What is SEO and how does it work?
SEO stands for search engine optimization. It is the practice of improving your website’s content, structure, and visibility to rank higher on search engines like Google.
SEO is essential for beginners and businesses. It helps small websites compete with larger ones, drives organic traffic without relying solely on ads, and builds credibility by appearing at the top of search results.
Organic searches drive most website traffic, making SEO one of the most powerful digital marketing strategies. Whether you’re running a blog, an online store, or a local business site, understanding SEO can increase your reach and success.
How does SEO work?
SEO works by helping search engines understand your website content and ensuring it appears for relevant searches.
This process involves three key steps: crawling, indexing, and ranking.
Crawling: How search engines discover content
Search engines use automated bots called “crawlers” or “spiders” to scan websites. These bots follow links from page to page, discovering new and updated content across the web. If your site structure is clear and content is regularly refreshed, crawlers are more likely to find all your pages.
To ensure search bots can effectively crawl your site:
- Use an organized site structure with internal linking
- Create an XML sitemap to guide search engine crawlers
- Regularly update content to signal freshness
- Avoid broken links and fix crawl errors in Google Search Console
Indexing: How search engines store content
Once crawled, pages are analyzed and stored in the search engine’s index, a massive database of web content. Indexed pages can appear in search results when users enter relevant queries.