Want is SEO and how it works?

Mary Helber-Jamboretz • October 12, 2019

Factors That Impact SEO

Want is SEO and how it works? We’ve made this simple SEO guide for you.

One of the biggest questions that we get from our clients here at HJ Design is – what is SEO and how does it work? For businesses that are just starting to build their website or going through a website redesign, search engine optimization or SEO can feel a bit intimidating.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Below, we’ll provide an answer to the million dollar question – what is SEO and how it works? We’ll also cover some of the basics of SEO so that you can better understand how it impacts your business and what you need to do to be in good shape.

If you’re here, you’re probably wondering what is SEO and how it works. Let’s dig deeper.

What is SEO and How It Works

SEO is an acronym that stands for search engine optimization, which is the process of optimizing your website to get organic, or un-paid, traffic from the search engine results page. In other words, SEO involves making certain changes to your website design and content that make your site more attractive to a search engine. You do this in hopes that the search engine will display your website as a top result on the search engine results page.

Though search engine optimization can get quite complex when it comes to all the different factors that impact your ranking, the basic process is not as difficult to understand. Search engines want to provide the best service for their users. This means delivering results on the search engine pages that are not only high quality but also relevant to what the searcher is looking for.

In order to do this, search engines will scan, or crawl, different websites to better understand what the site is about. This helps them deliver more relevant results to those who are searching for certain topics or keywords. Similarly, the search engines will scan the site to determine how easy it is to navigate and read, rewarding user-friendly sites with higher rankings on the search engine results page.

SEO is the process that organizations go through to help make sure that their site ranks high in the search engines for relevant keywords and phrases. For instance, let’s say that you have an article about how to build a birdhouse. In order to get your content in front of the right people, you want to try to optimize your this blog post so that it will show up as a top result for anyone who searches for the phrase “build a birdhouse.”

There are many benefits of SEO for your business. By improving your SEO, you can work to expand your visibility on the search engines. This helps you reach and engage more potential customers. By creating more engaging and effective SEO-focused content, you can increase your chances of bringing in more targeted organic traffic.

Factors That Impact SEO

Now that you know what is SEO and how it works, let’s take a look at some of the factors that can impact your search engine optimization ranking. Search engine giant, Google will never give away the exact algorithm they use to rank sites. However, we do have a pretty good understanding of some of the factors that impact search engine results page (SERP) rankings. These factors include both on-page and off-page factors, which we will discuss below.

Content Marketing

Before we dive into some of the factors of on and off-page SEO, let’s talk about content. Content is effective in both attracting the search engines and helping your organization make connections with site visitors.


The more quality, relevant content pieces that you have on your site, the more likely search engines will be to rank your pages higher on the search engine results page. Similarly, the more engaging and effective content you have on your site, the more likely your visitors will be to spend some quality time on your website and maybe even make a purchase.

The secret to creating content that is optimized for both the search engines and your human site visitors is to create a variety of different types of content pieces that are well-written and on topics that are most relevant to your audience. Here are just a few types of content that you can focus on to help improve your content offering and, thus, your search engine rankings:

  • Blog posts and articles
  • Social media content
  • E-books and whitepapers
  • How-To Guides and Tutorials
  • Videos and audio recordings
  • Infographics or other visual content

Another important thing to consider when creating content for your site is SEO keywords and phrases. These are relevant words and phrases that a search engine user might type in when looking for answers to their questions or relevant products and services. When you create content around these keywords and phrases, you improve your chances of ranking higher for these keywords on the search engine results page.

Yet another factor that can impact your content, and thus your search engine ranking, is how fresh your content is. Freshness basically refers to how often your organization posts new content to your site. However, creating brand new content is not the only way to keep your content fresh. You can also freshen up your content by updating posts, rewriting them to make them more effective, or adding new information and statistics over time.

Though creating content takes time and resources, it will more than pay off in the end. Search engines love great content and consumers need quality content to better understand the value your organization can provide. Start off by creating a few blog posts and work to build a following on social media. Once you have a group of loyal fans and followers, your organization can work to create different types of media to attract and engage new leads.

