SEO seems like a real drag. Full disclosure: it is. But if you want clients to find your website, it’s not something you can ignore. SEO is a broad church. Familiarising yourself with different types of SEO offers a clearer idea of how it works.
Here’s what we’re covering:
1. Content SEO.
As types of SEO go, this baby is BIG. When I’m not thinking of Michael Fassbender, content SEO is often on my mind because it was my first SEO love. Aw, bless.
Content refers to anything you dump on your website: sales pages, landing pages, blogs, infographics, images, Michael Fassbender GIFs—all that stuff is content, and all that stuff needs optimising.
👉 >>What’s SEO content writing? 6 things to know<<
2. On-page SEO.
Most optimisation happens on your website. You’re optimising content, site architecture—a site’s organisational structure—and all the guff that goes with it: URL structure, meta titles (page snippets), and page formatting are a few examples of what you tinker with in terms of on-page SEO.
3. Off-page SEO.
When you promote your website on social media, for example, you’re doing off-page SEO. Sharing links on the socials drives traffic back to your online yard. We build backlinks for the same reason. Backlinks, AKA referred links, are high-traffic (non-spammy) links from reputable, quality websites that refer traffic to your website. Nice.
4. Technical SEO.
SEO is pretty nerdy. Technical SEO is really nerdy. Technical SEO involves rummaging around a website’s back end and fiddling with code. For example, your website might have legacy features which cause ‘code bloat’. If you’ve ever been bloated, you know it makes you feel sluggish; well, it’s no different for websites. Unused, outdated code slows websites down, and a slow website impacts user experience.
5. Local SEO.
If your business relies on physical trade, local SEO is going to be pretty vital. You can’t get a haircut remotely (not yet anyway), so a barber shop needs to understand how to pull in potential customers geographically. These kinds of businesses depend on regional trade, so maximising traffic potential with local SEO is essential.
This is by no means a definitive list, and the examples ain’t exhaustive. Also, the lines blur between SEO subsets. Imagine SEO as an orchestra, each section playing in unison to reach your traffic goals.
Article first published, 22nd May 2024.
Does your website traffic suck?
Book a >>FREE website audit<<