by Mertcan AtikSEO
SEO (Search Engine Optimization), which stands out as an indispensable element of digital marketing plans, plays a critical role in strengthening the online presence of brands and reaching their target audiences. Websites that are optimized by search engine algorithms offer significant advantages in attracting organic traffic, increasing rankings, and increasing overall visibility. SEO involves many factors such as strategic use of keywords, technical optimization, content quality, and link profile editing to ensure websites rank higher in search engines. Therefore, properly integrating SEO strategies for the success of a digital marketing plan allows brands to gain a competitive advantage online.
SEO is built on strong foundations, and the main ones are keywords and technical optimization. Keywords are determined by the search queries of the brand’s target audience and form the basis of the content strategy. Technical optimization includes adjustments made to ensure that the website is better understood and indexed by search engines. Choosing the right keywords and performing technical optimization effectively allows brands to rank higher organically in search results. In this way, SEO helps brands strengthen their online presence, engage with their target audiences, and increase their digital success.
01 | ALGORITHM
An algorithm is a set of rules for solving a problem with a limited number of steps. In technical language, it is the preparation of the necessary environment for the computer to perform a task. Google also has an algorithm that it applies and regularly updates to rank websites in search results. Google gets data from websites all the time. It then presents this data to users searching on the search engine. While doing this, it is based on the relevance and quality score of the web pages.
The Google algorithm is quite complex. It is dynamic with constant updates. The entire algorithm is not disclosed to brands or users. But some criteria are the most effective.
- The appearance of the keyword in the page title, title tags, and meta descriptions
- The number of organic links on the page
- Website mobile optimization
These and similar criteria are critical points that Google looks at when evaluating pages. Google gives numerical values for each feature of the website. The sites that best match the desired features are placed in the top rankings in search engines. These transactions are carried out by Google very quickly. The ranking changes dynamically. While a web page ranks first in search engines, it can fall back in rankings with the effective changes made by the websites behind it. Spelling mistakes and misspellings change the order. Today, Google is advanced enough to offer suggestions to searchers.
SEO is a way of telling Google what a website is about. In the past, the Google algorithm was manipulated by filling the web page with the relevant keyword. Recognizing this situation, Google changed its algorithm and prevented this situation. Today, all efforts to deceive the algorithm face heavy penalties from Google. The algorithm updates that Google publishes regularly should be followed.
02 | TECHNICAL SEO
For a page to rank in search engines, the page must be crawlable and indexable. With technical SEO work, search engines find, crawl, understand, and index the page. This is the process of optimizing the website for search engines. Every work done on the website is to ensure that the web page ranks high in the search engines.
The algorithms of search engines work on crawl logic. Crawl is a method that search engines use to bring more relevant pages to users. Algorithms try to improve scanning methods using different technologies. Robots.txt is one of these methods. With this method, search engines decide where to go on the site.
Scan speed is another criterion. Google has algorithms that will determine the appropriate crawl rate for a site. Every time Google visits websites, it wants to crawl the maximum number of pages. Some sites may be blocked from being crawled for different reasons. (Access restrictions) Testing, private IP login, or HTTP authentication can be one of these reasons. By looking at the “Crawl Statistics” report on Google Search Console, it is possible to check which pages Google has crawled or not. For more detailed information, it is necessary to use tools specially developed for SEO. (Semrush, Ahrefs) After the pages are crawled by algorithms, they are processed and sent to the search engine index. In this way, the rank of the website in the search engine list is determined.
Robots meta tags are HTML codes that specify how to crawl certain pages. It is added to the <head> section of the pages.
<meta name=”robots” content=”noindex” />
Canonicalization is Google’s standardization to store the same pages with multiple versions. The selected URL is the URL that will be seen in search engines. Google Search Console should be used to see which page is indexing it. (URL Inspection Tool) The important thing is to make sure that Google indexes the pages we want. It is important to check for lost links. URLs added to the website may change over time. This means that that link is no longer working. It should be checked regularly that the URLs embedded in the website are working correctly. Pages with the “404 not found” error should be corrected.
Internal links are links from one page within the site to another. This method allows pages to rank higher on search engines. Schema markup allows Google to better understand the content. This is a method that will ensure success in terms of SEO. Page experience signals are related to how well the website complies with UX rules. Providing a convenient user experience to customers is positive for algorithms.
HTTPs is a feature that provides privacy, integrity, and authentication. It prevents websites from encountering negative security issues. The “lock” icon in the address bar is about that. Another critical thing for search engines is mobile compatibility. The mobile compatibility of the site can be checked via Google Search Console.
Hreflang is a way for websites with multiple language options to report this to search engines. If there are many pages in different languages from the same page, which page should be scanned using Hrefland should be specified. It is necessary to repair any further or external broken links within the website. Broken links are links that are no longer functional or have been replaced.
Technical SEO studies are comprehensive studies. The structures of algorithms change every day. Websites and algorithms are living organisms and require constant maintenance. For this, it will be necessary to use developed SEO tools.
03 | LINK BUILDING
Websites contain internal and external links. Link building is very important for search engines. Websites are made up of content. Brands that include common themes on their websites do some content and link deals for content marketing. This is beneficial for both customers and search engines.
With PageRank algorithms, Google now analyzes pages comprehensively. The number of links on the pages was as important as the traffic. With the Google Penguin update, link quality has become quite critical.
Inbound links to the website on authorized pages have reached the most critical level for PageRank today. It has become the most reliable indicator for the algorithm. Getting a link from a well-known site scores much better than getting it from any blog page. In addition, the “relevance” of the linked site to the subject is also important.