On-Page SEO

The on-page SEO factors are those elements that happen on your website. These are the things that you have complete control over, meaning that you can work to improve these factors over time by following best practices for SEO. This goes beyond just your content marketing to the deeper levels of your site’s HTML.


Here are just a few of the on-page SEO factors that can help you improve your search ranking:

  • Title Tag – The title tag on each page tells the search engines what your page is about. This should be 70 characters or less, including both the keyword your content focuses on and your business name.
  • Meta Description – The meta description on your website tells search engines a little bit more about what each page is about. This is also used by your human visitors to better understand what the page is about and if it’s relevant. This should include your keyword and also provide enough details to tell the reader what the content is about.
  • Sub-headings – Not only do sub-headings make your content easier for visitors to read, but it can also help improve your SEO. You can use H1, H2, and H3 tags to help search engines better understand what your content is about.
  • Internal Links – Building internal links, or hyperlinks to other content on your site, can help search engines learn more about your site. For example, if you are writing a post about the value of a specific product or service, you can link to the product or service page in your blog post.
  • Image Name and ALT Tags – If you are using images on your website or within your blog content, you will also want to include your keyword or phrase in the image name and alt tag. This will help search engines better index your images, which may appear when users perform an image search for a certain keyword or phrase.

When strategically placing your SEO keywords and phrases on your pages, it’s important to avoid over-optimization. Google and other search engines will penalize your page if it attempts to use keywords too many times throughout the content.

In addition, you want to make sure that each piece of content focuses on just one or two keywords. This helps ensure that your content is specific and relevant. Trying to tackle too many keywords at once may negatively impact your search engine optimization as it often makes for un-focused and thin content.

While site content plays a vital role in your search engine rankings, it’s also important to consider your site architecture. You want to use a website design that makes it easy for search engines to scan or crawl your pages and content. Building internal links between your pages and creating a site map can both help improve your site’s crawlability and give your search engines a better understanding of your content.

Yet another concern when it comes to your site’s architecture is whether or not your website is mobile-friendly. Many consumers are searching for information and brands on their mobile devices. You need to make sure that these users are able to view, read, and navigate your website from their mobile device. Not only does this impact the user experience, but it can also affect your SEO.

Off-Page SEO

In addition to the on-page SEO elements that your organization has control over, there are also off-page SEO factors that can impact your ranking. Though you do not have direct control over these off-page factors, there are ways that you can improve your chances of having these factors work out in your favor. (But more about that later!)

Here are a few of the different off-page SEO factors that can impact your search engine rankings:


  • Trust – Trust is becoming an increasingly important factor in a site’s Google ranking. This is how Google determines whether you have a legitimate site that visitors can trust. One of the best ways to improve trust is by building quality backlinks from sites that have authority.
  • Links – One of the most popular ways to build off-page SEO is through backlinks. You want to be careful here as spamming sites with your links is a quick and easy way to get your site banned from the search engines. Instead, take the time to build relationships with influencers and fans who create quality content and will link back to your site in their own content.
  • Social – Another important off-page SEO factor are social signals, such as likes and shares. When it comes to boosting SEO, you want to look for quality shares from influencers. The more quality content you publish, the more likely you will be to get people to share your content with others.

Though you do not have direct control over what happens outside of your organization, you can increase your chances of improving off-page SEO simply by creating quality content that others will find valuable. The more relevant and interesting your content is, the more likely others will be to link to your content and share it on social media. The more people trust your content, the more the search engines will as well.

