Google receives 3.5 billion searches every single day. So it’s no surprise that people rely on it to learn more about businesses.
When running an eCommerce website, you’ll need to get on the good side of search engines.
This is where search engine optimisation (SEO) steps in.
But what is SEO, and how does it work?
SEO allows search engines to find your business website — and include it in relevant searches.
By understanding how search engines work, you’ll know how to do and sharpen your SEO strategies and incorporate them in your online marketing. Plus, achieve higher visibility, targeted traffic, and conversions.
How Search Engines Find and Rank Results
Search engines work through three important functions: crawl, index, and rank.
Crawl
The first step takes place well before you conduct a search.
Search engines deploy spiders — bots that “crawl” the World Wide Web to look for new content. Some content examples include text, images, alt tags, and documents.
When spiders crawl your page, it means that search engines are looking at it. A spider then stores and forwards your website data to search engines for indexing.
Index
Once spiders crawl your page, search engines later decide if it gets indexed.
That’s right — not all crawled pages get indexed. But how do search engines decide what’s worthy?
Google only wants the best for its clients: the people who use the platform to search for something.
This is why it always picks new, fresh content that’ll add to a great user experience.
If your page contains duplicate content from other indexed sites, then there’s no need for Google to index yours.
Rank
After indexing your page, search engines then decide where it should appear in results. This is where ranking comes into the picture.
Now, when a user types in a keyword, search engines pick the most relevant results from their indexed pages.
The most relevant results for that keyword get the best ranking.
The results are based on several factors, which include:
- Matching keywords
- Quality content
- Backlinks from authoritative websites
So, what makes your website appear in search results?
- Google should be able to index your web pages. So, it should not contain duplicate content. If it does, the specific page should be set to noindex or nofollow.
- It should follow the rules of SEO to rank higher in search engine results pages (or SERPs).
RECOMMENDED: Google Core Web Vitals: How It Affects Your Ranking
How to Rank High in the SERPs: Introducing SEO
SEO involves a set of best practices that gets your website to appear in the SERPs.
And not just appear but also rank high enough to earn a spot on the first page.
75% of users are more likely to click on a result from the first page. If your page only appears on the second, third, or fourth page, you lose 75% of your prospects!
So when performing SEO, make it a goal to be on the coveted first page — nothing less.
RECOMMENDED: The Beginner’s Guide to SEO Keywords
Why SEO is Important
Search engines have undergone changes over time. One of these changes is paid ads.
These gave businesses the opportunity to pay to be on the first page of the SERPs.
That’s a quick and easy trick to boost your online marketing efforts.
But it doesn’t pay off in the long term.
You’ll have to pay for every click your page gets and bid higher to keep up with the competition. And you’ll need to keep spending to keep your place in the SERPs.
In the long run, SEO provides a higher return on investment. You only have to pay for tools and services to apply the right SEO techniques.
It may take time for you to achieve results, but you’ll benefit from them in the long term.
Ready to see what SEO can do for your biz?
Now that you know what SEO is and how it works, you now have the power to let your business rule the SERPs. Make the search engines work for you, and get that traffic and conversions you deserve.
It’s time for your website to rank high and provide real market impact. To learn more about optimising your website, reach out to our SEO experts at Managed SEO.
