What Is SEO?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of improving a website’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) for relevant queries. SEO ensures that your website is discoverable, relevant, and user-friendly, driving organic traffic without relying solely on paid advertising.

Organic search remains the largest source of website traffic. According to BrightEdge, 68% of online experiences begin with a search engine, and over 53% of website traffic comes from organic search. Businesses that neglect SEO miss out on significant opportunities to attract potential customers.

A startup website without SEO saw only 200 monthly visits. After implementing basic SEO practices—including optimized titles, headings, and meta descriptions—organic traffic rose to 1,200 monthly visits within three months.

Key Components of SEO

  • On-Page SEO – Optimizing individual pages for relevance and readability, including content, headings, title tags, meta descriptions, and images.
  • Off-Page SEO – Building credibility and authority through backlinks, social signals, and brand mentions.
  • Technical SEO – Ensuring the website is crawlable, indexable, secure, and fast-loading.
  • User Experience (UX) – Improving navigation, mobile responsiveness, and site architecture to increase engagement.

How SEO Works

Search engines use crawlers and algorithms to analyze websites. They evaluate:

  • Relevance: Does the content answer the user’s query?
  • Authority: Are other reputable sites linking to it?
  • User Experience: Is the page fast, mobile-friendly, and easy to navigate?

Example: A local bakery optimized its website with relevant keywords, structured headings, and mobile-friendly design. Google’s crawlers recognized the relevance and UX improvements, resulting in the bakery appearing in the top 3 local search results, driving a 35% increase in foot traffic.

Why Businesses Need SEO

  • Cost-Effective Marketing: Organic search traffic is free, unlike paid ads.
  • Targeted Traffic: SEO attracts users actively searching for products or services.
  • Long-Term Results: Optimized pages continue to attract traffic over time.
  • Credibility & Trust: High-ranking sites are perceived as authoritative and trustworthy.