February 11, 2021
Starting in February 2021, Googles phrase match will begin to incorporate behaviors of broad match modifier (BMM). With this change, both phrase and broad match modifier keywords will have the same matching behavior and may show ads on searches that include the meaning of your keyword. This also means that the new matching behavior will consider word order when relevant to the meaning. For example, the phrase match keyword “moving services NYC to Boston.” will continue to cover searches like “affordable moving services NYC to Boston.” It will also cover searches that traditionally only matched under broad match modifier, such as “NYC corporate moving services to Boston.” Phrase match won’t show ads for searches where the direction is reversed (for example, people looking to move from “Boston to New York City”). In July 2021, the creation of BMM keywords will no longer be available, but the same matching functionality will be available through phrase match. Existing BMM keywords will continue to serve using the new behavior. This change will become available to advertisers in the following languages first: English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, and Russian. For all other Google Ads languages, the new matching behavior will roll out later this year. Keep in mind: The changes to phrase match and BMM will not impact negative keyword match types. Below are more examples to illustrate how matching behavior will change after this update:
By Mary Helber-Jamboretz April 23, 2020
One of the main benefits of Local SEO (search engine optimization) is that it can help your business thrive, by funneling more and more visitors to your website. Google is used by just about everyone in the world, and so that means you can broaden your horizons and widen your potential customer base to include those in other states or even countries. But local SEO is different: it focuses on helping you reach the people in your area. Many businesses today have begun to focus their attention on local SEO. Now it’s no longer about ranking high in Google searches when people look for keywords associated in your niche. Now it’s about ranking high when people limit searches to particular locations, such as a particular city or state. And for many businesses today, growth can be encouraged with the right implementation of local SEO. We have generated many clients with focusing on San Jose Seo services. Here are some of its advantages: 1. Local SEO helps potential local customers know about your company. A lot of people today use the Internet in the same manner that people long ago used the Yellow Pages. They want to know the local businesses that can provide for their needs. By using proper local SEO solutions, you can then make sure that your potential customers will find out more about your business. Google can show them not just a link to your website, but also a map to your location and links to reviews of your company from previous customers. 2. You can boost your interaction with mobile Internet users. Mobile users use the Internet in a wide variety of ways, but two are becoming more common. The first way is to instantly provide information about a local business. So when someone on the road needs to find a restaurant or a local hardware store for supplies, then that need can be addressed right away. The other common way of using mobile Internet is to review and find discounts on particular items while the user is already out in shopping centers. For example, if a user finds a gadget in an electronics store which they may want to buy, they can go online and find reviews about the brand and the gadget before buying. They may also discover whether they can get the gadget cheaper when they buy it from another store. With local SEO , you can then present your business as a viable alternative even when shoppers are already in a competitor’s store. 3. You can save more money. If your business is limited to a particular area, then it doesn’t make sense in paying for advertising and marketing that reaches people in areas you don’t serve. For example, a law firm is usually limited to a particular city or state, because their license doesn’t allow them to practice in other states. In such case, focusing your SEO efforts in your state will ensure you can reach your target market and at the same time, save money on your SEO campaigns. Today, local SEO has become so successful that even businesses with a wide reach choose to focus on particular locations. If you own a small business, it makes perfect sense to focus on your market using the right local SEO strategies. We have combined local and national rankings to become the best seo company San Francisco . 
By Mary Helber-Jamboretz April 23, 2020
