What is SEO? That’s a good question. In today’s digital world, understanding what SEO is for companies that want to build a strong online presence is essential. This comprehensive guide will explain exactly what SEO means, why it’s so important, and how you can use it to improve your website’s visibility and generate organic traffic.
What is SEO?
SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of optimizing a website to make it more visible in search engine results pages, such as Google. By applying various techniques, such as improving the content and technical structure of a website, you increase the chances of appearing higher in the search results. This leads to more organic traffic to your website.
Unlike paid ads, SEO focuses on “earned” or organic results, making it a cost-effective strategy in the long run.
How Do Search Engines Work?
To understand what SEO is, you first need to know how search engines work. Search engines like Google use bots (also known as crawlers) to search the web and index pages. When you enter a query, these search engines get the most relevant results from their index and rank them based on hundreds of factors. This is where SEO comes in.
By optimizing your website, you ensure that search engines can crawl, index and rank your pages in the right way.
Why is SEO Important?
Now that we know what SEO is, let’s take a look at its scope. SEO is important because the vast majority of online experiences start with a search engine. More than 90% of users click on results on Google’s first page, which means that ranking high is essential. In addition, in contrast to paid ads, organic traffic provides sustainable results without having to spend a budget on ads all the time.
The Three Most Important Pillars of SEO
To make your SEO strategy effective, you need to pay attention to three key pillars:
- Technical SEO
This includes everything related to the technical structure of your website. This includes loading speed, mobile friendliness, secure connections (HTTPS), and a good structure that search engines can easily crawl. Technical SEO lays the foundation for a well-performing website. - On-page SEO
This is about optimizing the content on your website. It’s important that your pages contain relevant, high-quality content, optimized with the right keywords. This includes the use of meta-descriptions, headings (H1, H2, etc.), and internal links. Good on-page SEO ensures that your content is not only attractive to search engines, but also to users. - Off-page SEO
Off-page SEO refers to all activities that take place outside your own website to improve your search rankings. The most important part of this is link building: getting relevant backlinks from other websites to your content. This increases the authority of your site and increases your chances of ranking higher in search results.
Common SEO Techniques
Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s look at some of the common techniques you can use to improve your SEO.
- Keyword research
Using the right keywords is essential for SEO. This means that you need to research the keywords that your target audience uses and include them in strategic places in your content, such as titles, headlines, and body text. - Content creation
Regularly publishing new, valuable content is crucial for SEO. Make sure that your articles, blogs, and product descriptions are not only informative, but also meet your users’ expectations. Long-form content (articles over 1,000 words) often scores better in search results. - Optimizing for Mobile Devices
As more and more people search via mobile devices, it’s essential that your website is mobile-friendly. Google uses a “mobile-first index,” which means that they primarily use the mobile version of your website to determine your rankings. - Link building
Getting backlinks from other, authoritative websites is one of the most important off-page SEO strategies. The more quality links you have that point to your site, the greater the chance that your website will rank higher.
What is Local SEO?
Local SEO is a specialized form of search engine optimization that focuses on improving a business’s visibility in local search results. The goal of local SEO is to help businesses get found by people searching for products or services within a specific geographic area.
Local SEO targets searches like “restaurant near me” or “plumber in Amsterdam.” Search engines, such as Google, use the user’s location to display the most relevant local results, making local SEO crucial for businesses with physical locations or those that serve a specific region.
How Does Local SEO Work?
Local SEO optimization involves several key elements:
- Google My Business: Creating and optimizing your Google My Business profile is essential. This helps you appear in Google Maps and in the local “3-pack” (the top three results shown in local searches).
- Local Keywords: Integrating location-specific keywords related to your services into your content. For example, “hairdresser in Utrecht” or “best bakery in The Hague.”
- Business Directories and Local Citations: Ensure your business details (name, address, and phone number) are consistent across all online platforms, such as business directories and social media.
- Reviews: Customer reviews play a critical role in local SEO. The more positive reviews you receive, the higher the likelihood of ranking higher in local search results.
- Backlinks from Local Websites: Gaining backlinks from other local businesses or organizations helps build your authority within your region.
Why is Local SEO Important?
Local SEO is vital for businesses that rely on customers from a specific area, such as restaurants, stores, dentists, and service providers. It not only helps improve your ranking in search engines but also attracts more targeted and relevant visitors to your website or physical location.
With the growing trend of mobile and “near me” searches, optimizing your website for local SEO is essential to stay competitive and reach more local customers.
SEO FAQ
How long does it take for SEO results to be visible?
Depending on the competition and the chosen strategy, it can take several months to reap the benefits of SEO. Patience and consistency are important.
What’s the difference between SEO and SEA?
The difference between SEO and SEA is that SEO (search engine optimization) focuses on organically improving your search rankings without paying, while SEA (search engine advertising) is about paid ads in search engines such as Google. SEO is a long-term strategy for sustainable visibility, while SEA provides direct traffic at a pay per click.
What’s the difference between organic and paid traffic?
Organic traffic comes from unpaid search results, while paid traffic comes from ads that you pay to be at the top of the page.
Current SEO Trends (2024-2025)
SEO is constantly evolving, and it’s important to stay up to date with the latest trends:
- AI and Search Engines
Artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly important role in search engines, particularly with the introduction of models such as Google’s MUM (Multitask Unified Model). This means that content must be increasingly relevant and focused on user intent. - Video and Visual Searches
Visual content, such as videos and images, is becoming increasingly important in SEO. Platforms like YouTube have become search engines themselves, and optimized video content can generate a lot of traffic. - E-A-T Principle
Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-A-T) are increasingly important to search engines. Building a trustworthy brand identity and providing authoritative information can help improve your search rankings.
Can you do SEO yourself?
Yes, SEO can certainly be done by yourself, but it requires time, knowledge, and perseverance. There are many online tools and tutorials available to help you get started with search engine optimization yourself. This includes keyword research, writing SEO-friendly content, and technically optimizing your website. For entrepreneurs who are just starting out or managing smaller websites, this can be a good way to cut costs.
However, SEO is an ongoing process that requires regular maintenance and adjustments. Search engines like Google update their algorithms regularly, so your strategy also needs to be continuously optimized. In addition, SEO includes many complex and technical components, such as technical audits, link building and data analysis, which often require specialist knowledge to achieve really good results.
Why use our SEO services?
While you can do SEO yourself, hiring professional SEO experts often provides faster and better results. Our team at Bast Agency has the knowledge and experience to develop a customized SEO strategy that is specifically tailored to your company, target group and goals. We ensure that your website is technically optimized, that your content perfectly matches the search intent of your customers, and that your organic rankings improve sustainably.
By using our SEO services, you benefit from:
- Comprehensive keyword research: We’ll help you find the right keywords that your target audience uses and generate the most traffic to your website.
- Technical SEO optimization: Our experts ensure that your website is fast, mobile-friendly and easy to index for search engines.
- Link building strategies: We build a strong backlink profile by allowing relevant, authoritarian websites to link to your content, which improves your position in search results.
- Ongoing monitoring and adjustments: SEO is not a one-off task. We’ll continue to analyse your results and adjust your strategy as needed to ensure you’re always one step ahead of your competition.
For best results and sustainable online growth, we recommend using our professional SEO services. This way, you can focus on your core activities, while we ensure that your website ranks higher in search engines.
Get in touch with us today to find out how we can increase your online visibility!
More information sources
- For more information about the importance of website optimization, you can visit our page about have a website created consult.
- Read our article about SEO and digital marketing strategies for more tips.
- Find out more about starting a webshop.