WEEK 5
SEO
FOUNDATION
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Concept 1: Search Engine Basics
What are search engines?
Search engines are tools that find and rank web content matching a user’s search query.
Each search engine consists of two main parts:
Search index: A digital library of information about web pages.
Search algorithm(s): Computer program(s) that rank matching results from the search index.
Examples of popular search engines include Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo.
How do search engines make money?
Search engines have two types of search results:
Organic results from the search index. You can’t pay to be here.
Paid results from advertisers. You can pay to be here.
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Each time someone clicks on a paid search result, the advertiser pays the search engine. This is
known as pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. This is why market share matters. More users means
more ad clicks and more revenue.
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Which is the most popular search engine?
Google. It has a 92% market share.
Google is the search engine that most
SEO professionals and website owners
care about because it has the potential
to send more traffic their way than any
other search engine.
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Concept 2: How search engines build their index
Most well-known search engines like Google and Bing have trillions of pages in their search indexes.
So before we talk about ranking algorithms, let’s drill deeper into the mechanisms used to build
and maintain a web index.
Step 1: URLs
Everything begins with a known list of URLs. Google discovers these through various processes, but
the three most common ones are:
From backlinks
Google already has an index containing trillions of web pages. If someone adds a link to one of your
pages from one of those web pages, they can find it from there.
From sitemaps
Sitemaps list all of the important pages on your website. If you submit your sitemap to Google, it
may help them discover your website faster.
From URL submissions
Google also allows submissions of individual URLs via Google Search Console.
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[email protected] What is a backlink?
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Backlink Example
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Sitemap Example
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Step 2. Crawling
Crawling is where a computer bot called a spider (e.g., Googlebot) visits and downloads the
discovered pages.
It’s important to note that Google doesn’t always crawl pages in the order they discover them.
Google queues URLs for crawling based on a few factors, including:
the PageRank of the URL
how often the URL changes
whether or not it’s new
This is important because it means that search engines might crawl and index some of your pages
before others. If you have a large website, it could take a while for search engines to fully crawl it.
Step 3. Processing
Processing is where Google works to understand and extract key information from crawled pages.
Nobody outside of Google knows every detail about this process, but the important parts for our
understanding are extracting links and storing content for indexing.
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Google has to render pages to fully process them, which is where Google runs the page’s code to
understand how it looks for users.
That said, some processing occurs before and after rendering—as you can see in the diagram.
Step 4. Indexing
Indexing is where processed information from crawled pages is added to a big database called
the search index. This is essentially a digital library of trillions of webpages where Google’s
search results come from.
That’s an important point. When you type a query into a search engine, you’re not directly
searching the internet for matching results. You’re searching a search engine’s index of web
pages. If a web page isn’t in the search index, search engine users won’t find it. That’s why
getting your website indexed in major search engines like Google and Bing is so important.
How search engines rank pages
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Concept 3: How search engines rank pages
Google famously has 200+ ranking factors.
Nobody knows what all of these ranking factors are, but we do know about the key ones.
Let’s discuss a few of them:
1. Backlinks
2. Content Relevance
3. Content Freshness
4. Topic authority
5. Website Page speed
6. Mobile-friendliness
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Backlinks are one of Google’s most
important ranking factors. Links have
been an important ranking factor in
Google since 1997 when they introduced
PageRank, a formula for judging the value
of a web page based on the quantity and
quality of backlinks pointing to it.
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Link authority
Backlinks from authoritative pages and websites usually have the most impact on rankings.
How do you define authority? In the context of SEO, authoritative pages and websites are those
that have many backlinks or “votes.”
Domain Authority and Page Authority (DA/PA) are indicators developed by MOZ, a very
respectable and reputable digital company, which predicts how well a page will rank in search
engine results.
The score for DA/PA is calculated algorithmically on a scale from 1 to 100. The philosophy behind it
all was that when you want to see the best results of a long-term SEO strategy, it is good to focus
your actions and on getting the best ratings for the page’s authority.
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Link relevance
Links from relevant websites and web pages are usually the most valuable.
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2. Content Relevance
Google has many ways of determining page relevance.
At the most basic level, it looks for pages containing the same keywords as the search query.
But relevance goes way beyond keyword matching.
Google also uses interaction data to assess whether search results are relevant to queries. In other
words, are searchers finding the page useful?
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3.Content Freshness
Freshness is a query-dependant ranking factor, meaning that it matters for some results more
than others. For a query like “what’s new on amazon prime,” freshness is important because
searchers want to know about recently-added movies and TV shows. That’s likely why Google
ranks newly published or updated search results higher.
