. Need for freshness in the SERP
  153. Browsing history of user
  154. Search history of user
  155. Succinct answers, formatting, page authority and HTTPS for featured snippets
  156. Geo-targeting
  157. Adult content or curse words (excluded from safe search results)
  158. High content quality standards for YMYL keywords
  159. Legitimate DMCA complaints
  160. Need for domain diversity in SERP
  161. Transactional searches
  162. Local search results
  163. Presence of news stories related to keyword for Top Stories box
  164. Search intent
  165. Presence of big brands with relevant content
  166. Presence of results optimized for Google Shopping
  167. Image results
  168. Branded search
  169. Spammy queries
  170. Spammy sites
  171. Brand + keyword searches (for ex
  172. Branded anchor text
  173. Twitter profile with followers
  174. Official LinkedIn page
  175. Facebook page with lots of likes
  176. Branded searches
  177. Known author or verified online profile
  178. Real social media accounts
  179. Top stories with brand mentions
  180. Brand mentions without links
  181. Physical location of offices
  182. Low-quality content
  183. Links to bad neighborhoods
  184. Multiple and sneaky redirects
  185. Flagged server IP address
  186. Distracting ads and popups
  187. Popups that are spammy and difficult to close
  188. Over-optimizing the site
  189. Gibberish content
  190. Use of doorway pages
  191. Lots of ads above the fold and not much content
  192. Hiding affiliate links
  193. Low-value content sites
  194. Affiliate sites
  195. Keyword stuffing in meta tags
  196. Compute generated content
  197. Nofollowing all outbound links
  198. Unnatural and sudden increase in backlinks
  199. Hacked site
  200. Lots of low-quality backlinks
  201. High percentage of links from unrelated websites
  202. Low-quality directory links
  203. Automatic links in widgets
  204. Links from sites with the same server IP
  205. Using “poison” in your anchor text
  206. Ignored manual actions in search console
  207. Selling links
  208. Temporary link schemes