Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is the process of making a website more visible in search engine results pages (SERPs) like Google so that it gets more free traffic. It works by making sure that the technical parts, content, and link profile of a website are all optimized in a way that matches how search engines like Google judge the quality and usefulness of a website.
How does it work?
Crawling
Search engines utilize automated programs (bots or crawlers) to find content on the internet by following hyperlinks.
Indexing
After discovering material, search engines examine and categorize it for inclusion in their index.
Ranking
When a user types a search query, the search engine utilizes algorithms to analyze it and provide the most relevant results.
SEO Optimization Techniques
Keyword Research
Identifying relevant keywords that users enter into search engines to find information about your website.
On-Page Optimization
Optimizing website content, such as title tags, meta descriptions, headings, and body text, to incorporate relevant keywords and increase readability.
Off-Page Optimization
Creating a strong online presence through link building with other trustworthy websites, social media involvement, and brand mentions.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO involves optimizing a website for search engine crawlability and indexing, with a focus on speed, mobile-friendliness, and structure.
How is SEO different from SEM and PPC?
SEM and PPC are two other commonly used terms on Sedna Solutions and in the search marketing community.
It might also help to understand what SEO is and is not.
Here, we’ll explain the differences in terminologies, what these acronyms signify, and how they apply to various professions.
SEO vs. SEM
SEM is an acronym for search engine marketing, sometimes known as search marketing.
Search marketing is a form of digital marketing. It refers to the combination of SEO and PPC (pay-per-click, e.g., Google Ads) activities that generate traffic through organic and paid search, respectively.
So, how are SEO and SEM different? Technically, they are not different; SEO is simply one side of SEM.
- SEO is the process of driving organic search engine results clicks.
- Search engine marketing (SEM) is the process of increasing organic and paid results clicks.
- PPC: Getting paid results clicks from search engines.
Here’s the ideal method to consider SEM, SEO, and PPC:
Imagine that SEM is a coin. SEO is one side of the coin. PPC is on the other side.
SEO vs. PPC
PPC stands for pay-per-click, a method of digital marketing in which advertisers are charged when one of their adverts is clicked on.
Advertisers bid on specific keywords or phrases where they want their advertising to show in search engine results.
When a user searches for one of those keywords or phrases, the advertiser’s ad (paid listing) will be displayed among the top results.
So, if we see search marketing as a coin, SEO and PPC are two sides of the same coin:
- With PPC, the advertiser pays when a search user clicks their paid listing.
- With SEO the search result listing has not been directly paid for, though SEO is sold as a service and the process of optimizing pages and websites takes time and investment, so it is important to understand that organic search isn’t “free.”
Some people have disputed “SEO vs. PPC” – whether channel is more beneficial or provides a higher return on investment (ROI). However, SEO and PPC are complementary digital marketing methods. Ideally, you should always choose both (provided your budget permits it).
As previously indicated, the phrases SEM and PPC are used interchangeably in the industry. However, that is not the case with Sedba Solution.
Whenever we use the term “SEM,” we mean both SEO (organic search) and PPC (paid search).
If you want to learn more about how “SEM” came to signify “PPC” instead of “SEO,” check out these articles:
- How Wikipedia Turned PPC / Paid Search Into SEM
- Does SEM = SEO + CPC Still Add Up?
What are the 4 types of SEO?
While there are other sub-categories of SEO, there are four fundamental sorts of SEO strategies: on-page, off-page, technical, and local SEO. Here’s what goes into each plan and the best practices for implementing it successfully.
Why SEO is Important
Increased Visibility
Higher SERP ranks indicate that more users will see your website, resulting in higher traffic.
Organic Traffic
SEO aims to generate organic traffic, which is frequently more focused and useful than paid advertising.
Credibility and Trust
Users frequently consider highly ranked websites as more reputable and trustworthy.
User Experience
SEO methods frequently improve the overall user experience of a website, resulting in increased engagement and conversions.
SEO is an Ongoing Process
Constant Algorithm Updates
SEO is an ongoing process that necessitates constant monitoring and adjustments due to the steady evolution of search engine algorithms.
Evolving User Behavior
User search patterns and tastes evolve, necessitating that organizations keep up with the current trends.
