SEO BASICS: What is SEO (search engine optimisation)?

What you’ll learn:

• What it is: Helping Google choose your page as the best answer.
• Why it matters: Brings the right people without paying for every click.
• How it works: Relevance (answer the question) and accessibility (make it easy to find).

What you won’t learn:

All the complicated stuff like strategies, implementation, meta, page-speed, search intent, technical SEO, topical authority, backlink building and any of the more advanced SEO techniques.

TL;DR

Asking yourself the question; what is SEO? Search engine optimisation is how you help Google (and other search engines) choose your online assets such as web pages over millions of alternatives. You do it by proving relevance (match search intent), quality and experience (useful, original, trustworthy), and accessibility (clear structure, fast, crawlable). Start small, make useful content and improve steadily.

What is SEO?

SEO is simple to say and trickier to do: help Google decide your page is the best answer for a real person, right now. You do that by producing genuinely helpful content and making it easy for Google to find it, understand it and show it. Clear language, clean structure, and a site that works well on a mobile phone. No magic wands, just good publishing and tidy plumbing.

Moment of clarity: If a stranger can land on your page and say “Ah, this answers my question” within a few seconds, you’re already doing SEO well.

Need a definition mid‑read? Open our SEO glossary in a new tab.

Why does SEO matter?

• People searching might start with a question. You win by answering it clearly.
• Organic traffic compounds. A strong page can send you visitors for months or years.
• SEO improves your whole website: clarity, speed, accessibility and trust.

Pro tip: Rankings are a vanity metric on their own. You can check your rankings with Free SEO tools. The goal is relevant traffic and meaningful actions such as calls, enquiries, sales and subscribers.

How search works (roughly)

Think of Google (and other search engines like Bing or Yahoo) as massive, constantly updated libraries. To make this happen three big jobs happen all day, every day.

Crawling: finding pages

Google follows links and uses your sitemaps to discover pages. If a page isn’t linked from anywhere important (or it’s blocked), it’s hard to find.

Learning SEO can be challenging with expertise often spanning decades.

Helpful actions:

• Link new pages from your main menus and relevant articles.
• Keep a clean XML sitemap.
• Avoid endless filter URLs that create near‑duplicates.

Indexing: understanding pages

Once found, Google tries to store and interpret each page. Clear titles and headings, descriptive links, alt text for images, and tidy HTML all help. If your page returns errors, hides content behind scripts, or duplicates another page, indexing can stall or fail.

Ranking: choosing the best answer

When someone searches, Google compares many web pages. It estimates which one is most relevant, useful, trustworthy, and pleasant to use on that device and connection. That’s why content quality, experience signals (expertise, sources, real examples), links, internal linking, and speed all matter.

Google guidelines: For an accessible starter overview of crawl → index → rank, read How Search Works (Google).

Example of SEO

You run a bakery in Newport. Someone searches for ‘best sourdough in Newport’.

Your website gets shown near the top of the results if:

• You have a page titled ‘Sourdough bread in Newport’.
• That explains your loaf, prices, hours, and pickup options.
• Local pages link to you (food bloggers, directories).
• Your website loads quickly on a phone.
• Google can crawl every part of that page easily.

The building blocks of SEO

Think of SEO as four areas working together. This isn’t homework, just the moving parts.

1. Research & intent: The language and purpose behind a search. Are they trying to learn, compare, buy, or visit nearby? Match that and you’re halfway there.
2. Content: The page itself. Clear, useful writing that answers the question and shows your experience. Original images or short clips help people ‘get it’ faster.
3. On‑page signals: Titles, headings, descriptive links and tidy URLs help readers (and Google) grasp what the page is about. Think labels on a well‑organised shelf.
4. Technical foundations: The plumbing. Fast pages, mobile‑friendly layouts, secure connections, and a structure Google can crawl. If the plumbing leaks, great content struggles to be seen.

Pro tip: When a page is easy for humans to scan, it’s usually easier for search engines to understand too.

Types of SEO

SEO can be broken down into a number of sub-sets. You don’t need to master them today; this just names the common types so anything you read later makes sense.

