what does ‘search’ mean?
search represents the process of actively seeking and discovering resources online.
what search means to marketers?
user has a concern — user looks for answers online — user finds you — user enters your funnel
basic terminologies about ‘search’
search query — a user’s input to a search engine, typically a question or phrase.
search intent — the underlying purpose or goal behind a user’s search query.
search engine results page– the page that displays the results of a search query.
various search engines —
google, yahoo, baidu, duckduckgo.
why are search engines important ?
— they help businesses grow by connecting with customers.
— they assist in learning and research.
they are the backbone of the internet’s accessibility.
search engines and marketing —
they help you reach potential customers through search engine optimization (seo) and pay-per-click (ppc) advertising.
crawling and indexing –
crawling: discovering new content
indexing: organizing data for quick retrieval
how do search engines work?
crawlers scan the web for fresh content — crawled data is stored in an index — algorithm analyses and creates a list
factors that impact ranking —
relevance, authority, trustability, user experience
optimizing content for better rankings —
— create high-quality, engaging and relevant content that provides value to your audience
— this can include articles, blog posts, videos, infographics, podcasts, etc,
anatomy of an serp
serp: search engine results pages
— a serp is the page that appears when a user searches for something online using a search online, such as google, bing, or yahoo.
— an serp displays up to 10 organic search results.
components of serp —
paid ads (ads), organic results, knowledge graph, local listings, rich results, people also ask, videos, featured snippet.
what is a search snippet?
— it is typically a short excerpt of the page’s content, usually 155-160 characters in length.
— it is intended to provide a brief overview of the content of the webpage.
types of search snippets–
— paragraph snippets: these provide a short paragraph answer.
— list snippets: these show steps or items in a list formt.
— table snippets: these present information in a table.
how google chooses search results?
relevance of search query, page and domain authority, user engagement metrics, content freshness and recency.
understanding seo
what is seo?
seo stands for “search engine optimization”.
it is the process of improving the visibility and ranking of a website in search engine results pages (serps).
how you do it?
seo involves:
improving the indexability of your content.
improving the visibility of your content.
enhancing user experience when they visit your site.
understanding google algorithm —
the google algorithm is a complex system that analyzes and ranks websites based on their relevance, authority, and user experience, using over 200 ranking factors to determine rankings.
top 5 ranking factors —
content quality
search intent
mobile-friendliness
backlinks
loading speed
algorithm vs core update —
algorithm — a special change to the google algorithm that targets a particular issue, such as spam, technical issues, or new ranking signal.
core update — a broad update to the core ranking algorithms that aims to improve overall search quality and relevance.
algorithm — typically affects a specific set of websites or pages, such as those with algorithmic manipulations.
core update — affects all websites and search results, globally.
understanding keywords–
— keywords are specific words or phrases that users type into search engines to find relevant information online.
— they help search engines understand the relevance of your content to your user’s search query.
keyword research for seo – 1
types of keywords: based on query–
long tail keywords
short tail keywords
long tail keywords: phrases that consist of three or more words and are highly targeted.
example: best budget gaming laptops under rs. 50,000
short tail keywords: brief and general search terms typically 1-2 word long.
example: gaming laptop
types of keywords: based on search intent–
navigational keywords — search terms used by individuals with a specific website or brand in mind.
example: facebook login
informational keywords — search terms about a particular topic.
example: benefits of meditation
commercial keywords — keywords entered with the intention of making a decision soon.
example: buy running shoes
tools for keyword research
semrush
google keyword planner
moz
essential keyword metrics —
search volume
keyword difficulty
search intent
search volume — how many times a particular keyword is searched for within a specific timeframe?
keyword difficulty — how hard it is to rank for a specific keyword on search engine results pages?
search intent — this is a soft metric? is this keyword relevant for a specific search intent?
search query vs keywords —
search query — actual phrase someone types into a search engine
example: best pizza places in rome
keywords — building blocks of search query
example: “best,” “pizza,” “places,” and “rome”
keyword research for seo- 2
keyword research tools — semrush keyword overview tool, google keyword planner tool, moz keyword research tool.
understanding on-page seo–
on-page seo is the process of optimizing a website’s content and structure to rank higher in search engine results pages (serps) for specific keywords.
importance of on-page seo–
–improves the overall experience of users
–directly influences website traffic
–influences your website’s discoverability
key elements of on-page seo–
–content quality and freshness
–keywords
–heading & title tag
–meta tags
–image alt tags
–mobile friendliness
content quality and freshness —
Pinterest Ads for eCommerce [2022 Guide to Sucess]
Pinterest Ads in 2024: Your Go-To Guide for Success
which of these would you prefer to read?