Can I do SEO on my own?
Yes, it is possible to perform SEO (Search Engine Optimization) on your own. While professional SEO services might be advantageous, many firms and individuals are successful in managing their own SEO campaigns. With the correct knowledge and commitment, you can boost your website’s visibility and search engine ranks without paying an agency.
Is SEO really worth it?
Yes, SEO is worthwhile. SEO is a powerful marketing approach that can produce consistent web traffic, leads, and sales for your company as long as potential buyers search for your product or services online or solutions to problems you solve.
Which tool is best for SEO?
- SEOClarity for an SEO AI assistant tool
- Surfer for AI integration
- Mangools for beginners
- Semrush for SEO rank tracking
- SEOptimer for SEO audits
- Ahrefs for competitor research
- Clearscope for SEO content optimization
- BuzzSumo for SEO content ideation
- AnswerThePublic for content research on a budget
- SE Ranking for local SEO
- Screaming Frog SEO Spider for technical SEO
What do you mean by backlinks?
Backlinks are external links that point to a page on your website. Backlinks, also known as inbound links, reflect traffic from another website that is directed to your own. The quality and amount of your backlinks can help you rank higher on search engines like Google and Bing.
What are keywords in SEO for beginners?
A keyword, often known as a focus keyword, is a word that most accurately represents the information on your page or post. It’s the search keyword you want to rank for on a certain page. So, when people search for that keyword or phrase in Google or other search engines, they should come across that page on your website.
What are the cons of SEO?
Limitations and disadvantages of SEO
- There are no guarantees. Sadly, implementing SEO doesn’t guarantee success. …
- It’s incredibly competitive. …
- Results don’t come overnight. …
- Constant maintenance is required.
SEO specialties
There are several subgenres within search engine optimization. Each of these particular areas differs from “regular SEO” in its own way, needing additional methods and providing unique obstacles.
Five such SEO specialties include:
- Ecommerce SEO: Other SEO features include improving category and product pages, faceted navigation, internal linking structures, product photos, product reviews, schema, and more.
- Enterprise SEO is SEO on a big scale. Typically, this involves working with a website (or several websites/brands) with 1 million or more pages – however it could be determined by the size of the firm. Doing enterprise generally entails delays in getting SEO changes implemented by the development team, as well as the engagement of other stakeholders.
- International SEO refers to worldwide SEO for international firms, which includes optimizing for multiregional or multilingual websites as well as international search engines like Baidu or Naver.
- Local SEO: The goal here is to optimize websites for exposure in local organic search engine results, which includes managing and acquiring reviews and company listings.
- News SEO: When it comes to news, speed is essential, especially getting into Google’s index as soon as possible and appearing in areas like Google Discover, Google’s Top Stories, and Google News. There is a need to understand best practices for paywalls, section pages, structured data unique to journalism, and other topics.
Types of SEO and specializations
Imagine SEO as a sports team. To win, you’ll need a powerful offense and defense. But you also need fans (an audience).
Consider technological optimization as your defense, content optimization as your offense, and off-site optimization as methods for attracting, engaging, and retaining a dedicated fanbase.
- Technical SEO: Optimizing the technical aspects of a website.
- On-site SEO: Optimizing the content on a website for users and search engines.
- Off-site SEO: Creating brand assets (e.g., people, marks, values, vision, slogans, catchphrases, colors) and doing things that will ultimately enhance brand awareness and recognition (i.e., demonstrating and growing its expertise, authority and trustworthiness) and demand generation.
You maintain complete control on content and technical optimizations. That isn’t always the case with off-site operations (you can’t control links from other sites or if platforms you rely on shut down or undergo substantial changes), but they are still an important part of this SEO trifecta of success.
Technical optimization (technical SEO)
Optimizing a website’s technical parts is critical to SEO performance.
It all starts with architecture, which is the creation of a website that search engines can crawl and index. Gary Illyes, Google’s trends analyst, once said in a Reddit AMA, “Make That Damn Site Crawlable.”
You want search engines to easily discover and access all of the material on your pages (text, photos, and videos). URL structure, navigation, and internal linking are all important technical considerations.
