Search Engine Optimization SEO 2023 Latest Guide

What is SEO?

Search engine optimization (SEO) refers to the process of improving the organic traffic of a site and ranking it in search engines such as Google, Naver, Daum, Yahoo and other search engines.

This includes monitoring the technical health of the website, obtaining links to the site from other sites, maintaining the site’s local search ranking, and creating high-quality content.

How do search engines work?

Search engines like Google use a fairly complex process or algorithm to identify and rank content. The algorithm considers various ranking factors that affect ranking to determine the page’s ranking.

In simple terms, search engines take digital content (text, images, video, etc.), analyze this information, and organize it into a page of results. The ultimate goal of search engines is to ensure that searchers are satisfied with the results they find on their search engine result pages (SERP-Serch Engine Result Pages).

One of the important parts of SEO is to properly place keywords in your content that your audience will find searchable for. Keywords are words, phrases, or sentences that users enter into the search box of a search engine when performing a search.

Keywords on your page should be relevant to your business, and ideally have high search volume. (This means that a page should be structured with content that many people will find searchable for, which is preferred by search engines like Google.)

Simply using a keyword multiple times mechanically and repeatedly does not help you rank on search engines like Google or Naver. Of course, there have been times when such an outdated practice has prevailed. Now you need to focus on providing quality information to searchers and use keywords appropriately.

How does Google work?

The main goal of an SEO strategy is usually to rank high on search engines like Google or Naver.

(In Korea, Naver has the highest search share as of 2021. However, globally, Google shows the highest share at about 92%. I will explain search engine optimization. If you have a solid understanding of the Google search engine, you can expect effective results from other search engines such as Naver and Yahoo.)

Google takes the steps below to find and rank your content .

Crawling

Google uses “robots” (called ‘bots’ for short) to crawl the web and look for new or updated pages. For Google to find a page, the page must have a link pointing to it. In general, the more links to a page, the easier it is to find that page on Google.

(The process by which the search engine robot collects data on the web is called crawling.)

Indexing

Next, Google analyzes the URL found by the bot and determines the content of the page. Google looks at content, images, videos, and other media files. Next, they store this information in their database.

Ranking or Serving

After Google evaluates the URL, it determines which page is most relevant to the user’s search query, and configures it as a SERP accordingly.

google algorithm

The Google Search Algorithm is powered by Google’s internal process for ranking content, and this algorithm is updated to consider various factors when ranking search results.

Google’s algorithms have changed many times over the years, but more recently they have focused on understanding search intent through a language model (the language that real people use on a daily basis).

For example, as in the three examples below, even if a searcher searches for the word “change”, the intent is different depending on the context, and thus provides different search results that match the intent.

Unfortunately, no one except those inside Google knows the magic that affects all ranking factors. Even Google’s internal employees say they don’t know all the formulas their algorithm ranks in. Google controls the disclosure of these elements very strictly. If the formula, ‘If you follow this, you will rise in ranking’ is released to the world, the search engine market including Google will probably be very confused.

Fortunately, however, Google provides some best practices to follow when it comes to SEO. In addition , experts such as Google search expert John Mueller provide advice and answers on search algorithms from time to time.

However, when optimizing your site on the advice of Google itself, here are some concepts to keep in mind:

The intent of the user (searcher)

We need to make sure that the content we create answers a user’s (searcher’s) question or shows what the user (searcher’s) wants to see. Factors like the language used, novelty, and synonyms and antonyms make the difference here.

Relevance to the topic

When Google’s algorithms determine that your content meets the search intent of a search term, it scans the Google index to see where your content belongs in terms of relevance. In this process, On-page SEO, which works inside the page, is very important. Providing searchers with the clearest and most relevant content can help them rank higher in Search Results Ranking (SERP).

content quality

Of course, content that has good search intent and is highly relevant can already appear to be of high quality. However, there seems to be a separate criterion for judging high-quality content that Google’s algorithm thinks of. Many experts refer to this evaluation criterion as EAT (Expertise_Expertise).

Why is SEO important?

SEO is important because it goes a long way in increasing your business’s online visibility.

Paid advertising and social media can also help improve visibility, but the beauty of SEO is that, if set up correctly, you can expect to see continuous traffic gains over time.

So, search engine optimization gives your site steady, long-term and even “free” traffic. When you publish high-quality pages that answer your users’ queries, they can appear at the top of your search results pages (SERPs). If you consistently rank at the top of search results, your website and business will be remembered positively in the minds of searchers.

