SEO, also known as Search Engine Optimization, is the process of optimising web pages in order to increase their search engine rankings for organic search.

Google is the world’s largest and most sophisticated search engine, analysing and indexing hundreds of web pages every minute.

Google evaluates ‘keyword density’ and ‘backlinks’ when determining the relevance and authority of a web page.

Based on these computations, pages are ranked, and the search results are displayed in this order.

Sounds reasonable, right?

Well, there’s a bit more to it as  Google’s smart programmers utilise top-secret algorithms to determine the success of your search.

This algorithm is totally proprietary and varies based on current trends, seasons, and search regions.

No firm in the world has access to this complex algorithm, however we’ve worked in the industry long enough to be able to extrapolate long term trends from this constantly evolving algorithmic shifts.

An SEO agency is responsible for helping a website rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).

They do this by optimizing the website content, structure, and code for search engine algorithms.

SEO agencies also work with off-site factors such as link building and social media engagement.

Local SEO is a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy that helps your business appear more prominently in Google’s local search results.

Local SEO can assist any firm that has a physical location or serves a geographic area.

To understand local SEO, though, you must first understand how Google works.

How have search engines evolved?

Because there were few websites in the early days of the internet, surfing the web used to be simple. However, as the internet grew in popularity, search engines were developed to help people discover the sites they were looking for more easily.

When you typed a term into a search engine, it was matched to webpages that included the keywords in your search phrase. Google took a similar approach, but it swiftly surpassed the competition when it became the first search engine to use links between websites to determine which websites were reputable and had authority.

Google now considers hundreds of indicators, both on and off your website, to evaluate whether it is relevant enough to display as a search result. Your “digital footprint” is made up of factors, each with a different weight or value that the search engine uses to provide results. Your digital footprint influences whether or not you appear as a top result in a Google search.

So, how exactly does Google work?

When you enter a search term into Google, it examines the pattern of several website signals, or ranking factors, such as how relevant your site is, to provide a list of pages that match your query.

Most people are unaware that Google does not perform a live search of the entire internet every time they type something into the search bar. It’s actually examining a cached duplicate of all the sites discovered by Google. This replica is known as the Google Index.

Google crawls the web with little programmes known as “spiders” to create the index. Each spider operates in the same manner: it begins on a single page, then follows the links on that page, then looks at information on subsequent pages, and so on.

The index is produced as web information is crawled and stored on Google’s servers. The spiders operate on a massive scale, crawling trillions of pages at breakneck speed. This keeps the index as current as possible, and new sites and connections are discovered quickly.

How does Google rank search results?

Google ranks hundreds or thousands of websites instantly using a variety of techniques. These operations are referred to as algorithms. When a user searches for something on Google, an algorithm scans the index and displays a list of pages that are relevant to their search in organic results. Based on the relevance, importance, and popularity provided by inbound links, those results are selected and ranked.

The algorithm examines a number of both on- and off-site variables to decide whether websites provide content pertinent to your search. The list is expanded to include all pertinent websites, and it is then ordered by prominence. The algorithm chooses which websites best respond to your search query, once more referring to the many on-site and off-site parameters, and those websites are presented at the top of the search results.

Enhancing your SEO affects your website’s relevance, prominence, and link popularity aspects. If the appropriate digital footprint components are optimised, your site will appear higher in more search results.

Local SEO is different

What about organic results for local searches? After examining the behaviour of users throughout trillions of searches, Google determined that customers searching for specific sorts of companies require local results. Google’s local search algorithm contains a proximity component, which is a fancy way of saying that when you search for a local phrase, Google considers your location (a query with local intent). This occurs even if the searcher does not mention a city name or the phrase “near me.”

If you’re at work and want a pizza delivered for lunch, for example, Googling “pizza delivery” will return a list of nearby establishments in its local SERPS (search engine result pages).

If you conduct the same search at home, though, you will obtain entirely different results. This makes logical, given that you require pizza delivered from a local location.

Local search has existed for many years, but it was limited due to the fact that individuals exclusively used desktop computers. With the recent increase in mobile internet connectivity, however, mobile search has increased, making local SEO crucial for the success of any business selling local products or services as well as local marketers.

What’s important about local SEO?

What does this imply for search engine marketers? While the local map pack is featured within the usual Google organic search results, the primary Google search results for local rankings and the local map pack results are powered by independent algorithms. As a local business, you have the opportunity to simultaneously appear in the primary organic search results and the local map pack.

If you’re new to online marketing for your business, one of the greatest problems is determining what you should prioritise to maximise the effectiveness of your efforts.

Moz, a provider of marketing analytics tools, publishes its annual Local Search Ranking Factors survey, which covers the top 35 to 40 local SEO specialists worldwide. Its results provide the most comprehensive understanding of the elements that determine local search visibility.

Localized content and local link popularity are factors, just as they are in Google’s traditional search algorithm, so it’s important to build local landing pages for each of your locations – especially if you have multiple locations – where you should include not only your business name but also its details such as address and phone number as well as optimise their titles tags, meta descriptions, and adhere to SEO best practise. This should also be factored into your content marketing and link development strategies.

In addition, location-based factors such as having a business listing in Google My Business, local citations from data aggregators, and review signals – which should be published by your local customers – are also factored into your local SEO rankings, and as a result, you should also take them into account in your local SEO efforts.

It’s also important to note that there are local search-focused SEO tools that can help you develop local oriented SEO audits, including local keyword research, building citations, managing your Google My Business listings, business profile, and Google posts, and monitoring your inclusion in local packs.

As in Google’s traditional search algorithm, website content is a significant consideration, but location-based variables such as Google My Business, citations, and review signals are also incorporated.

International SEO is the process of optimising your website so that search engines can readily recognise the nations and languages you wish to target.

The best way to increase the credibility of your website is to get other credible websites in your field to link to it.

Google thinks that the most important sign that your website is trustable is when other websites link back to it. Google looks at how many backlinks you have and how credible the websites that link to you are.

Think about quality over quantity. One link from the New York Times will help your website’s rankings much more than 50 links from brand-new blogs (more on some of our favourite link building techniques here).

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of improving the ranking of a website on search engines. The higher the ranking, the more likely people are to find the website.

There’s no easy answer to how long SEO will take to show results. The time frame depends on a number of factors, including the competitiveness of your industry, the quality of your content, and the strength of your backlink profile. Generally speaking, though, it will take at least several months to start seeing results from SEO.

SEO can sometimes take a long time to produce results, particularly if the website is new and doesn’t have any existing ranking. Whilst most websites see some improvement within a few months of starting SEO. For highly competitive keywords, it can take 6-12 months to see significant results.