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4. Topic authority
Google wants to rank content from websites with authority on the topic. This means that Google
might view a website as a good source of results for queries about one topic but not another.
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5. Page Speed
Nobody likes waiting for pages to load, and Google knows it. That’s why they made page speed
a ranking factor for desktop searches in 2010, and for mobile searches in 2018.
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Google Required Page Size: 3-4 MB
Google Required Load Time: 6 Second
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6. Mobile Optimization
65% of Google searches happen on mobile devices. That’s why mobile-friendliness has been
a factor on mobile since 2015.
Since 2019, mobile-friendliness is also a ranking factor for desktop searches thanks to
Google’s switch to mobile-first indexing. This means that Google “predominantly uses the
mobile version of the content for indexing and ranking” across all devices.
In other words, a lack of mobile-friendliness can affect rankings—everywhere.
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[email protected] What is SEO?
SEO stands for “search engine optimization.” It’s the practice of increasing both the quality and
quantity of website traffic, as well as exposure to your brand, through non-paid (also known as
"organic") search engine results.
How do search engines work?
Search engines have three primary functions:
Crawl: Scour the Internet for content, looking over the code/content for each URL they find.
Index: Store and organize the content found during the crawling process. Once a page is in the
index, it’s in the running to be displayed as a result to relevant queries.
Rank: Provide the pieces of content that will best answer a searcher's query, which means that
results are ordered by most relevant to least relevant.
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[email protected] www.ediify.com 7400364632 / 9167484894
[email protected] MA
PU
RED SHOES KEYWORD PUMA RED SHOES KEYWORD
10,000 visitors per month 5000 visitors per month
1000 Sold per month 1500 sold per month
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Types of SEO to drive results for your business
1. On-page SEO
On-page SEO is the most common strategy that businesses
focus on for their sites. To put it simply, on-page SEO refers to
changes you make on your site that positively impact its
performance.
One of the most common on-page SEO optimizations is keyword
optimization. When users conduct searches, they use keywords
to generate a list of relevant search results.
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[email protected] 2. Off-page SEO
Off-page SEO involves optimizations to your site that don’t happen
on your site. These are external factors that influence your site’s
performance.
off-page SEO factors include reviews and backlinks. These things
drive traffic from other places to your website. They aren’t things
you can do on your site to optimize it, but rather, are external
factors that influence your ranking.
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[email protected] 3. Technical SEO
Technical SEO involves optimizing the backend of your site to help it run properly and
improve your site’s ranking. These are elements that are on the backend of your site.
You can have a beautiful looking site, but it won’t matter if the technical aspects of
your site aren’t optimized.
One of the biggest technical SEO aspects is page speed. When users visit your page,
they don’t want to wait forever for it to load. If you want to see the best results with
your page, you must ensure it loads quickly.
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[email protected] Types of SEO as per algorithm
1. White hat SEO
White hat SEO techniques are the best way to improve your SEO ranking over time
and optimize it. These are the tactics that Google recommends you use to help
your site rank better in the results. They abide by Google’s search engine
guidelines and drive positive results for your business.
Familiarize yourself with the Google Webmaster Guidelines.
Publish original, relevant, high-quality content consistently.
Use keyword tools such as Google Keyword Planner.
Consider user intent.
Provide a positive UX.
Optimize your links.
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2. Black hat SEO
Black hat SEO techniques exploit search algorithms to get higher rankings. Some
businesses use black hat SEO techniques because they drive fast results. People
want immediate gratification without putting in too much work. The downfall,
however, is that black hat SEO ends up hurting businesses in the long run.
There are numerous tactics that fall under black hat:
Link spamming
Keyword stuffing
Cloaking
Hidden text/links
Using irrelevant, popular keywords
Over optimizing HTML headings
Copying content
Buying links
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3. Gray hat SEO
Gray hat SEO is the middle ground between white and black hat
SEO. This technique isn’t quite good for your site, but it isn’t
listed as bad. Hence why this is a “gray” hat SEO tactic because it
falls into a gray area.
Here are some examples of gray SEO techniques:
Clickbait articles
Spun content
Link exchanges
Paid reviews
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SEO Glossary
301 Redirect – The process of permanently redirecting a webpage from one URL to another.
302 Redirect - The process of temporarily redirecting a webpage from one URL to another.
Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) - An open source project by Google to help publishers create
web pages and content that are optimized for all devices.
ALT Text/Alt Attribute - A description of an image in your site's HTML. Unlike humans, search
engines read only the ALT text of images, not the images themselves. Add ALT text to images
whenever possible.