In addition to being perceived positively, there are additional reasons to prioritize SEO, such as:

* More conversions

* Get more leads

* Promotion of sales

How SEO Works + Examples

SEO is the art and art of persuading search engines to recommend your content to users as the best, authoritative, and most accurate solution to the problems searchers are looking for.

As mentioned above, when Google bots collect information from your pages, this information is added to Google’s indexing system. Search engine algorithms then review the indexed material based on hundreds of ranking factors to determine where the page should appear on the search engine results page (SERP) based on the user’s query.

A typical SERP shows organic traffic (traffic by page quality), starting with paid search results such as keyword ads.

On-page SEO

On-page SEO is a method of optimizing content (pages) within a web page. Unlike off-page SEO strategies that take place outside the website, the following factors can be set and controlled internally on the website.

For example, you can update the title tag of the meta description on your own page and create your own content.

Examples of on-page SEO elements include:

Keyword

SEO starts with finding keywords that users can search for. You can start the content creation process by performing keyword research with tools like Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool. With tools like this, you can measure data on how many people searched for a particular keyword and how difficult it is to rank those keywords. You can select keywords to target based on data, not perception.

content creation

After you’ve chosen your audience and intent keywords for a particular topic, start creating your content with the searcher’s intent in mind. This means determining what people searching for a particular phrase are looking for. If someone is searching for “Honda Pilot colors”, they are saying that they need to attach an image with the color to the page because the user wants to see an image for the color.

page speed

Users who do a search can’t stand loading and leave the page if they don’t get the information they want quickly. One tip: Google provides a tool to check page speed called PageSpeed Insight . Use this to make sure your page loads fast enough. If you are having issues with page speed, the tool will give you tips to improve it.

internal link

Google crawls information on the web through links. That’s why internal links are a very important part of SEO. Links are also a criterion by which bots judge the credibility of the web. Once a new page is created, you can consider a strategy to increase the index of the new page by associating it with a page with high authority (the one that is actually visited by a lot of people).

Off-page SEO

Off-page SEO refers to any optimization tactic that takes place outside of your website. These off-page tactics help search engines and searchers determine that your site is reliable and relevant to their queries.

Off-page SEO can include areas like social media building or influencer marketing, but the most important aspect is link building.

Link building refers to allowing other websites to link to your website. Simply put, external link building is ‘someone mentions me’. Getting backlinks from highly authoritative sites can increase traffic to our site and increase its authority. For example, if someone with authority recommends me, it is the same principle that my credibility and reputation increase.

More externally linked links is not always a good thing. Spammy backlinks do not have a positive impact on your site and may result in penalties if caught. For this reason, many SEO experts advise against paying for backlinks. This is because spammy links may be hidden among the many links that you paid for.

Building a link can be difficult, but once established, you can be rewarded with increased traffic, increased brand awareness and authority as a result.

Before we go into more detail on link building, let’s first discuss the main areas, or SEO.

Bill Gates said. “Contents is King.” And that’s still true.

What does content mean in terms of SEO? The better the content, the higher the position in the SERP.

So, from a search engine’s point of view, what distinguishes good content from poor content? We’ll get to that in a moment, but before that, let’s talk about the main areas of focus for your content.

Meta Title and Meta Description

These areas of the page will, in most cases, determine what Google displays to users in search results.

A meta title (also known as a title tag) that clearly describes what the content on your page offers to users should always be clearly written. No matter how good your content, if you don’t have a compelling title, users won’t click on your page.

A meta title (title) and meta description (description) are essentially phrases that attract users and help Google better understand the content and purpose of each page. Be sure to include targeted keywords in your meta description that will benefit both users and search engines.

Headings

Heading tag means setting the content on the page by dividing it into major, middle, and sub-topic. The title that users see when they visit your page is an important signal to Google. As with the meta title, it should be unambiguous and should include the keywords the user was searching for. Again, this is an important signal for Google and giving users confidence.

writing style

Keep your writing simple, concise and focused. I recommend keeping your sentences short, breaking the content into logical chunks and never going off topic. If you feel like you’re off topic, you’d be better off writing a new one. This allows the reader to immediately find a solution to the problem. Organize your content so that you can easily identify, understand, and engage with the value it provides.

rich content

Whenever possible, we recommend that your pages include rich content such as audio or video or illustrated images related to the topic. However, Google cannot understand the content of the image or video.

