Last updated on 5th October 2023 at 14:14 by Alex Nicholas
Most people are familiar with SEO now, even if they do not fully understand how to implement it. A lot of people assume that SEO is a very specific kind of optimisation, i.e. putting keywords into your content. While this is a part of SEO, it is only a very small aspect of it. There are many other parts of SEO. Keyword optimisation is simply one strategy. With that in mind, in this blog post, we are going to take you through the various types of SEO in digital marketing so you can get a better understanding.
On-Page SEO
It makes sense to start with on-page SEO because this is probably the type of search engine optimisation that you are already familiar with. First, let's explain the on-page SEO meaning. When we talk about on-page optimisation, we are referring to everything that people encounter when they visit your website. This means all of the content on your website yet also the experience it provides.
But first, let's take a look at the content marketing side of things. Original, engaging, and optimised content is a necessity for your website to rank highly. You need to make sure your website is solving the problems your target audience has.
You need to appeal to their pain points and provide the ultimate solution for people who are searching for specific queries online. Your aim is to always make sure that your content is better than what is already out there at the moment. If you simply copy content from another website, how do you expect to rank higher than it?
Making sure that your content is of the highest standard is imperative. However, a lot of people do not realise that there are many elements that come together when creating an on-page optimisation strategy. One thing that we have already touched upon is keywords and this is very important.
Whenever someone does a search online for something specific, whether they want to find out about a certain medical issue or they are looking for a certain product, they will enter some terms into Google. You need to make sure that you are using relevant terms that people are going to be searching for within your content so that Google can match you to your ideal audience.
You should include your keywords in the first paragraph of your work whether it's an article or landing page, URL, title, and subheadings. However, you always need to make sure that your use of keywords is natural. If you simply shove keywords into your content, it won't read naturally and this will work against you when Google ranks your website.
Good SEO service providers offer on-page SEO analysis to give you a good understanding of your current performance so you can see where improvements can be made.
One thing that a lot of people do not realise is that the experience your website provides also makes a big difference in terms of your on-page SEO performance. If your website takes too long to load, Google will pick up on this and it will hurt your ranking.
The same can be said if your website is difficult to navigate. Google will see that a lot of people are clicking between different pages and ultimately leaving your website pretty quickly. Therefore, optimisation goes way beyond the words that are on your page but it includes the entire experience you provide for anyone that lands on your website. An SEO website audit will look into all of these elements; not only the keywords in your content but how easy your site is to use.
Off-Page SEO
Off-page SEO can be more challenging. Again, there are many different elements. The obvious place to start is link building. This is one of the most critical parts of SEO but it is also incredibly difficult to get right. Linking to your website can help bring visitors and it shows Google that other people on the Internet value your content. Essentially, when someone posts a link to your website on their website, it's like they are giving Google the thumbs up that your website is of high quality.
However, the problem lies when people start to value quantity or quality. You need to make sure that the links pointing to your website are relevant. Links must also come from websites that are high-quality themselves and do not have a high spam rating. If you run a local cake store in Manchester, for example, there would be no benefit in having a car blog based in China link to your website. This would actually hurt your ranking.
Another off-page area that you should concentrate on is social media. If people are talking about your business on the likes of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and other popular social networks, search engines will take note. Plus, if you have content on social media that gains a lot of traffic, this can help to drive people to your website, which also works well in terms of building up your reputation on Google.
It is also a good idea to build positive relationships with social media personalities, journalists, and anyone else who is relevant to your industry. Commenting on blog posts can be helpful. Guest blogging is a popular method to consider. This involves posting blogs on other websites that are relevant to yours without being direct competition. This helps to build links to your website and you also get to tap into a ready-made audience.
Local SEO
For any business with a physical presence, local SEO is a must. As the name indicates, it is all about optimising your online presence so that you reach people in your local area.
After all, when we look for businesses close to our homes, we always input the location, right? After all, how else are we to find a barber in Hexham or a tailor in Hitchin? So, when people search for your type of business in your area, you want to make sure you are front and centre.