Anchor Text - The actual text of a link to a web page. On most websites, this text is usually
dark blue and underlined, or purple if you’ve visited the link in the past. Anchor text helps
search engines understand what the destination page is about, it describes what you will see
if you click through.
Authority - How reliable a website is based on search engine's algorithm.
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Backlink - A link pointing to an external webpage.
Black Hat - Practices that go against Google's webmaster guidelines.
Blog - A webpage that includes blog posts related to specific topics and/or industry.
Bookmark - A link to a website saved for later reference in your web browser or computer.
Bot - A software application that is programmed to complete specific tasks.
Bounce Rate - The amount of users who leave a webpage after only viewing one page.
Branded Keyword - A search query (keyword) that refers to a specific brand. E.g.: "Nike shoes"
Breadcrumb - A web link that lets you know where you are on a website and how far you are from the
homepage.
Broken Link - A link that leads to a 404 error page. This can happen if a webpage is removed without a
redirect. (See 4xx status codes)
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Browser - Software that allows you to access information and data on the internet. The most
common browsers include Google Chrome, Safari, and FireFox.
Cache - A storage location that collects temporary data to help websites, apps, and browsers load
faster.
Canonical URL - The canonical URL is the best address on which a user can find a piece of
information. Sometimes you might have a situation where the same page content can be accessed
at more than one address. Specifying the canonical URL helps search engines understand which
address for a piece of content is the best one.
ccTLD - Stands for country-code top-level domain and is used to define the domain for a specific
country or region. E.g. www.mysite.co.uk
Cloaking - A black hat practice used to display different information on a webpage than what was
expected.
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Conversion Form - A form through which you collect information about your site visitor. Conversion
forms convert traffic into leads. Collecting contact information helps you follow up with these leads.
Crawler - A program used by search engines to gather information on websites and accurately index
them.
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) - The part of your code that defines how different elements of your site
look (examples: headers, links).
Deep Link - This can refer to two things: A link pointing to content on a mobile application or a link
pointing a webpage other than a homepage.
De-Index - When a search engine removes a website or webpage from search results.
Disavow - When you tell Google to ignore links because they're low-quality, spam, or artificial.
Do-follow - A hyperlink that instructs search engines to follow the link instead of the "nofollow"
attribute. (See nofollow)
Domain - The main web address of your site (example: www.yoursite.com).
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External link - A hyperlink that points to a webpage on another domain. This is also known
as a backlink.
Featured Snippet - Highlighted excerpts that appear at the top of some Google search results,
known as position 0.
The Fold - The "fold" is the point on your website where the page gets cut off by the bottom of a
user’s monitor or browser window. Anything below the fold can be scrolled to but isn’t seen
right away. Search engines place some priority on content above the fold since it will be seen
right away by new visitors.
Google My Business - A local business directory from Google.
Google Search Console - A free Google tool that allows you to monitor how a website is performing.
Guest Blogging - The practice of publishing a blog post on a website owned by someone else.
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Header tag - Code used to designate headings and subheadings from paragraphs.
Headings - Section headers on your website that are placed inside of a header tag, such as an H1 or
H2. This text is often presented in a larger and stronger font than other text on the page.
Image Compression - The practice of reduce an image's file size to speed up a web page.
Indexing - A process used by search engines to analyze the content of website and catalog files.
Inbound Link - A link from another website to yours.
Internal Link - A link from one page to another on the same website, such as from your homepage to
your products page.
Indexed Pages - The pages of your website that are stored by search engines.
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Keyword - A word that a user enters in search. Each web page should be optimized with the goal of
drawing in visitors who have searched specific keywords.
Keyword Difficulty - Refers to how competitive a keyword is and how difficult it will be to rank for it.
Keyword Research - The process of searching for keywords to target in your content based on volume,
keyword difficulty, and other factors.
Keyword Stuffing - The overuse of keywords in your content in an attempt to rank higher.
Lazy Loading - A method used to improve page speed by deferring the loading of an object until it's
needed. An example of this is the infinite scroll on websites.
Link Building - The activity and process of getting more inbound links to your website for improved
search engine rankings.
Link Juice - The value or authority a website gains when receiving a backlink from a high-authority
website.
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Link Schemes - What Google defines as spammy tactics used to trick Google's PageRank and
increase search rankings by buying or selling links, excessive cross-linking, or other manipulative
tactics.
Long Tail Keyword - Longer, more specific queries that include more than three words.
Metadata - Data that tells search engines what your website is about.
Meta Description - A brief description of fewer than 160 characters of the contents of a page and
why someone would want to visit it. This is displayed on search engine results pages below the
page title as a sample of the content on the page.