It is important where the links are located on the page. Is the link contained within a piece of content? Is the link placed in the footers? Is the link hiding in the sidebars? It is also important that the link is placed editorially. For what reasons did the link to the web page come? Does it come from the relevant content of a website or the comments section? Search engine algorithms always give higher scores to external links from highly relevant sites. Link anchor text is the textual version of links. The reader sees the link as text rather than the link URL. The address the link goes to and the anchor text of the link should be related to each other.
For certain reasons, some pages may not be desired to be crawled by the algorithm. For this, algorithms can be prevented from crawling that page with the “nofollow” code. Pages that are deemed valuable for SEO can be indexed by “dofollow”.
04 | ON PAGE SEO
The part of search engine optimization done on the website is on-page SEO. Studies in this area will increase ranking and user experience scores. Title tags, internal links, HTML code, URL optimization, on-page content, images, and UX are the topics of on-page SEO.
Every work we do for SEO within the web page will help search engines better understand the website. Thus, the website will rank higher in search engines. When ranking pages, Google takes into account the keywords in the text. Keywords are the most critical thing that affects the quality score today. The use of the keyword in the first paragraph of the text is positive for both the reader and the algorithm. The working logic of algorithms is to try to recognize the content through keywords.
H1 and H2 tags must be used for titles and subtitles. Google favors posts with a hierarchy. Tags indicate that the post has a hierarchy. It is necessary to make use of these tags to reveal the main lines of the content. In addition, the tags provide information about the articles that follow the title. This keeps the interest in reading high. User experience is also important when creating content. A text consisting of long paragraphs is difficult to read. This is also negative in terms of user experience. An easy-to-read text can also be easily understood by algorithms. Correct planning of H1 and H2 tags is basic SEO knowledge.
Adding internal and external links to the website are on-page SEO issues. Linking to other pages among high-quality articles will increase the score of both pages. It will also be effective in helping the algorithms recognize the page better. It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that there are several links in the articles. Internal links help users stay more active on the site and lower the bounce rate.
The URL structure of the pages is very important. Keywords must be included in the URL. Both algorithms and users want to learn about the page when they look at the URL. The URL must be made up of unambiguous statements. Title tags and meta descriptions need to be optimized. In search engines, there are meta descriptions under the URL parts. These areas are where users have more information about the page. Title tags consisting of keywords are positive for algorithms. Header tags do not affect ranking. It is useful in terms of user experience.
The most important thing for SEO is original content. This helps both increase traffic and avoid problems with stolen content. Supporting the content with images will increase the user experience. The more images support the content, the more time users will spend on the website. It is necessary to create the pictures to be placed on the website as meticulously and impressively as the posts to be shared on social media. It should be noted that the size of the images should not be large enough to slow down the website. The algorithm cannot perceive images as text. For this, it is necessary to use the descriptive sub-tags of the images.
05 | OFF PAGE SEO
All activities other than SEO work done on the website are called off-page SEO. Brand building, citation creation, content marketing, and social media work are off-page SEO topics. The authority of the website is increased by off-page SEO studies. Websites with high authority rank higher in search engines. An authoritative site is found reliable and relevant by algorithms.
Link building is one of the most important off-page SEO efforts. Getting backlinks from a high authority page is positive for algorithms. It means “vote of confidence”. What matters here is quality rather than quantity. It is healthier to get backlinks from a reliable and high-traffic site instead of getting backlinks from many sites with little authority. It is necessary to be ready when the customer searches with the brand name on the search engines. For this, keyword studies should be done for the brand name. This way, some surprises can be avoided.
Content marketing encompasses both on-page and off-page SEO. While an article shared on the website is on-page SEO, sharing the article on a different site is off-page SEO work. Blog posts, charts, surveys, or whitepapers can be posted on other sites as off-page SEO work. Digital PR has been used as a communication activity with SEO studies in recent years. A website with high authority is also a brand trusted by customers. Getting links from the website of such a brand is very positive for both digital PR and SEO.
Google My Business is a very useful tool for local businesses. Optimizing the page in search engines and linking to Google Maps is also an external page SEO work. Social media channels are also search engines. Serves as customer service. Social media shares have no benefit in search engine rankings. But social media are platforms where brands are searched.
06 | KEYWORD RESEARCH
Keyword research identifies phrases, searches, or questions that are important to customers. Then, SEO studies are carried out on the identified keywords. Keyword research is one of the most critical studies for increasing site traffic, bringing potential customers to the site, and making sales. Keywords should be closely related to the business.
Keyword research is useful in many ways. Customers’ expectations emerge. Unplanned issues related to the brand are discovered. It is useful for reaching customers who are relevant to the brand. Brand awareness increases and conversions increase positively. The right planning of the keyword strategy helps to attract high-potential customers to the website. Avoiding the wrong keywords is just as important as choosing the right keywords.
Keywords can be used to attract potential customers. The important thing is to make plans on keywords related to the brand and product. Wrong keywords increase the likelihood of leaving the site. While determining keywords, it is necessary to consider competitive analysis. If the selected keywords are similar to the brands that have a difficult chance to compete, it will not be easy to get to the top of the ranking. Similar keywords can be considered for longer-term plans.
When searching for keywords, you should not only search for a few words. Keywords should be searched as phrases. The words should be complex sets of keywords that will satisfy similar search purposes. For this, certain topics and themes should be created. Thus, word groups can be used abundantly in the content. More optimized content is quite positive in terms of SEO. Similar words and sentences that customers will type into the search engine will also be targeted in this way.
Keyword research is the study of keywords’ monthly search volume, difficulty, cost-per-click, and search engine ranking. In addition, it is necessary to know the brand and target audience. Trends should also be taken into account in keyword research. The monthly and yearly search trends of the words will give you an idea.