SEO MODULE 4 Flashcards
What Are The three pillars of SEO
Technical optimization is the process of completing activities on your site that are designed to improve SEO but are not related to content. It often happens behind the scenes.
On-page optimization is the process of ensuring the content on your site is relevant and provides a great user experience. It includes targeting the right keywords within your content and can be done through a content management system.
Off-page optimization is the process of enhancing your site’s search engine rankings through activities outside of the site. This is largely driven by backlinks, which help to build the site’s reputation.
What are the three steps to how search engines work
Crawling, which is the discovery stage.
The first step is crawling. Search engines send out web crawlers to find new pages and record information about them. We sometimes call these web crawlers ‘spiders’ or ‘robots’. Their purpose is to discover new web pages that exist, and also to periodically check the content on pages they’ve previously visited to see whether they’ve changed or been updated.
Search engines crawl web pages by following links they’ve already discovered. So if you have a blog post and it’s linked from your homepage, when a search engine crawls your homepage, it will then look for another link to follow and may follow the link to your new blog post.
Indexing, which is the filing stage.
The second step is indexing. Indexing is when a search engine decides whether or not it is going to use the content that it has crawled. If a crawled web page is deemed worthy by a search engine, it will be added to its index. This index is used at the final ranking stage. When a web page or piece of content is indexed, it is filed and stored in a database where it can later be retrieved. Most web pages that offer unique and valuable content are placed into the index.
A web page might not be placed in the index if:
Its content is considered duplicate.
Its content is considered low value or spammy.
It couldn’t be crawled.
The page or domain lacked inbound links.
Ranking, which is the retrieval stage.
The third step is really the most important step, and that is ranking. Ranking can only happen after the crawling and indexing steps are complete. So once a search engine has crawled and indexed your site, your site can be ranked.
There are more than 200 ranking signals that search engines use to sort and rank content, and they all fit under the three pillars of SEO: technical optimization, on-page optimization, and off-page optimization.
Some examples of signals that search engines use to rank web pages are:
Keyword presence in title tag: Engines check to see whether the keyword or a synonym was mentioned on the page and within the title tag.
Loading speed of web page: Engines check to see whether the web page loads quickly and is mobile friendly.
Website reputation: Engines check to see whether the web page and website is considered reputable for the topic being searched for.
