Q1: How Does SEO Work?
A: As the very term SEO suggests, Search Engine Optimization helps your website gain a better visibility on the SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages) of most of the prominent search engines, including, of course Google. Acquiring the topmost, or, a prestigious rank on the SERPs, specifically the ones from Google, equips your business with a number of advantages.
With a better digital existence across the web, your websites automatically experience a greater traffic. Thus the likelihood of gaining a sizeable number of leads and a higher conversion rate cannot be ruled out.
Q2: Is SEO legal/ethical?
A: Though SEO, by no means, can be termed illegal, practicing the black hat SEO might invite penalties from the search engines. For example, making use of the suitable keywords is often considered one of the best SEO strategies. However, the keywords that are visible only to the search engines, but not to the readers, are more likely to result in a penalty levied by the search engines. The website might also be banned.
Black hat SEO is not likely to go unnoticed by most of the search engines, specifically Google. Google has also developed various algorithms to trace the black hat SEO. So, it is advisable that you opt for the white hat SEO only.
Q3: How often do I need to undertake SEO?
A: It takes a continuous effort with great perseverance to gain excellence. The same rule holds applicable to SEO as well. Even if your website is ranked the top-most in the Google Search Engine Result Pages, you have to maintain the same. So, SEO is a continuous process and needs to be undertaken, whenever required! You simply can’t fix the frequency of how often you need to undertake SEO.
Moreover, a lot is required to be attended to if you want SEO to be successful. There is link management, the almost ever evolving search engine algorithms, content at your site getting obsolete and hence, no longer relevant; competition from several business rivals, etc. The list seems to be getting lengthier as the time flies off and the competition gets fiercer.
So, SEO is too far from being a onetime process! However, it is heartening to know that the well-managed SEO offers a much higher ROI than what the traditional marketing strategies provide.
Q4: How do I track my SEO efforts?
A: Google Analytics is widely considered as a dependable tool to acquire the required statistics in order to monitor and study the flow of the traffic of your site, apart from the usual behavior of the visitors. And the tool is free for all.
Rank tracking tools are also employed to monitor the progress of your SEO strategies. The tools help chart the graphs for the progress of your pages. RankReveal is the commonly used tool for the same.
Q5: How long does it take to see the results of my SEO efforts?
A: If you undertake the SEO as it should have been, the results would be immediate, after Google recrawls/reindexes your web pages. However, it’s easy said than done. There are a number of factors that affect the rank of a page including the quantity and quality of the backlinks, keywords, landing page, On Page optimization, etc. So, all of the inter-related factors must be taken care of, if you aim at the desired results in the Search Engine Result Pages.
Q6: What are Meta Tags? Do they matter?
A: The text snippets/metadata is referred to as the Meta Tags. The tags carry a description of the content that a web page comprises. Meta Tags consist of the title tag, the keywords and the Meta description. Meta Tags are embedded within the HTML code, that is visible to the search engine only.
Q7: What is an XML and HTML sitemap?
A: Most of the website owners feel like exercising a little control over the URLs and of course, the content as the search engines index the pages. In the days of yore, HTML sitemaps were relied upon for the same. The footer of each of the primary pages in your site carries a sitemap link.
However, nowadays, XML ie., Extensible Markup Language helps direct the search engines to the required information on the pages that are to be indexed. The XML sitemaps also provide the details for the site content’s hierarchy and the last update for the specific web pages.
Q8: Does being mobile-friendly improve my SEO?
A: Ever since the change in the Google algorithm, mobile- friendliness of the web-pages has been taken into account. But it refers to the mobile devices only and not the laptops or the desktops. But, as the number of the mobile users is sharply on the rise, it is advisable to go ahead for Mobile SEO.
Q9: Does social media affect SEO?
A: Being an integral part of the SEO, social media helps your website gain more of the shares and Tweets. It results in a greater number of the backlinks, adding to the authenticity of your website. Most of the search engines, including Google treat the backlinks as a kind of social approval for your site and that obviously results into a higher SERP rank.
Q10: What are backlinks?
A: The backlinks direct the traffic to your website. It only helps the search engines to decide in the favour of your website for it is a sure indication that your site is a popular one. More of the backlinks only serve to add to the popularity and the authenticity of your website.
The backlinks are often considered as the building blocks for the successful SEO campaigns. Thus, effective backlinks can help your website gain more of traffic, apart from various other advantages provided by SEO. Google considers the backlinks as a definite evidence of a site’s authenticity when the traffic queries the search engine for specific details.