User experience is another important aspect of technical optimization. Search engines emphasize the importance of pages that load quickly and provide a positive user experience. Core Web Vitals, mobile-friendliness and usability, HTTPS, and the avoidance of invasive interstitials are all important aspects of technical SEO.
Structured data (also known as schema) is another example of technical optimization. Including this code on your website can help search engines better understand your content and improve your visibility in search results.
SEO also takes into account web hosting services, CMS (content management systems), and site security.
Content optimization (on-page SEO)
In SEO, your content must be optimized for two main audiences: people and search engines. This entails optimizing both the content your audience sees (what’s on the page) and what search engines view (the code).
The goal is always to create useful, high-quality information. You may accomplish this by combining your awareness of your audience’s goals and needs with data and Google’s recommendations.
When optimizing content for people, you should make sure it:
- Covers relevant topics with which you have experience or expertise.
- Includes keywords people would use to find the content.
- Is unique or original.
- Is well-written and free of grammatical and spelling errors.
- Is up to date, containing accurate information.
- Includes multimedia (e.g., images, videos).
- Is better than your SERP competitors.
- Is readable – structured to make it easy for people to understand the information you’re sharing (think: subheadings, paragraph length, use bolding/italics, ordered/unordered lists, reading level, etc.).
For search engines, some key content elements to optimize for are:
- Title tags
- Meta description
- Header tags (H1-H6)
- Image alt text
- Open graph metadata
Generative engine optimization (GEO) is a growing field within content optimization. GEO is about optimizing your content for visibility in AI-powered search engines (or answer engines) such as Google’s AI Overviews and Gemini, OpenAI’s ChatGPT and SearchGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and Perplexity.
Brand and authority building (off-site optimization)
Several actions may not be “SEO” in the strictest sense, but they can nonetheless align with and indirectly contribute to SEO success.
The most common activity related with off-site SEO is link building (the practice of collecting links to a website). Having a diversified number of links pointing at your website from relevant, authoritative, and reliable websites can provide significant benefits (e.g., rankings and traffic).
Link quality outperforms link quantity. The purpose is to build a huge number of high-quality linkages.
How do you acquire those links? There are several website promotion strategies that work in tandem with SEO efforts. This includes:
- Brand building and brand marketing: Techniques designed to boost recognition and reputation.
- PR: Public relations techniques designed to earn editorially-given links.
- Content marketing: Some popular forms include creating videos, ebooks, research studies, podcasts (or being a guest on other podcasts) and guest posting (or guest blogging).
- Social media marketing and optimization: Claim your brand’s handle on any and all relevant platforms, optimize it fully and share relevant content.
- Listing management: Claiming, verifying and optimizing the information on any platforms where information about your company or website may be listed and found by searchers (e.g., directories, review sites, wikis).
- Ratings and reviews: Getting them, monitoring them and responding to them.
Off-site activities often do not have a direct influence on your ability to rank from a technical aspect.
However, again, everything your brand does is important. You want your brand to appear wherever customers look for you.
As a result, some people have attempted to rebrand “search engine optimization” to signify “search experience optimization” or “search everywhere optimization.”
How does SEO work?
If you got this page from Google, you probably looked for something along the lines of [what is SEO?].
This advice was provided by Sedna Solutions, an authoritative website with SEO skill and experience.
Originally published in 2025, this What is SEO page has received hundreds of thousands of links.
Put simply, these characteristics (among others) have helped our guide develop a strong reputation with search engines, allowing it to rank in the top 1-3 organic search positions for several years. It has accumulated signals indicating that it is authoritative and trustworthy, and hence deserves to rank when people search for SEO.
But let’s look at SEO more broadly. As a whole, SEO really works through a combination of:
- People: The person or team responsible for doing or ensuring that the strategic, tactical and operational SEO work is completed.
- Processes: The actions taken to make the work more efficient.
- Technology: The platforms and tools used.
- Activities: The end product, or output.
Many other things factor into how SEO works. What follows is a high-level look at the most important knowledge and process elements.
Six critical areas, in combination, make SEO work:
1. Understanding how search engines work
If you want people to find your business through search – on whatever platform – you must first understand the technological procedures that underpin how the engine works, and then ensure that you are delivering all of the appropriate “signals” to impact that visibility.
