We live in a digital era where online shops have become more successful than those with physical locations. According to the latest statistics, over 80% of potential customer leads are generated through good websites and a strong social media presence. Anyone who has an online business or a website knows the importance of SEO. A successful SEO strategy allows search engines to read your website easily and attract searcher’s queries. A comprehensive SEO application uses compelling content, crawl accessibility, keyword optimization, and other factors to enable the website to draw a higher ranking on various
search engines. So, the question here is what is SEO and how does it work?

Chapter 1 — SEO 101:

Search Engine Optimization or SEO as it’s commonly referred to is the practice of increasing the quality as well as quantity of website traffic while creating exposure for the brand through ‘organic’ (non-paid) search engine results.
SEO isn’t only about understanding how the search engines work, but it also has a lot to do with the people who use those search engines. Knowing your audience and creating the type of content they wish to consume is essential for driving more traffic to the website.

Chapter 2 — How Search Engines Work:

Crawling, Indexing, and Ranking Search engines are like answering machines that offer the most relevant results to the searchers’ questions. They work by discovering, understanding, and sifting through the content available on the internet to show up results. All search engines work on the basis of the following three primary functions:
1. Crawling: Combing the web for relevant content by looking at the code and content of each URL fagged by the search words.
2. Indexing: Storing the content found during the crawling function and organizing it according to its relevance. The indexed pages are ready to be displayed as results to the searchers’ query.
3. Ranking: The pages that are indexed are ranked based on their relevance to the query and displayed accordingly. The first page displayed being the most relevant result.

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There are different methods of ranking the pages for different search engines but the SEO community usually focuses on this technique as it is used by Google. Having the largest market share, Google is also the most commonly used search engine accounting for over 90% web searches. So, if you want to generate viable leads, you need to ensure your site is being crawled by the Googlebot and has been indexed.

Chapter 3 — Keyword Research:

Now that you know how search engines work, let’s discuss the role of keywords. Strategic keywords that have been carefully selected and are specific can help you craft content that can satisfy both search engines and users.
The first step is to determine your target market and understanding how they search for the products and services you are offering. Find out the type of content they prefer by asking questions such as:

 What is my target audience searching for?
 How many prospective customers are searching for the products or services you areoffering?
 What kind of format does your target market prefer?

The next step is to select the keywords that you would like to include in your content and do simple research for the average monthly search for those keywords. Try different variations to find the search work that has the highest search volume and is the most relevant to your content.

Chapter 4 — On-Page SEO:

Once you have the keywords being used by the target market, its time to use that information to create relevant content. This is called on-page SEO. You need to start crafting web pages and relevant web content that answers the searcher’s queries. The most important thing to keep in mind for on-page SEO optimization is creating content that your audience will love and not just focusing on making it keyword heavy. Also, make sure the keywords are specific according to the region, the season, and the product/services you are
providing. Other factors that affect your search engine ranking are the format of the content, the number of images and videos embedded on the pages, and the uniqueness of the content. Creating

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content just to get a higher ranking often backfires by not being helpful enough to generate viable leads.

Chapter 5 — Technical SEO:

After you’re done crafting helpful content based on solid keyword research, the next step is to optimize your website for search engines. The technical structure of the site is crucial for its performance and how it is read by search engines. You need to make sure the website is formed consistently with the format, content, and design all aligned with each other. Other factors also affect the ranking of your website that are related to technical SEO such as the
loading time of the website, the domain name and the IP link, the code on the website, andmore.The three most commonly used programming languages to construct web pages are:

 HTML – used to create the basic core of the purpose of the website including title and body content.
 CSS – This is used for the design of the website using fonts and colors to create a basic structure of what the website will look like.
 JavaScript – Finally this code determines how the website will behave through interactive options that make the website come to life.

Chapter 6 — Link Building & Establishing Authority:

You have a website ready and great content crafted ready to go. But how do you outrank other websites that are offering the same quality content and services? You need to establish an authority for your website by building your brand, getting links from authoritative websites, and fostering a relationship with the audience who will help promote your content. Link building is extremely crucial for the ranking of your website. If you link to an untrustworthy website with spammy content, your website will automatically be considered spam by Google. All the backlinks and external links you include on your site must lead to reputable and trustworthy websites that have already established their authority on major search engines.

Chapter 7 — Tracking SEO Performance

The best thing about SEO is that you can measure the performance of your website. And if you can measure it you can improve it which is the perfect recipe for success. Professionals SEOs can help you track all metrics that measure the authority of your site including:

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• The ranking of your site,
• The rate of conversions,
• Lost links,
• Average time on page per visitor,
• Number of pages accessed per visit,
• Bounce rate,
• Content quality
• Page speed

And more to measure the value of your SEO process. For successful SEO optimization, it is imperative to keep refining the process and adapting to the best practices within the industry.

Conclusion:
Now that you have successfully learned about SEO, it’s time to apply it to enhance your online presence. Much of the success of your SEO relies on effectively identifying, planning, and executing the SEO tasks that need to be implemented. SEO is an ongoing process and it can be difficult for brands to handle the business as well as the SEO optimization of their online presence. There are plenty of free tools that can help you optimize your website and carry out the SEO process but nothing beats a professional. The best thing to do would be to hire a professional SEO optimization expert to handle all those pesky details for you. If you want to learn more, call us today at +971 56 9481774 to schedule an appointment with the leading SEO expert in UAE!