Meta Keywords - Previously used by search engines in the 90s and early 00s to help determine
what a web page was about, the meta keywords tag is no longer used by any major search engines.
Mobile-first Indexing - This refers to Google primarily using the mobile version of a webpage for
indexing and ranking. In the past, desktop was the go-to.
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Nofollow - When a link from one site does not pass SEO credit to another.
Organic traffic - Refers to visitors who discover your website on the SERPs instead of a paid ad.
Page Speed - Refers to how quickly a webpage loads. Influencing factors include file sizes, the
source code, and the web server.
Page Title - The name you give your web page, which is seen at the top your browser window.
Page titles should contain keywords related to your business. Words at the beginning of your
page title are more highly weighted than words at the end.
PageRank - A number from 0-10, assigned by Google, indicating how good your overall SEO is. It is
technically known as 'Toolbar PageRank.'
Pagination - When a series of content is broken up into a multi-page list. Think of category pages
on e-commerce sites.
Panda - Was previously a separate Google algorithm to track down black hat tactics but now is
part of Google's core algorithm.
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People Also Ask - A feature that can show up on the SERP to show related questions and answers to
a query.
PPC (Pay-Per-Click) - Advertising method in which an advertiser puts an ad in an online advertising
venue and pays that venue each time a visitor clicks on his/her ad. Google AdWords is the classic
example of this.
Rank Brain - Machine learning component of Google's algorithm which works to understand queries
and deliver the best results.
Ranking Factor - The factors that influence a website's ranking on search engines.
Redirection - When a URL is moved from one location to another. (See 301 and 302 Redirect).
Referrer String - A piece of information sent by a user’s browser when they navigate from page to
page on the web. It includes information on where they came from previously, which helps
webmasters understand how users are finding their website.
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Rel=canonical - An HTML tag that tells search engines which version of a webpage is original and which
is duplicate when there are multiple pages with similar content. (See canonical)
Responsive design - A design practice that allows a website to adapt to any device it's viewed on,
making it a better user experience.
Robots.txt - A text file that tells search engine crawlers which areas of your website are accessible and
which ones they should ignore.
Spider - Also known as a web crawler, it's a computer program that browses the internet and collects
information about websites. (See crawler)
SSL Certificate - Stands for "Secure Sockets Layer" and is used to encrypt data that passes between a
web server and the browser. A website without an SSL certificate is vulnerable to hackers who may
gain access to confidential information.
Structured Data - Any set of data that is organized and tagged to help search engines understand the
information.
Subdomain - A subsection of a primary domain used to better organize your website and allow easier
navigation.
Search Intent - Refers to the reason why a user conducts a search.
Search Volume - The number of times a keyword is searched in a given period, usually a month.
Seasonal Trends - Natural increase and decrease of keywords during specific times of the year. E.g.: The
keyword "Halloween costume" sees an increase in the fall months and a dip in the spring and summer.
Seed Keyword - Short-tail keyword, also known as a root keyword, which is the primary keyword you
want to rank for and considered the umbrella term.
SEO - Stands for search engine optimization and refers to the tactics used to optimize your website page
to reach and maintain a high ranking on search engines for particular keywords.
SERP (Search Engine Ranking Page) - The page that you are sent to after you run a query in a search
engine. It typically has 10 results on it, but this may vary depending on the query and search engine in
question.
Sitemap - A special document created by a webmaster or a piece of software that provides a map of all
the pages on a website to make it easier for a search engine to index that website.
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Traffic - The amount of visits to your website.
Title Tag - The title of a page on your website, which is enclosed in a <title> HTML tag, inside of
the head section of the page. It appears in search engine results and at the top of a user’s web
browser when they are on that page.
Traffic Rank - The ranking of how much traffic your site gets compared to all other sites on the
internet.
Unnatural Links - What Google describes as creating links that a site owner doesn't vouch for or
place for editorial reasons. (See link schemes).
URL - The web address of a page on your site (example: www.yoursite.com/contact).
User Experience (UX) - Refers to the feeling users have when interacting with a product, service,
or (in the context of SEO) a website or mobile application.
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White Hat - SEO tactics that comply with best practices and don't manipulate search engines.
Website Navigation - The elements and components on a page that allow you to easily access the
various webpages on a website.
XML - Stands for extensible markup language which is used by search engines to understand website
data.
XML Sitemap - A file that lists a website's important pages so that search engines can easily find and
crawl them.
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Curriculum Designed by
SUDHIR CHAURASIYA
CO-FOUNDER AT EDIIFY
/@su_dh_ir /sudhirchaurasiya
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/@EDIIFY_COM
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