How Businesses Are Responding to Coronavirus The whole situation feels like something out of a movie about a dystopian future, but the good news is that patients with coronavirus have since recovered. Still, it is important for us to take precautions. One of the ways that businesses are combating the spread of coronavirus is through social distancing . In the event of an infectious outbreak, public health officials recommend reducing contact with others to minimize the spread of the disease. Businesses are following these recommendations by allowing employees to work from home. However, many businesses are already feeling the economic impact of the coronavirus and are now burdened with logistical issues of allowing employees to work remotely. The mismanagement of operations during this crucial time could severely impact businesses long-term. So how do companies protect their employees from spreading coronavirus while minimizing the impact social distancing will have on their business? Low-Cost Online Tools To Keep Your Business Moving While the coronavirus continues to run rampant across the globe, many businesses and organizations are facing the need to support remote employees. HJ design uses several digital tools to collaborate remotely with our customers. Based on our experience, we highly recommend you review the digital tools necessary when working remotely. Productivity Suites G Suite is an invaluable tool that equips your newly formed remote workforce with essentials such as video conferencing, email, spreadsheets, documents, and calendars. Collaborate on documents in real-time Your team can view, create, and edit documents, spreadsheets, presentations remotely. Emailing attachments is a thing of the past. Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides all enable employees to collaborate in real-time. Changes save automatically and previous versions of the document can be accessed easily. Store and Share Resources in the Cloud With Google Drive, team members will have easy and secure access to shared files. You can store just about every file type and share it with the full team or select employees. Coordinating with team members Google Calendar allows your team to stay organized. You can create multiple calendars to keep track of meetings, training, vacation, and more. Need to reach someone immediately? Google Hangouts is a great tool for sending text messages or hopping on a video call. If you prefer Microsoft products, Microsoft 365 offers a similar suite of productivity tools including Outlook, OneDrive, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, SharePoint, and Microsoft Teams. Work Planning and Management Teamwork can be used to manage our internal initiatives and client projects. Teamwork offers multiple time-saving, collaboration-enhancing features to make project management quicker and more efficient. All projects are composed of task lists, tasks, and sub-tasks allowing you to have a detailed plan of action. Milestones and calendars allow managers to see an overview of individual projects or multiple projects. Coworkers can collaborate on tasks through messaging and uploading files. Managers can make sure all projects run smoothly through time tracking, customizable dashboards, and risk management. There there are plenty of other excellent project management tools available on the market. Trello | Trello’s boards, lists, and cards enable you to organize and prioritize your projects in a fun, flexible, and rewarding way. Asana | Asana is the work management platform teams use to stay focused on the goals, projects, and daily tasks that grow business. Basecamp | Trusted by millions, Basecamp puts everything you need to get work done in one place. It’s the calm, organized way to manage projects, work with clients, and communicate company-wide. Team Communication and Collaboration If you can’t communicate with your team, getting work done is going to be impossible. Slack is the go-to choice for instant communication. Employees can easily follow and contribute to conversations. Creating channels allows conversations to be organized based on project, topic or team. Slack also has a deep inventory of app integrations to connect with other productivity tools like Google Drive, Asana, Trello, GitHub, Zoom, and much more. Best of all, Slack is easy to pick up and accessible via desktop and mobile devices. Here are a few other options to explore. Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Teams is a hub for teamwork in Office 365. Keep all your team’s chats, meetings, files, and apps together in one place. Google Hangouts Chat | Hangouts Chat makes it easy for teams to be able to get their work done in one place. Discord | All-in-one voice and text chat that’s free, secure, and works on both your desktop and phone. Workplace by Facebook | Empower and transform your whole business, with familiar features such as groups, chat and video calls. Skype | Easily generate your online meetings in three simple clicks. Meetings & Video Chat Some businesses may need more than just a simple messaging app. One of the most useful tools for increasing productivity of remote workers is tele and video conferencing. If video conferencing is a major aspect of your business, Zoom is a great solution. Zoom offers simplified video conferencing across any device. All meetings have end-to-end encryption and you can record your meetings locally or to the cloud. Additionally, Zoom integrates with other productivity apps to help you manage email communication and set up calendar events. The platform’s built-in collaboration tools allow multiple participants to share screens, create annotations, and more. If Zoom isn’t your cup of tea, here are a few alternatives. Google Meet | Connect with your team from anywhere. With easy-to-join video calls, you can meet face to face without the added cost of travel. Microsoft Teams | Invite everyone you work with to chat, meet, call, and collaborate all in one place, no matter where you are. WebEx | Work remotely or from home. Stay connected. Unlimited usage on the most secure collaboration platform. Customer Support Most of what we have discussed have centered on internal communication. What about communicating with customers? With the coronavirus outbreak in full swing, communicating with your customers is more important than ever. Business software like Intercom allows you to connect