Traditional web search engines, such as Google, have four steps of search:
- Crawling: Search engines utilise crawlers to find pages on the internet by following links and utilising sitemaps.
- Rendering: Search engines use HTML, JavaScript, and CSS to determine how the page will look.
- Indexing: Search engines examine the content and metadata of newly discovered pages and add them to a database (although not all pages on your website will be indexed).
- Ranking: Complex algorithms consider a variety of signals to decide if a page is relevant and of sufficient quality to appear when users type a search query.
However, optimising for Google search differs from optimising for search on other platforms such as YouTube or Amazon.
Take Facebook, for example, where interaction (likes, comments, shares, etc.) and who people are connected to are important. Then, on Twitter, signals like as recency, engagement, and author reputation are crucial.
Further complicating matters, search engines have introduced machine learning aspects to surface content, making it even more difficult to determine whether “this” or “that” resulted in better or worse performance.
2. Researching
Research is an important part of SEO. Some types of research that will enhance SEO performance include:
- Audience research is essential for understanding your target audience or market. Who are they? What are their demographics and psychographics? What are their sore spots? What are their queries, and can you answer them?
- Keyword research: This method assists you in identifying and incorporating important and useful search terms that people use into your pages, as well as understanding the level of demand and competition to rank for these keywords.
- Competitor analysis: What are your competitors doing? What are their strengths and weaknesses? What types of content do they publish?
Brand/Business/Client Research: What are their aims, and how might SEO help them achieve them? - Website research: Various SEO audits might reveal chances and concerns on a website that are limiting organic search success. Some audits to consider are technical SEO, content, link profile, and E-E-A-T.
- SERP analysis will assist you identify the search intent for a given query (e.g., is it commercial, transactional, informational, or navigational) and produce content that is more likely to rank or be visible.
3. Planning
An SEO strategy is a long-term activity plan. Set goals and devise a strategy for achieving them. Think of your SEO approach as a road map. The path you travel is likely to vary and evolve throughout time, but the destination should stay obvious and constant.
Your SEO plan may include things such as:
- Setting goals (e.g., OKRs, SMART)
- Setting expectations (i.e., timelines/milestones).
- Defining and aligning meaningful KPIs and metrics.
- Deciding how projects will be created and implemented (internal, external or a mix).
- Coordinating and communicating with key stakeholders.
- Choosing and implementing tools/technology.
- Hiring, training and structuring a team.
- Setting a budget.
- Measuring and reporting on results.
- Documenting the strategy and process.
4. Creating and implementing
Once all the research is done, it’s time to turn ideas into action. That means:
- Creating new content: Advise your content team on what content needs to be created.
- Recommending or implementing changes or enhancements to existing pages: This could include updating and improving the content, adding internal links, incorporating keywords/topics/entities, or identifying other ways to optimize it further.
- Removing old, outdated or low-quality content: This is any content that isn’t ranking well, driving converting traffic or helping you achieve your SEO goals.
5. Monitoring and maintaining
You need to be notified when something goes wrong or breaks on your website. Monitoring is crucial.
You need to know if traffic to a vital page reduces, pages become slow, unresponsive, or fall out of the index, your entire website goes down, links break, or if any other potentially catastrophic difficulties arise.
6. Analyzing, assessing and reporting on performance
You cannot increase SEO unless it is measured. To make data-driven SEO judgements, use:
- Website analytics: Set up and use tools to collect performance data (at the very least, free tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and Bing Webmaster Tools).
- Tools and Platforms: Many “all-in-one” platforms (or suites) include a variety of tools, but you can also utilise simply a few SEO tools to track performance on specific activities. Or, if you have the means and none of the tools on the market meet your requirements, you can create your own tools.
After you’ve collected the data, you’ll need to report on it. You can make reports either manually or with software.
Performance reporting should convey a story and be done at significant time intervals, usually compared to previous report periods (for example, year over year). This will depend on the sort of website (usually monthly, quarterly, or some other time),
SEO is ongoing
SEO never stops.
Search engines, user behaviour, and rivals are constantly evolving. Websites evolve, shift, and break over time. Content becomes stale.
Your processes should be improved and made more efficient.
