Search engine optimisation, or SEO, is one of the pillars of digital marketing and is important for any business serious about getting their content noticed by the right people. Essentially, SEO involves optimising your blog articles, webpages, and videos so that they are, first, visible to Google’s search crawlers and are capable of being ranked and, second, deemed authoritative enough for that content topic to be given a high search position for your chosen keywords.
From a business perspective, SEO is important because without knowing what Google’s criteria for ranking are, you won’t score the high search position you need to drive traffic to your website and make sales. But why is SEO important to Google and what is their perspective? This is the question we’ll explore in this article.
Quality Content
Google outcompeted most of the other search engines on the market through its commitment to quality. People know that when they search for something on Google, they will get results that are relevant to their search and will give them the information they are looking for. So Google is extremely strict about quality and relevance when ranking sites – it’s what their business reputation and market position depends on.
Quality means well-written and informative web content and well-produced videos, but it also means content that aligns with the appropriate keyword search queries and answers to questions that are accurate, both to the query and factually, unique and 100% original.
Keyword Optimisation
Keywords are important to Google’s search criteria because they let the search engine know that your content is relevant to the user’s query. Overly using keywords, or trying to squeeze an odd search phrase into an article where it doesn’t really fit could impact the quality and readability of your work, and could even harm your search page rankings.
Too many keywords that are repetitive or unnecessary will be seen by Google as “Keyword Stuffing” which Google will rank you lower for, rather than higher. Relevant and strategy-based keywords which are longtail and low-volume, will help increase your rankings, however, and let your page be seen by more relevant search terms to your business.
Mobile Optimisation
Google recognises that more than half of online searches are conducted through tablets and smartphones, so search rankings now prioritise websites that are optimised for mobile devices. If you’ve got an older site that hasn’t been updated for a while, it’s worth checking for compatibility with different screen sizes and mobile browsers.
Site loading speed matters, too. Smartphones are smart, but they won’t compete with a next-gen MacBook in terms of browser speed – especially when using a 4G connection. Your site, its videos, and visual media should, therefore, be optimised for quick loading and downloads on all types of devices and connections, not just office computers.
High-Quality Backlinks
Google tries to rank websites that are authoritative and reliable, and a good indication of this is the use of backlinks from other websites. Encouraging other websites to link back to your content, therefore, increases the search ranking and value of the linked pages. The traditional way to build backlinks is simply to ask another industry professional with relevance to your business to have a website page of yours be linked to on their website article, but you can also cultivate them organically by simply publishing valuable content that people want to link to in their material on their website, and through leading by example by linking to other people’s content in your blog articles, also.
Find Out More
Recognising and understanding how Google uses SEO principles to drive traffic to rank websites is important, as it can help you create a more successful website that is better optimised for search engine visibility. For more information about SEO and how you can maximise your web traffic, book a call with one of our inbound marketing experts.
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