with people on your website. Your customer support team can work together to respond to customers and address their inquiries. If you utilize Intercom’s smart automation features, you can streamline and personalize most of your messaging so you can focus on the unique issues your customers are facing. If you have a large customer base, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software can be crucial to managing and responding to customers. The benefit of a CRM is that it includes a suite of features that go beyond live chat. For example, Zendesk Support puts all your customer interactions in one place to create a seamless experience. Communicate with clients and maintain an organized history of your interactions. While live chat will mainly focus on website interactions, a CRM can connect with customers through websites, emails, and SMS/Text messages. If you aren’t looking for more sophisticated software, you can use your social media channels to broadcast announcements and answer customer questions. Facebook business pages have business-focused features that can be incredibly useful for communicating with customers. Recently, Facebook released a new resources hub to support small businesses during the outbreak. Twitter can be another great customer support platform. Many businesses already use Twitter to broadcast messages, even before the outbreak. Some large businesses even have Twitter handles that are dedicated to providing customer support. LiveChat | LiveChat is a 360° customer service platform that automates your work and fuels your sales. PureChat | The easiest & fastest way to add live chat to your website. Free. Olark | Olark’s live chat software and customer data tools help you learn from every online interaction. ZoHo CRM | Zoho CRM empowers a global network of businesses to convert more leads, engage with customers, and grow their revenue. Keap (formerly InfusionSoft) | Get better organized, be more efficient with your time, and delight your clients every step of the way. Making The Most Out Of Remote Work Adopting a tool won’t guarantee success. Business managers will need to consider other factors to maintain morale and productivity. Transparency For remote work to work, you need to be transparent with your team. Employees must be proactive in discussing and sharing their work. Managers must communicate clearly and frequently. Setting up daily standups via a video conference can be a great way to get everyone up to speed. Establish check-ins throughout the day so that all employees are held accountable for sharing their progress, successes, and setbacks. Trust Not being able to see an employee typing away in their cubicle can be stressful for some managers. With remote work, teams need to build a strong sense of trust among each other. Employees should be responsible and earn trust over time. Managers should focus on trusting their employees to get the work done and do their best not to micromanage. Many of the productivity tools we’ve listed keep records of interactions, updates, and progress. Use these to oversee employees and guide them through the project. Time Management Working from home can present some challenges for employees. There are so many distractions at home. Chances are their kids will not be attending school. It is difficult to deflect household duties. In some cases, employees may overwork just to prove they are working. Employees and managers will need to take advantage of the flexibility of remote work. Decide on optimal hours for the team to sync up. Commit to strict deadlines to show reliability and dependency. Employees should focus on self care and be mindful to take breaks throughout the day. Ultimately, business leaders will want to make this transition as comfortable as possible. This is incredibly important if this is the first time the business is being forced to work remotely. Success now will mold expectations for the future. What This Means For Your Business Future It should be said that these productivity tools will not solve every problem you come across. Many businesses rely on in-person interactions to manage their business and will struggle to adapt regardless of the tools available to them. Some businesses have adopted a few tools, but have not considered how these tools integrate with overall business goals. Still other businesses have crucial operations that can’t be resolved with a productivity tool. The coronavirus is forcing many businesses to rethink how work is organized. While these productivity tools will help in the short-term, it is important to consider the unknown. What if this temporary inconvenience becomes a several month or year long process? What if other circumstances arise that require the team to collaborate remotely? Businesses need to be prepared. The reality is that a few SaaS tools isn’t ever going to be a long-term solution. Business leaders should be considering how each aspect of their company will function should something like the coronavirus outbreak happen again. A messaging app isn’t going to solve critical supply chain delays. Google Hangouts isn’t going to allow medical staff to treat patients without being exposed to a pathogen. Powerpoint will not be a viable solution for forecasting business trends or overseeing business performance. The future of business will rely on the innovative technology that helps support it. If we don’t take strides to prepare, the glimpses of social and economic ruin we are witnessing today could be far more severe in the future.
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