On‑page SEO

Everything on a single page: the words you use, the headings, the images and their alt text, the internal links, and the URL. It signals what the page is about and who it helps.

Technical SEO

Site plumbing that lets Google find, understand and show your pages: technical SEO, speed, mobile‑friendliness, sitemaps, robots.txt, canonicals, structured data, and clean navigation.

Off‑page SEO

Signals that live elsewhere: backlinks from other sites, press mentions, and general reputation. The safest way to earn these is to publish useful things and tell people about them. Avoid link schemes.

Local SEO

Showing up for searches with a place attached (e.g., ‘near me’, city names). Think Google Business Profile, consistent NAP name/address/phone, local pages, and local reviews.

Quality signals (often called E‑E‑A‑T)

A simple way to say ‘does this feel real and trustworthy?’ Show experience, cite sources, be transparent about who you are, and keep pages up to date. We won’t dive deep here; just know the idea exists.

Other types of SEO

• Ecommerce SEO: Product/category pages, reviews, and faceted navigation handled carefully.
• International SEO: Language and country targeting (e.g., hreflang) when you serve multiple regions/languages.

Google guidelines: Start with Search Essentials for the ground rules, then the SEO Starter Guide for beginner practices.

Types of platforms where SEO is used

SEO shows up anywhere a platform chooses what to show first. That can be Google Search, Maps, YouTube, Amazon, app stores, image feeds, news carousels and more. There are two ideas drive that choice:

• Relevance: Does it match the question?
• Accessibility: Can the system read and present it clearly?

Quick test: Look at any results list. Ask: why did these appear first? You’ll start seeing relevance and accessibility in action.

Websites (classic SEO)

Your own website is your home base. All the concepts on this page apply directly.

Google Business Profile (local)

Your free business listing that powers Maps and local packs. Clear categories, consistent NAP name/address/phone, good photos, and fresh updates help people choose you.

Video platforms (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.)

Titles, descriptions, chapters, and thumbnails help viewers (and search engines) understand your video. Upload transcripts or captions so the content is discoverable.

Image SEO (Google Images, Pinterest)

Descriptive file names, alt text, and sensible surrounding copy help images get found—useful for products, portfolios and how‑to content.

Marketplaces (Amazon, eBay, Etsy)

Each has its own search, but the ideas are familiar: clear titles, useful descriptions, structured attributes (size, colour, brand), strong images, and reviews that prove the product is real.

App stores (ASO)

App name, short description, long description and screenshots explain value; ratings/reviews influence visibility. Think ‘SEO for apps’.

News surfaces (Top stories, Google News)

Best for publishers, but the same principles apply: clear headlines, fast pages, and transparent bylines. Technical eligibility rules exist, but the content fundamentals don’t change.

Audio & podcasts

Good titles, episode notes, and transcripts help people (and search engines) find and understand episodes.

Pro tip: Whatever the platform, two questions win: Does this clearly answer a real question? and Can the system easily read and present it?

What SEO can and can’t do

• Can do: Help the right people find you, compound over time, reduce reliance on paid ads, and improve the overall quality of your site.
• Can’t do: Guarantee a position 1 spot, fix a weak product or slow service, or replace the need for clear messaging. SEO and PPC work well together. One builds durable visibility; the other provides instant testing and reach.

Pro tip: If a web page doesn’t help a human, no amount of ‘optimising’ will make it great in search. Basics click fast; bigger wins take time.

Keep it simple: people‑first basics

This guide explains what SEO is in a simple a manner as possible. It is not a to‑do list.

What good pages tend to share:

• Answer early. Say the answer in the first paragraph and stay on topic.
• Use the reader’s words. Avoid jargon unless your audience expects it.
• Make it scannable. Clear headings and short paragraphs help people move.
• Keep it real. Add a photo, screenshot or short example when it helps.
• Be transparent. Show contact details, prices or process, and a way to get in touch.

Being unmistakably you

The internet is full of look‑alike pages. Your voice, your photos, your take on things all help the right visitors choose you. Having a unique voice on the internet also means Google will be more likely to pay attention.

Google guidelines: Start with How Search Works and the SEO Starter Guide for beginner‑safe explanations.