What Is SEO? A Beginner’s Guide to Search Engine Optimization

No matter if you’re a nonprofit trying to reach donors or a small business wanting to boost brand visibility, search engine optimization (SEO) is a game-changer. But SEO can feel daunting, full of jargon and mystery.

In this beginner’s guide to search engine optimization, we explain what SEO is, how it works, and why it matters. We cover the different types and offer pro tips for what you can start doing right now to make your website more discoverable.

Here’s why SEO matters for your business:

• Increased visibility: Few people take the time to scroll through endless SERPs to find what they want. The higher your website ranks, the more people will see and click it.
• Qualified leads: People who find your site via search are actively looking for something. SEO helps you find leads looking for exactly what you offer.
• Long-term results: SEO offers long-term benefits. Once you gain good rankings, you can maintain long-term visibility with little effort.
• Builds credibility: High search rankings build trust in your business and brand. Users often see top results as more authoritative or trustworthy.
• More organic traffic: Paid ads can be a real game-changer. But good SEO drives organic traffic.

To understand SEO, you need to know how search engines like Google find and rank websites.

Search engines use bots (also called spiders) to crawl the web and find content. They scan pages, follow links, and gather data. After crawling, the search engine stores and organizes the content it finds in a massive database called an index.

When a user enters a search query, the search engine uses complex algorithms to rank the most relevant pages based on hundreds of factors, including keywords, site speed, mobile friendliness, and content quality.

SEO helps search engines understand what your website is about, trust that it’s a reliable source, and connect it with people searching for related topics.

Types of Keywords:

Use the right keywords in your page titles and meta descriptions, your content (headings, body, image alt text), your URLs, and link anchor text. Here are some examples of different types of keywords.

• Short-tail: Broad terms with high traffic and high competition, such as “accounting services”.
• Long-tail: More specific keywords with lower competition and higher conversion potential. For example, “affordable web design services for nonprofits”.
• Local: Includes geographic info. An example would be “Fargo vegan bakery”.
• Informational vs. transactional: “How to improve SEO” vs “hire an SEO expert”

Think like your customer. What would they type into a search bar if they were looking for your service?

Let’s break SEO down into its four main categories: on-site SEO, off-site SEO, technical SEO, and local SEO. Each plays a unique role in improving search visibility.

1. On-Site SEO (On-Page SEO)

On-site SEO refers to everything that helps search engines understand what you offer.

This includes:

• Keyword optimization: Using relevant words and phrases that your audience searches for.
• Title tags and meta descriptions: These tell search engines (and users) what your page is about.
• Headings: Structure your content with clear, organized headings.
• URL structure: Clean, readable URLs with keywords.
• Internal linking: Linking to other pages on your website to help users (and search engine bots) navigate your site.
• Image alt text: Describes images.

Pro tip: Write for humans first, then optimize for search engines. Your content should be useful, engaging, and relevant, and not just stuffed with keywords.

2. Off-Site SEO

Off-site SEO includes actions taken outside of your website that affect your rankings. It’s about building your website’s authority, reputation, and trust. Backlinks play a big role here. A backlink is a link from another website to yours. The more high-quality, relevant websites that link to you, the more credible your site looks to Google.

Other off-site SEO signals include:

• Social media shares
• Business directory listings
• Online reviews (Google, Yelp, etc.)
• Influencer mentions or guest posts

Pro tip: You don’t need that many backlinks. A few from trusted, relevant sources can go a long way.

3. Technical SEO

Technical SEO determines how well search engines can access, crawl, and index your site.

Key components include:

• Site speed: Faster websites rank better.
• Mobile-friendliness: Google now uses mobile-first indexing, prioritizing mobile-friendliness.
• SSL security (HTTPS): Secure sites build trust.
• XML sitemaps: Help search engines understand your site’s structure.
• Robots.txt files: Tell search engines what not to crawl.
• Links: Fixing broken links or duplicate content

Pro tip: Considering a website redesign? It’s the perfect time to optimize technical SEO.

4. Local SEO

Local SEO focuses on making your business more visible in local search results and Google Maps. In other words, when people search for “marketing agency in Fargo” or “best coffee shop near me.”, local SEO springs into action.

Local SEO involves:

• Google Business Profile setup and optimization
• Local keywords and location-based content
• Listings in directories
• Consistent NAP info (Name, Address, Phone number) across platforms
• Local reviews and reputation management

Pro tip: Besides your website and social media channels, online business profiles build credibility and SEO visibility. Claim and optimize your Google Business Profile. It’s free!

You can invest all you want in design, messaging, and content, but without SEO, your target audience may never see it. We know that SEO can seem overwhelming. But when you break it down into actionable tasks and goals, it becomes manageable. You don’t have to do it alone, though.