keywords —
keywords help search engines understand the content and relevance of a page.
heading & title tag–
heading and title tags help search engines understand the hierarchy of the content on a web page.
meta tags–
meta tags include meta title and meta description.
image alt tags–
an image alt tag is a brief description of an image that helps search engines understand what it is about.
candle is not a suitable description.
homemade scented candle is a suitable description.
mobile friendliness–
which of these two websites would you prefer to navigate?
enhancing seo with meta and alt tags–1–
what are meta tags?
meta tags are snippets of code embedded within the <head> section of a webpage that provide information about the page to search engines and browsers.
types of meta tags–
meta title
meta description
meta keywords
robots tag
meta title — a meta title, also known as a title tag, refers to the text that is displayed on search engine result pages and browser tabs to indicate the topic of a webpage.
how to write meta title?
your meta title should accurately tell users what to expect from your page after they click on your snippet.
–ideally, your meta title should not be longer than 60 characters.
–always include relevant keywords in your meta titles.
meta description–the meta description summarizes a page’s content and presents it to users in the search results. mention what users will gain by clicking on your webpage.
— ideally, your meta description should not be longer than 160 characters.
— including relevant keywords and use persuasive language.
what are meta robot tags?
these tags provide instructions to search engine crawlers on how to index and display your webpage.
types of robot tags–
follow
no follow
no index
follow — this allows search engines to both index the web page and follow the links on the page (crawl linked web pages).
no follow — this tag tells search engines to not follow the links on the page. it won’t prevent the page itself from being indexed.
no index — this tag instructs search engines to not index the webpage. this is useful for login and thank you pages.
<! DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>My awesome page</title>
<meta name=”robots” content=”follow”> </head>
<body>
</body>
</html>
what are meta keywords?
–meta keywords provide information to search engines about the content of the webpage.
–google no longer considers meta keywords as a direct ranking factors.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>my awesome page</title>
<meta name=”keywords” content=”SEO, search engine optimization”>
</head>
<body>
</body>
</html>
enhancing seo with meta and alt tags-2
what is an image alt tag?
an alt tag is a piece of text embedded wuth html code that describes the content and function of an image on a webpage.
anatomy of an alt tag–
<img src=”flower.jpg” alt=”red flower”>
whereas “flower.jpg” is the name of the image file and “red flower” is alternative texr.
headings tags–
–heading tags (h1-h2) are used to structure the content on a webpage and indicate its hierarchy.
–headings break down text into clear sections, making it easier for users to scan and understand the content.
<body>
<h1>main topic</h1>
<h2>subtopic 1</h2>
content related to subtopic 1.
<h3>subtopic 1.1 (nested under subtopic 1) </h3>
more specific content.
<h2>subtopic 2</h2>
content related to subtopic 2.
<h4>subtopic 2.1 (nested under subtopic 2) </h4>
specific details under subtopic 2.
<h5>optional subheading (use sparingly) </h5>
additional information.
</body>
introduction to off-page seo–
understanding off-page seo–
off-page seo involves techniques to improve your website’s ranking without directly modifying its content.
it involves building authority and trust in your website through various methods.
benefits of off-page seo–
enhances trust and online credibility
increases referral traffic
improves brand awareness
directly improves rankings
types of off-page seo–
link based
non-link based
link based — this includes creating backlinks and increasing brand mentions.
non-link based — this includes pr activities, social media efforts and unlinked brand mentions.
off-page seo metrics–
metric — number of backlinks
explanation — the total number of links from other websites that point to you.
metric — domain / page authority
explanation — a high da score suggests a page / website’s ability to rank well.
metric — number of referring domains
explanation — the total number of unique websites that link to you.
what are backlinks?
backlinks are links on other websites that point back to a page on your website.
why are backlinks important?
they act like vote of confidence from other sources, indicating the value and credibility of your content.
types of backlinks —
natural backlinks
manually built links
self-created links
natural backlinks — earned organically without any action from your side.
manually built links — acquired through deliberate link-building activities.
self-created links — created by adding your website’s links in forums and directories.
what makes a backlinks good?
keyword in anchor text
relevance to your niche
authoritative source
do-follow attribute
dofollow vs nofollow links —
dofollow link — these are standard hyperlinks that allow search engine bots to follow them and pass link equity (also known as “link juice”) to the linked site.
