What is SEO? A Comprehensive SEO Guide 2024

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. The goal of SEO optimization is to optimize the content and technical aspects of your website so that it enhances visibility in organic search results and ranks for valuable keywords.

SEO is one of the main areas in which marketers are investing this year. In fact, Google had a WorldWide market share of 83.49% for desktop searches. Additionally, HubSpot data finds that 32% of marketers plan to leverage websites, blogs, and SEO as part of their overall marketing in 2024. 

There are a ton of ways to improve the SEO of your site pages. Search engines look for elements, including title tags, keywords, image tags, internal link structure, and backlinks, followed by structure and design, visitor behavior, and other external, off-site factors to determine how highly ranked your site should be in their SERPs. 

With all of these factors taken into account, we will show and explore the fundamental concepts of SEO, it is evolving trends, and best practices for maximizing your website's visibility. 

How Does SEO Work?

Search engines like Google follow three main steps to collect, organize, and display information in response to user queries, including crawling, indexing, and ranking. SEO enhances a website's visibility by making it more attractive to search engines and helps ensure that your site performs well in all three stages.

For example, having well-organized internal links allows crawlers to navigate your site more effectively, ensuring more content gets indexed. On the other hand, if you want to prevent certain pages from being crawled, you can block bots using a robot.txt file.

In addition, ranking algorithms take into account various factors, such as relevant keywords, the quality of backlinks, and content freshness. By creating SEO-friendly content that considers these factors, your website can significantly improve search result rankings.

What is SEO Strategy?

An SEO strategy is a detailed plan designed to increase website traffic through search engines. Successful and effective SEO includes on-page strategies that focus on using intent-driven keywords and off-page strategies that earn inbound links or as well-known as backlinks from other websites.

There are three core components of a strong SEO strategy—technical website setup, content, and links. So, let's go through them in turn.

1. On-page SEO

When you use a search engine, you're looking for content, isn't it? The content might come in different formats such as text, like a blog post or a web page, product recommendation, business listing, and video. This type will help improve rankings in organic search results, with a focus on both content and HTML elements.

By organizing content effectively, on-page SEO helps search engines better understand and index your pages for relevant search queries. The on-page SEO strategy includes content quality by using the E-A-T framework (Expertise Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness), keyword optimization, title tag, header tags, image alt text,and meta descriptions.

2. Off-page SEO

In contrast, off-page SEO refers to activities outside your website that influence its ranking on SERPs. It reflects how the public perceives your site and can enhance its authority. Important factors include link building, social media marketing, influencer outreach, and forums.

Although link building is the central aspect of this SEO strategy, every activity that takes place off a site is considered off-page SEO, and you shouldn't overlook it.

3. Technical SEO

Technical SEO focuses on optimizing the technical aspects to ensure it meets search engine requirements, including aspects like speed, mobile-friendliness, and site architecture.

The factors of technical SEO include page load speed, schema markup, internal linking, XML sitemaps, Accelerated Mobil Pages (AMP), and SSL certificate.

4. Local SEO

Last but not least, local SEO focuses on enhancing the visibility of local businesses in search engine results. It helps businesses connect with nearby audiences, increasing brand awareness and prompting products or services within the local community.

Google's local search results typically feature a map accompanied by three top listings, known as the "local pack." For instance, a search for "Restaurants in Seattle" will display three relevant businesses, along with a map snippet highlighting their locations, as priority results on the SERP.

SEO Trends for 2024

By following these important 2024 SEO trends, you can make sure your content meets both the quality and authority signals of Google. 

1. Increased Implementation of Search Generative Experience (SGE)

Search Generative Experience, or SGE is Google's latest innovation in presenting information based on specific queries supported by AI. By summarizing information from several authoritative websites, Google can respond to user requests with SGE.

Google announced that SGE has opened usage access in 120 countries, including Indonesia. However, given its recent implementation, you cannot plan precisely how to optimize Google's Search Generative Experience.

You need to improve the quality of the content produced to remain competitive in search engines. This is because the information SGE presents will still contain links to content or sources deemed relevant, dominating search results.

2. Content with In-Depth Research

In 2024, SEO-friendly article content that is thoroughly researched or directly validated by experts will have a higher potential to dominate SERP pages. You should start designing an SEO strategy with a focus on improving content quality to meet the E-E-A-T guidelines recommended by Google.

3. Voice Search

Optimizing for voice search means focusing on long-tail keywords and natural language processing. It continues to grow as smart devices become more popular in 2024. People tend to ask full questions in voice searches, so your content should be conversational and answer specific queries. 

4. Video Search

As we know, more people than before are consuming content in video format by using a variety of platforms such as YouTube and TikTok. The trend for search terms looks very steady. Creating video content can be a useful way to generate more interest in your website and business. So, it is the right time for you to take video content seriously and build the most popular video ever. 

5. User Experience

In 2024, user experience remains a major ranking factor. Google is prioritizing websites that offer a seamless and positive experience to users. Core Web Vitals—metrics that measure page load time, interactivity, and visual stability—are now part of Google's ranking algorithm.

To support this, you can simplify the navigation on the website, improve your page loading speed, break down lengthy content into paragraphs that are easier to read, and prioritize users who use mobile devices.

Conclusion

SEO in 2024 is more dynamic, with new technologies and trends reshaping how websites are ranked. By focusing on quality content, technical performance, and evolving SEO trends, you can improve your website's visibility and drive more traffic.

To face and actively participate by implementing search engine optimization based on these trends, then you need to partner with a powerful SEO plugin to boost your website performance in search engines.

So, make sure you find the right one!