SEO Evolution: A Complete Holistic SEO Guide
The world continues to change constantly. Today’s digital era has led us to witness impressive changes, from AI to more advanced creations.
SEO is not an exception. SEO experts know the practice is no longer what it was, and doing SEO work with previous tactics isn’t as fruitful anymore. Search engines now take several factors into account when creating their SERPs.
Holistic SEO has come to stay, as it proves to be an effective way to improve a website’s ranking. Stay tuned as we go through a brief walk to the past learn what today entails for SEO work, and show you how you can use Holistic SEO for your websites.
A Brief Introduction To the SEO World
SEO officially began in the 90s, 1997, to be specific. Website owners ranked on the most popular search engine at the time, Yahoo!, by the content their sites had.
This factor in itself represents one of the main changes we face today. Creating quality content is essential now and it was important back then, but the current SEO techniques are far more extensive than they were.
SEO’s Game-Changer: Google Joins the Story
We get to 1998 when the world’s most popular search engine joins the game: Google.
This search engine was a game-changer, as it didn’t just use content to create its rankings. Factors like backlinks became an essential part of SEO practices. When another website links to yours, Google determines your website is trustworthy, and that helps you rank higher.
And as Google changed how we conduct our web searches, it also changed our SEO tactics.
Search Engine Optimization: What the SEO Process Looks Like
When you have a website, you want it to be visible around the web, and you especially want it to rank as high as possible on search engines. Optimizing websites is essential to make this happen, and to perform this optimization, include quality content and backlinks.
Quality Content in SEO
It’s no secret that content is a fundamental factor for SEO. But just writing content with no clear path is not the ideal strategy. Your content must be valuable, and it must meet the needs of your potential visitors. Search engines use their web crawlers to understand your content and send the most fitted users to your page.
If you aren’t creating valuable, useful content, then chances are you are allowing your competitors to get more visitors. And if you don’t get visitors, it will be almost impossible to meet conversion goals, for example.
Backlinks in SEO
Among the many SEO practices to boost your website’s rankings, backlinks are one of the most crucial items you must cover.
These links, also known as inbound links, help Google understand the authority your website has, which in turn helps your website be more visible. If you do research, you will find that websites with a considerable amount of valuable links rank higher on SERPs.
However, these two factors aren’t all it takes. Traditional SEO practices, which englobe the primary use of backlinks and content, are no longer all search engines take into account when doing their work.
Nowadays, holistic SEO is the strategy most SEO experts utilize. The world of digital marketing and the Internet continues to change, and SEO has adapted to these transformations. For example, mobile phones are now part of our every day, and digital marketing has adapted to this phenomenon. SEO, too, has strategies that adapt to mobile phones (you’ll read more about this in a few minutes).
What Is Holistic SEO?
Holistic SEO is a strategy in which you must cover every touchpoint SEO requires. Its main goal is to provide a valuable user experience, and not just content stuffed with keywords and links. You must ensure your potential visitors find a page that is up to their standards, and that requires you to pay attention to everything search engines consider for their rankings.
It is then that semantic SEO joins the game, too. Search engines keep improving to understand their users better, and semantic search carries this task. Some elements of semantic SEO are keywords. Keywords and rankings have a direct relation, as these are essential parts of what makes search engine crawlers understand what your content is about.
How to Approach the Holistic Method
Having a holistic approach to SEO is not a challenge, but rather a task you must deep dive into to get the most out of it. For starters, understanding that holistic SEO isn’t just content and inbound links will make it easier for you to develop a holistic SEO mindset. Next, getting acquainted with the new SEO improvements will take your search engine optimization to the next level.
Additionally, understanding the role SEO plays in different settings is crucial to implementing this SEO strategy. You must know that while SEO isn’t part of every Internet experience, it is tied to essential parts of the Internet, such as social media and website development.
Social Media and SEO: What Your Profiles Do for SEO Rankings
First things first: Google has stated that social media profiles and their elements, such as followers, are not part of their SERPs.
However, that does not mean you shouldn’t include your social media channels in your strategy. You can use your profiles to share your blog posts, for example. Furthermore, you can use keywords when writing copies and other texts for your social media accounts.
SEO and Website Development
You know what keywords, inbound links, and quality content do for your website’s rankings. But there are other aspects of SEO you have to consider.
When you optimize a website, you must consider factors like website speed, accessibility, mobile design, and more.
Crucial Elements of Holistic SEO
You must keep social media and website development in mind, but how do you do this through a holistic approach to SEO? You must consider its crucial elements.
Quality Content
Content is not all it takes to make your website rank higher, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t play a crucial role anymore. Content is king in SEO, and that seems to be an unchangeable fact. Ensure you conduct constant keyword research, and that your content matches the search intent of potential visitors. Furthermore, use headings and subheadings for your posts, high-quality images, and any other content factor that can help your website get more visitors and consequently rank higher.
Technical SEO
Here’s where coding will be your right hand. Your website must be crawlable, indexable, and navigable. And as we saw above, you must also ensure your website loads quickly, and effectively. It has to be mobile-friendly and it must be optimized for accessibility tools like screen readers and magnifiers.
On-Page SEO
It is now that you must cover important aspects like your website’s pages. You must make sure each one has a specific purpose. Make use of meta titles and descriptions, relevant and appropriate internal links, and a functional URL structure.
Off-Page SEO
Off-page SEO includes working on anything that refers to your webpage outside of it. For example, review optimization, social media listening, and any other factor that helps you increase your webpage’s authority.
User Experience
It is here that all the hard work you did before shows, as this is the element in which your site is directly visited by users.
Page speed, website design, and visuals are some elements potential visitors take into account besides the main search factor: content.
The Importance of Holistic SEO
Adopting a Holistic SEO approach for your website is important, since it allows you to work alongside the search engine’s main goal: providing the best results possible.
Search engine algorithms are complex, but optimizing your website through a holistic SEO lens will help it rank better. And, while the ultimate goal is to boost your SEO results, this approach will help you provide a high-quality experience to your web page’s visitors, and this leads to an increase in your brand’s reputation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Are the 3 Cs of SEO?
The three Cs of SEO are content, code, and credibility. These three factors are the ones that make your website visible to search engines, as these include keywords, UTM tracking codes, inbound links, meta titles and descriptions, and more.
What Does SEO Do for Your Brand?
SEO is an excellent way of gaining visibility for your brand. And this action results in boosting your profits. Furthermore, if you work on local SEO for your brand, it will redirect potential clients around your area, therefore it will help your business gain recognition in your city.
What Is a Holistic Content Strategy?
A holistic content strategy means considering all factors when you create content. This includes using headings and subheadings, alt text in all your images, and creating content that reaches your target audience.
Conclusion
Holistic SEO is a fundamental part of today’s SEO strategies. When you want to improve your search engine ranking, expanding your SEO approach will help you.
Accelerate Marketing provides Local SEO services that can help you take your SEO efforts to the next level. Contact us to get more information to elevate your business. Thank you for reading!
