The Three Core Pillars of SEO

SEO is typically broken down into three main categories:

1. Technical SEO

This is about making your website fast, secure, and easy for search engines to understand and crawl. It's the foundation everything else is built on.

Key Factors: Website speed, mobile-friendliness, secure site (HTTPS), clean URL structure, a sitemap.xml file, no broken links, and proper site architecture.

2. On-Page SEO

This is the practice of optimizing individual web pages to rank higher. It focuses on both content and HTML source code.

Key Factors:

Content Quality: Creating high-quality, original, and relevant content that answers the user's search intent.

Keywords: Researching and using the words and phrases your audience is searching for (naturally, not forced).

Title Tags & Meta Descriptions: The HTML elements that define the clickable headline and description in the search results.

Heading Tags (H1, H2, H3): Using these to structure your content logically.

Image Optimization: Using descriptive file names and alt text for images.

Internal Linking: Linking to other relevant pages on your own site.

3. Off-Page SEO

This refers to actions taken outside of your own website to impact your rankings. The most important factor here is link building.

Key Factors:

Backlinks: Links from other reputable websites to yours. These are like votes of confidence. The more high-quality votes you have, the more authoritative Google sees your site.

Local Citations: For local businesses, having your Name, Address, and Phone Number (NAP) listed consistently on other directories (like Yelp or Google Business Profile) is crucial.

Social Signals: While not a direct ranking factor, content that is shared on social media can lead to more visibility and natural links.