Therefore, when embedding formats such as images or videos, you must provide them with appropriate meta tags (such as image alt text) so that Google and visually impaired users can understand what you are talking about. Even if your main content is image or video-based, you can add a text version to make it easier for users who prefer text-based content to understand.

outbound link

Outbound links or links to external sites are recognized as sources for verifying the correctness of the content and verifying your credibility and the credibility of the author.

Writer

We recommend that you explicitly cite the author where appropriate. If the author has authority in the field, this will add credibility to the content.

Always keep in mind that your content is not segregated. It’s important to view each piece of content as part of a coherent content strategy as a whole. Consistent publication of content on a consistent subject will create authority in the field.

content type

As there are as many different funnels as different users, different types of content will satisfy any user. A good content strategy is a mix of different formats, such as:

List

People and Google alike love cataloged content. The list is easy to browse and understand.

how to

We can provide a step-by-step approach to your search query. You can strategize by targeting long-tail keywords (such as more specific keywords) that users search for when asking a specific question.

long format guide

This can involve a lot of work, but this type of content can help your audience deeply understand a specific or broader topic. The content that is exposed in one page of SERP consists of about 2000 characters or more of text on average.

graph

Data or information tables on the page are easy for Google to understand. It also helps your audience see data related to your topic.

graphic

It can be an image, photo or illustration. Google is increasingly including these features in its search results pages (SERPs), especially on mobile. Images can also drive visits from Google’s image searches, which are particularly popular in some industries and query types (eg fashion or travel), if used and tagged appropriately.

infographic

An infographic is an image that contains information (usually images and text) that makes it standalone content. Because it’s simple and intuitive, it’s a great way to engage your audience through social media. It’s also a great way to build links.

video

Google is including more and more videos in its search results. This is especially true for videos with search results for ‘how to’.

podcast

Podcasts have recently been on the rise in certain niches. As with videos and images, Google will display them in standard search results.

webinar

Webinar, short for Web+Seminar, is a live online meeting or presentation open to the public. Not only are webinars effective at engaging and building audiences, they also provide great long-term content. After the live event is over, you can always put it on YouTube as a video for people to see.

ebook

Ebooks are books that can be downloaded, usually in PDF format, and are often provided by brands for free. Great for in-depth content that is too long for an article and can be used to gain additional information about your audience.

Expert Tips

Publishing a video on YouTube gives you more brand visibility and referrals on that platform. YouTube is the second most visited website on the planet. Imagine the traffic coming to your website through YouTube.

3 Tips for Creating Better SEO Content

It’s always a good idea for SEO to do in-depth research on your competitors. Do your direct competitors know what their blogs are saying? Or what keywords are your competitors targeting? Naturally, you’ll want to know more about these topics and how you can dive deeper and better understand what sets you apart from the competition.

Of course, quality content is good, but long isn’t always the answer. In the case of a blog targeting a specific keyword, have you not seen a case where it is exposed even if the length is not long? If you think longer content will serve your readers better, use as many words as you need to get to the point. This does not mean that you should list one keyword repeatedly. This means that you should use words that are natural and relevant to your keywords.

Always keep accessibility in mind when writing. For English content, you can use a tool like the SEO Writing Assistant to identify the tone and readability of the content.

Technical SEO

Technical SEO is all about the quality and usability of your site’s infrastructure. A good technical SEO will make it easier for Google to find your content and properly evaluate and index the information it finds.

What are the top priorities for technical SEO?

[Page loading speed]

All pages should be fast. Google prefers to give users faster pages because it provides a better user experience.

[ Mobile-Friendly ]

Users should be able to consume content easily on their mobile devices. Google rates content based on its performance on mobile devices, so it’s important to get it right.

[ User Interface ]

Google wants to recommend sites that appeal to users in terms of design and ease of use. Your site layout should make sure that users feel attractive when they visit your page, understand what the page has to offer, and understand their navigation options.

[ Schema markup ]

This is similar to Google’s native language. Schema markup describes content in a way that Google understands, so Google can more easily digest and understand pages that have schema markup set on them.

3 Tips for Better Technical SEO

1. Check the Google index for duplicate pages on the site . Pages that are different to the human eye may look the same to Google. Google understands unique pages more easily than duplicates.

2. Pay close attention to site speed. Revisit everything that slows down page performance and keep in mind the technical features that can slow down your page. Google PageSpeed is a free tool that allows you to check the performance of your web pages in relation to speed.

3.Don’t forget to create a robots.txt file.