There are a number of different areas you need to consider when it comes to local SEO that you would not necessarily think about in a more conventional SEO campaign. For example, one of the most important steps is to claim your Google My Business Page. This will ensure that your company name, phone number, address, opening hours, reviews, and other useful data is prominently displayed on Google Maps and in the search results.
You need to make sure that you optimise this information. Encourage real reviews from your customers. Describe your business well and include recent photographs.
It is also imperative to ensure that your contact details are included and that they are up to date. You can highlight this with your schema markup so that Google and other search engines know where your contact details are. The most effectively this information is presented to search engines, the easier it is going to be for them to show your details to possible customers in your local area.
There are a number of other things that you can do to boost your local SEO efforts. Some suggestions are as follows:
- Display trust symbols and awards on your website
- Add your city or region to your keywords, descriptions, and SEO page titles
- Embed a Google Maps marker on your homepage
Technical SEO
Technical SEO is closely related to on-page SEO, as it is connected to your website. However, rather than being what you see when you land on a website, technical SEO is all about what is going on behind the scenes.
There are a number of different technical factors that can help you to rank highly. Here are some of them:
- Make sure you have a responsive website design that scales effectively to mobile devices
- Optimise your website so that it loads quickly; SEO page speed is a ranking factor
- Uploading detailed sitemaps
- Use a secure HTTPS connection so Google can see that your site is one to trust
- Optimise your images
- Optimise the HTML on every page
- Use schema markup to tell search engines exactly what is on every page
Technical SEO analysis may seem a little bit intimidating at first. However, it all stems back to making sure that your website delivers a great user experience. If it is easy and quick to use, you are already halfway there.
YouTube SEO
We're moving onto some of the more niche segments of the market now. However, YouTube is incredibly powerful and can make a massive difference to your online presence. A social network and search engine all wrapped in one, ranking on YouTube can be gold for your business.
Plus, if you can get one of your YouTube videos to rank effectively on Google, you're going to get an even bigger boost.
Just like other types of SEO content, it all stems down to exceptional content when ranking highly on YouTube. If your video sucks, no one is going to want to watch it. That is pretty simple!
But what makes a good video? Well, you need to solve problems, answer queries, or be more entertaining than what is already out there. If your video ticks all of the boxes, people will watch it all of the way through, subscribe to your channel, like the video, leave comments, and so on. All of these are important ranking signals, which will result in you gaining much more traction on YouTube.
You need to make sure you have an optimised and striking title, as well as a descriptive summary. A keyword-rich description will help Google to understand what your video is all about and whether or not it is relevant to the searches being conducted. Think of this just like an SEO page description for your website.
Don't simply use the keywords you have been using for your website, though. You need video keywords, i.e. the sort of terms people use when searching for videos. Some common video keywords include the likes of “tutorial” “review” or “how-to.” If you manage to get your content ranked for keywords like this, you can truly expect your presence on YouTube to soar.
You should then look into the off-page side of things as well, for example, getting other people to embed your videos into their blog posts, getting links to your video, and encouraging discussion and comments.
App store optimisation
Last but not least, we have app store optimisation. Bing and Google are not the only search engines you need to be targeting. Just think about how many searches are carried out on Google's Play Store and Apple's App Store on a daily basis. If you have an app, you need to do everything in your power to ensure you are ranking highly on these two platforms. Otherwise, you're going to struggle to get many downloads.
App store optimisation and on-page SEO are incredibly similar. Your icon and app title are the first two things anyone is going to see when they stumble across your app in these stores, so make sure they are striking, relevant, and descriptive. Your description must be clear, accurate, and naturally incorporate the keywords that people are going to be searching. The same goes for your meta tags – relevant keywords are a must!
Final words on the top six SEO types for businesses
We hope that this SEO website analysis and off-page optimisation guide has helped you to get a better understanding of the different types of SEO.
From on-page to local SEO, all of these different areas are critical when it comes to learning about and building a strong online presence for your business. Plus, it is vital to remember that SEO is not a one-time thing.
It is something you need to continually work on if you are to climb up the search engine result pages and increase the chances and probability that you'll stay ahead of the competition. Commit to reading the latest SEO information and making improvements to your