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How Does SEO Work?

What is SEO and how does it work? Learn more about how marketers use search engine optimization to rank higher and increase traffic.

Loren Baker

SEJ STAFF

Loren Baker

August 4, 2022

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You may have heard that SEO is essential when you want to increase traffic to your website.

When you are looking to increase the volume of customers coming to your store, incoming calls, and online orders, you need to be visible in Google Search.

Optimizing your webpages helps you rank higher and convert more searchers to customers.

But how does SEO work?

In this article, you will learn about the process used by marketers to optimize your website for search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, and many others.

Let’s start by learning what SEO is all about.

What Is SEO, Anyway?

SEO stands for search engine optimization.

At its core, SEO is the process of making your site rank as highly as possible in Google when someone types in [burrito blanket] (or whatever it is you sell, promote, or talk about).

The higher your site ranks, the more visible your business is, and the more traffic and sales your business is likely to generate.

You might be a little lost if you are just getting started in SEO.

There are many sites, books, and guides (we even wrote one here at Search Engine Journal) to help you get started. But you might find that many resources offer conflicting information.

Part of the reason SEO frustrates so many people is that it changes continuously.

Why? Because when marketers get their teeth into a new “strategy,” they like to run it into the ground.

Essentially, we are why we can’t have nice things.

Also, there’s the fact that Google is constantly updating its algorithm.

SEO is a never-ending battle to get more eyes on your website and convince Google that your site is worth sending searchers to.

How Does SEO Work? Your Top SEO Questions, Answered

So, what matters when it comes to SEO?

Is it all about the links?

Does the URL structure really matter?

What exactly is a meta description, anyway?

Do you need to crank out a 2,000-word blog post four times daily?

Before diving into the more technical aspects of SEO, I will answer the most-asked questions about SEO.

Is SEO Dead?

Yes. It’s completely dead.

Our jobs are over. You should just quit now.

I’m kidding, mostly.

I’d argue that SEO is constantly dying repeatedly. Think of it like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day.

Strategies we’ve come to know and love get replaced by newer, more effective ones. SEO best practices die, and new ones are reborn.

So while it isn’t dead, SEO is always changing. If you want to succeed at SEO, you’ve got to be willing to roll with the punches.