Types of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

So what is SEO? Well, here is the breakdown according to Wikipedia:

"Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the quality and quantity of website traffic to a website or a web page from search engines."

So why would we want to do SEO over Paid traffic since we paid advertising gives us leads or sales now? To put it simply, paid advertising such as Facebook ads, YouTube ads, or Google Ads can be expensive, especially if you don't understand them. This is where SEO helps! SEO helps us to generate leads and sales without paying for the traffic which is known as organic traffic.

So Why isn't everyone focused on doing just SEO to reduce cost? There's a few reasons why that may occur. Ideally, an individual has a balanced strategy of SEO and paid advertising to drive sales, leads, and brand recognition; however, some businesses need leads now and don't have time or money to put into SEO in addition to their paid advertising. As a result, they focus on what gets them leads now. Furthermore, SEO can take some time and effort, especially if you are in a competitive industry. Since so much time and effort goes into SEO, it is typically expensive on the front end, but the cost tapers off as you begin to build rankings.

The Types of SEO:

There are three different types of SEO: on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and technical SEO; however, there are many different types of SEO within those three categories which we'll get into in a bit.

On-Page SEO

On-page SEO is likely what you are most familiar with. This type of SEO revolves around the content of your website. The content of you website should be authoritative and include things such as:

Creating Content - creating articles, blogs, videos of content containing keywords
Keyword Research - Identification of search terms to utilize in your content or blog
Keyword Optimization - ensuring that your keywords are in optimal locations

Some tools that can utilize to do you keyword research are:

Google Keyword Planner - Content Keyword Research
TubeBuddy - YouTube keyword research
SEMRush - an all in one SEO tool (Paid)

These tools will allow you to find relevant keywords and see the potential competition of each word.

Technical SEO

Technical SEO is sometimes referred to as subset of on-page SEO, but we wanted to break it out since it is an important aspect to SEO. While on-page SEO deals with what your customers or clients actually see, Technical SEO deals with the behind-the-scenes items that effect your on-page SEO. Below is a list of items that are included in technical SEO:

Mobile Responsiveness - the ability of a website to resize to different screen resolutions such as a smart phone
Site Speed - the speed at which your site loads for users
Image Optimization - the image file size, type, and caching
Security - SSL certification for the "https" connection
Site Structure - Correct html structure and schema to make it user friendly and easier for crawlers

Off-Page SEO

This area of SEO is arguably the most important, but also the most difficult. Off-Page SEO are all the actions taken outside of your website to build your reputation or rank. Some items that are involved in off-page SEO include:

Link Building
Social Media
Guest Blogging & Commenting
Forum Posting

These areas may not seem like you are boosting your rankings, but the focus is on-page signals. Off-page SEO deals with your online presence overall.

Other Types of SEO

There are several subsets of SEO in general which could depend on what you're attempting to rank for.

Local SEO

Local SEO is important if your business primarily comes from a geographic region. For example, as a brick-and-mortar business in Oklahoma City or the OKC metro, it may not be in your best interest to attempt to rank nationally when you are trying to get customers in your area. Additionally, local seo is usually easier than running a regular SEO campaign where you are attempting to compete against more competition. Here are a couple ways to optimize an SEO strategy for local searches:

Claim your "Google My Business" page which helps your customers find information such as your name, phone, address, hours, reviews, and useful information
Optimize your "Google My Business" page with good images, a description, and real reviews
Get your Google Maps set up and embed "Google Maps" on your website such as your homepage

These types of optimizations help you to rank in the Google Maps areas of searches which usually populate above all the listings!

YouTube SEO

Most people don't realize that YouTube is the #1 website in traffic which is significantly above Google itself! As a result, it only makes sense that you can optimize your video content on YouTube to get higher rankings in search engines such as Google. Additionally, for some search terms, Google has videos that pop up which are easier to rank for than some regular keywords.

A Strategy That Works

All of this information can seem overwhelming when you try to tackle it. Keep in mind that people have made careers out of doing such work because of the level of dedication it takes! If you are just starting out, you can start with the on-page optimizations; however, if you really want to see your rankings jump, then you will want to utilize several types of SEO. You don't neccisarly need all of them, but you should at least be doing the main three: on-page, off-page, and technical SEO.