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It’s no secret that SEO (search engine optimization) drives the highest search engine rankings.
Every site and business owner, from bloggers to businesses, can benefit from SEO.
Whether you’re new to the world of search engine optimization or you’re looking to further refine your strategy, there’s no better time to grab your share of organic traffic.
At the same time, it’s understandable to have questions.
From the basics of SEO and why it matters to building quality backlinks, we’ll go in-depth on the most common SEO questions and their answers to give you the full picture of search engine optimization.
Looking for a best-in-class suite of tools to complement your marketing strategy? Discover Originality.ai’s Content Optimizer, AI Checker, Plagiarism Checker, and Grammar Checker.
There’s a lot to cover, so let’s dive in!
Search engine optimization is done in order to increase a website’s ranking in search engines like Google and Bing.
It draws from a number of strategies, including content optimization, backlink building, and mobile responsiveness, to affect how search engines rank sites and how users ultimately interact with those sites.
When your website ranks higher organically in the search engines, you get more clicks on your page.
Users trust search engines to help them answer questions, read reviews, or learn more about a given topic. By ranking higher in the search engines, you’re sending a signal that your site is a trusted source of information or an authority in your niche.
The underlying goal of search engines has always been to match users with the information they’re looking for, as quickly and as accurately as possible.
When you create a website that:
You’re more likely to rank highly in the SERPs (search engine result pages) because you’re connecting people to the answer or information they’re looking for in a way that makes them want to use the search engine again.
It’s essentially a win-win for you and the search engine.
As a result, for SEO, you need technical know-how, creative content creation, an understanding of user psychology, and data-driven insights to keep people coming back to your pages.
Knowing how search engine ranking works is at the core of creating a winning SEO strategy.
Over the years, search engines like Google have developed more complex algorithms that evaluate and rank web pages based on a variety of factors (learn about Google’s latest Search Quality Rater Guidelines).
Here’s a quick overview of just a few of the factors that can impact rankings:
Today, search engines use advanced algorithms, including machine learning and natural language processing (NLP), to understand user intent and match it with high-quality, relevant content.
Over time, you can expect search engines to become more sophisticated at understanding user intent and matching that intent with sites that deliver a well-rounded and exceptional experience.
That means you need to stay current on search engine updates and algorithm shifts.
On-page SEO means changes that you can make within your own pages, such as:
Meanwhile, off-page SEO describes things outside of your site that still affect your ranking, including:
Keyword research is at the core of search engine optimization and involves finding the words and phrases that potential customers are using when researching your business, product or service. Keywords bridge the gap between what people are searching for and what you have to offer.
In order to effectively research keywords, start out by brainstorming topics that are relevant to your business.
Use keyword research tools and check out what keywords your competition is using. You can often spot content gaps in their own keyword strategy and find areas where you can outrank them.
Long-tail keywords, that is, longer words and phrases, are good to target for SEO purposes. Although they may not get as much traffic as short-tail keywords, the traffic that they do get is more targeted and more likely to result in a conversion, such as a purchase.
Keep in mind that keyword trends can change over time. One specific keyword or phrase may bring you traffic for months and then become less relevant. By continually refining your keyword list and changing with market trends, you can stay on top of the rankings and keep connecting and attracting quality traffic to your pages.
Backlinks (or inbound links) are essentially links from other websites to your own site.
High-quality backlinks are an important aspect of SEO because they act like a reference, telling search engines that your content is credible and valuable.
In SEO, quality backlinks are like a vote of confidence which can considerably boost your ranking. In order to build quality backlinks, start by creating high-quality content. This can include detailed guides, professional infographics, or other original research that authoritative sites will want to link to.
You can also guest post for reputable blogs in your industry, or reach out to top-ranking sites with compelling reasons to link to your content.
Build relationships with key influencers, engage in communities and forums to build your presence, and naturally build backlinks over time. Don’t forget to take advantage of social media as part of your outreach strategy.
Then, as a best practice, review Google’s Spam Policies to make sure your link strategy complies.
Technical SEO involves optimizing the underlying structure of your website so that search engines can more easily crawl, understand, and index your pages.
Common elements of technical SEO include:
Mobile is more important than ever because Google has a mobile-first index approach. This means that it will use the mobile version to index and rank a website.
If your mobile site doesn’t load or flow smoothly, it can impact your SEO efforts. Plus, a mobile site that’s easy to use improves the overall user experience, which is one of the key ranking signals that Google’s algorithm looks for.
With that in mind, you’ll want to take advantage of responsive design, fast page loading and user-friendly navigation that’s easy to follow and use. Make sure that text sizes are appropriate so that mobile users can read your text without needing to zoom in.
It’s a good idea to regularly test your site on a variety of mobile devices to spot any issues.
Google offers a testing tool called Lighthouse, which can help you understand how your pages load and function on mobile devices.
Valuable, informative content and proper use of keywords help you build authority and, over time, high-quality backlinks.
This, in turn, increases social shares and other engagement, which are all signals that Google and other search engines use to rank your pages accordingly.
Get a best-in-class tool to optimize your content and predictably drive better rankings with the Originality.ai Content Optimizer.
SEO is never truly done. You’ll want to sign up for Google Analytics and take a look at the following content marketing metrics to see how your pages are performing:
Both Google Analytics and Google Search Console will give you these details and help you better understand them.
You can also use Originality.ai’s Content Optimizer to help gauge how optimized your content is compared to the top-ranked sites for the keyword or phrase.
AI content that doesn’t provide unique value and does not comply with Google’s spam policies can negatively impact SEO.
Check out our study: Can Google Detect and Does it Penalize AI Content? for detailed insights.
Further, Google is also continuing to address AI use in its latest 2025 Search Quality Rater Guidelines, advising raters that if they find all or the majority of the main content of a site is auto- or AI-generated (and has little or no added value), it should receive the lowest rating.
Wondering how much content is actually in Google Search Results? Check out our live dashboard on AI content in Google Search Results.
Then, maintain transparency in the content you are publishing with the Originality.ai AI Checker and Site Scan.
Quality content, authoritative backlinks, a fast-loading, intuitive design that looks great on mobile and desktop — it seems like a lot to juggle.
However, at the core of it all, SEO is about adding as much value as possible to your content while making it as easy as possible for search engines and people to enjoy it.
Search engines are always learning, adapting, and refining their algorithms.
For this reason, it’s important to stay informed on the latest SEO strategies and algorithm updates, and incorporate the latest breakthrough technology like the Originality.ai Content Optimizer in your content marketing strategy.
Learn more SEO and content marketing best practices in our top guides:
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