nofollow link — these links have a special attribute (rel=”nofollow”) that tells search engine bots not to follow the link or pass any link equity to the linked site.
dofollow link — they help improve the search engine ranking of the linked site.
nofollow link — they do not contribute to the search engine ranking of the linked site.
strategies for building backlinks —
create high-value content
guest blogging
online submission sites
blogger outreach campaigns
non-lined off-page seo —
what is non link-based seo?
non-link based off-page seo involves off-page activities to improve your brand’s online reputation and mentions.
non-link based off-page techniques —
pr activities
social media activities
orm activities
pr activities — increases awareness and referral traffic
social media activities — acquired through deliberate link-building activities
orm activities — created by adding your website’s link in forums and directories
very important —
none of these activities have a direct impact on your domain authority.
however, all these activities will help you improve your overall credibility online.
pr activities —
pr efforts can secure backlinks in news articles, blog posts, or influencer content.
these backlinks act as referrals, driving traffic to your website from those sources.
social media activities —
social media builds brand awareness, promotes content, and fosters connections, indirectly improving your online credibility.
it also brings traffic to your website.
orm activities —
increased brand awareness and a positive online reputation can natturally attract backlinks over time.
people are more likely to link to a trusted and well-regarded website.
introduction to local seo —
what is local seo?
local seo is the optimization of your online presence to improve your visibility in search results for local searches.
it helps local businesses attract more customers by increasing their visibility in their area.
benefits of local seo —
attracts more local customers
increases phone calls and visits
boosts traffic for local searches
on-page efforts for local seo —
add nap details in your content
integrate google maps to display your location
optimize for local keywords
off-page efforts for local seo —
claim your google business profile
get listed on local directories
acquire backlinks from local websites
google my budiness essentials —
google my business —
google business profile, earlier known as google my business, is a free tool by google that helps businesses create and manage their business listings.
benefits of havimg a gmb account —
improved local visibility
bring in leads and customers
attracts more store visits
how to optimize your gmb profile?
claim and verify your listing
complete your business information
encourage feedback
add high-quality photos
respond to reviews
post regularly
understanding google search console —
google search console helps website owners monitor and manage their website’s health and performance in google search results.
importance of google search console —
improved visibility in serp
ability to monitor indexing issues
ability to identify technical issues
install and activate google site kit. configure site kit plugin to connect google search console and google analytics to your website / property.
overview tab of gsc helps you understand which content resonates with your readers.
performance tab of gsc helps you explore your property’s performance on google search, including impressions, position, ctr, and top query strings.
url inspection tab of gsc helps you understand your website url indexing status. in case, if your webpage hasn’t already indexed, you can request indexing also from here by clicking request indexing button.
pages tab of gsc helps you find out why pages aren’t indexed.
sitemaps tab on gsc helps you see sitemaps that google has found on your site, and submit new ones.
removals tab on gsc helps you temporarily remove content from google search on urgent basis. this will block url(s) from google search results for about six months and clear current snippet and cached version (they’ll be regenerated after the next crawl). for permanent removal, either block pages from indexing or remove them from the site.
removals of other urls leading to this content must be requested separately.
page experience tab of gsc helps you see whether your site pages provide a good, safe, and secure experience for your users. good page experience focuses on many different aspects, not just one or two. understand how to check if you’re providing an overall great page experience.
google’s core ranking systems look to reward content that provifdes a good page experience. search console has reports for two aspects you may wish to consider. core web vitals and https. however, page experience involves more than just these two aspects.
core web vitals tab of gsc helps you see core web vitals for mobile and desktop.
unlocking the power of seo tools —
essential seo tools for beginners —
moz, gtmetrix, smallseotools, yoast, seoquake.
tools for on-page seo–
name –yoast
purpose — to optimize your content
plan — freemium
name — small seo
purpose — a range of free seo tools
plan — freemium
name — coschedule
purpose — headline analysis
plan — freemium
tools for off-page seo —
name — afrefs
purpose — to optimize your content
plan — freemium
name — moz
purpose — tools for seo analysis (on and off)
plan — some tools are free
name — seoquake
purpose — off-page analysis
plan — free extension
tools for technical seo —
name — google search console
purpose — to analyse seo performance and issues
plan — free
name — xml sitemap generator
purpose — sitemap creation
plan — freemium
name — gtmetrix
purpose — site speed analysis
plan –free
tools for local seo —
name — google my business
purpose — business listing and profile management
plan — free
name — rank math
purpose — optimize for local keywords
plan — freemium
name — bright local
purpose — manage nap citations
plan — free trial available
tools for seo audit–
name — seoptimizer
purpose — on-page and off-page audit
plan — freemium
name — merkle
purpose — to analyze technical seo
plan — free
name — ubersuggest
purpose — overall audit
plan — freemium
integrating ai into seo strategies —
optimo offers ai powered marketing tools to boost creativity abd speed-up your everyday markeying tasks.
optimo tool suite include ai tool for ads, social media, copywriting, seo, video, email, and business.
seo tool include keyword intent, keyword research, seo title & meta description, keyword cluster, long-tail keywords, link building ideas, digital pr ideas, haro pitch response, topical map generator.
for example, digital pr ideas tool of seo tool suite will give you 5 news stories that will generate national exposure and links via newspapers and media outlets if you tell this your topic or industry.
seo title & meta description tool of seo tool suite will write the perfect seo title and meta description if you describe the theme of the page.
keyword intent tool of seo tool suite will create a table with the keyword intent next to each keyword, you can enter a list of up to 100 keywords.
blog post intro tool of copywriting tool suite will write an encaptivating intro that will lure readers into the rest of the post if you enter your blog post title.
plagiarism checker tool of smallseotool will scan your article for duplicate content, you just need to copy and paste your text in the box, then click on the big blue button that says “Check Plagiarism”.
keyword competition tool under keyword tools of smallseotool will check competition of a given keyword.
title generator tool of quattr uses ai to generate seo-friendly titles for your content.it’s quick, easy, and free to use. simply enter your keyword or topic, and our ai will suggest seo-friendly title tag options. save time and create engaging titles that drive traffic to your website.
moz is quite useful tool in seo. it helps to check the top competitive seo metrics for that site.
mobile seo is the optimisation of a website for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.
mobile-first index —
in this type of indexing, google bots first search for a mobile version of your website. if it is present, they index it, and then move to the desktop version.
factors affecting mobile seo–
–website design
— the loading speed of website
— accessibility of content
website design
— help your visitors complete their objective
— responsive web design — responsive web design means that the website uses the same domain and the same html code, whether is user is on a desktop computer, tablet, or mobile phone.
loading speed of a website —
you can check speed of your website using PageSpeed insights.
accessibility of content:
the content should be accessible for the users. it should —
–be easily viewable on mobile devices.
–be easily traversable.
–have no intrusive pop-ups.
app store optimisation —
some stats to ponder about —
–in google’s play store alone, there are around 250 million app downloads daily.
–apps like whatsapp and facebook have over 5 billion downloads each.
–and, an average Indian has about 50 apps on their device.
app store optimisation or aso is optimising your application’s app store listing to help it rank higher in app store searches.
important aso factors:
–app identity — name, app icon, and description.
–app category — the category to which the app belongs
–app engagement and ratings
stage 1: before submission of app–
a. app identity:
questions to address while designing app icon —
–does it cater to all instances (tablets and smartphones) in terms of size?
–is it aligned with your brand colour palette? you may choose to have a distinguished look for your app but it should be an informed choice.
–does it follow good design aesthetics? from symmetry and visual complexity point of view.
b. description:
the short version is 255 char long in google playstore and 252 char long in apple appstore.
the short version works like a snippet and that’s what a user typically sees when they first click the app.
the key thing to focus here is concisely highlighting the unique features of your app and adding the right keywords to improve its rankings.
the detailed version is 4000 char long in google playstore and the same limit is widely accepted for apple app store.
use it to provide an extensive, yet clear and structured, description of your app’s features and purpose.
include your keywords a few times, especially in the first and last lines of text, to help google play rank your app for these keywords, and add some more in the rest of the text.
write in shore paragraphs, use bullet points and rich formatting to give a structure to your text, and make the advantage of maximum possible characters to get a perfect long description.
c. category:
some questions that can help you find the right category for the app —
— who are your target users? children, teenagers, youth, middle-aged, etc.
— what are they looking for? the intent– a fitness app, an e-commerce app, a racing game?
some questions that can help you find the right category for the app-
— what category is typically assigned to apps similar to yours?
stage 2: after app submission —
d. engagement and ratings:
–the very first step is to engage with yours users by pushing consistent app updates.
–recently updated apps usually rank higher than the ones which are rarely updated.
the next step is engaging with users’ ratings and feedback.
you need to treat your reviews very seriously and consider them a goldmine for generating good word of mouth and improving your rankings.
the ratings for an app are displayed in search results, so it’s very important to have consistently good ratings.