What is SEO and how does it work?

SEO, short for search engine optimisation, is about ranking your website as high as possible in Google. The higher you rank, the more people click on your website. For example, if you're a plumber in Leeds, you want to be at the top when someone searches for "emergency plumber Leeds".

It's best to start with SEO when you create a website, since the effects accumulate over time.

Why does SEO matter for your business?

People who search on Google are usually already looking for what you sell. If your website shows up for those searches, you get visitors who are ready to buy or get in touch.

This is different from search engine advertising (SEA). Ads appear above the normal search results, you pay for every click, and they work straight away, but only as long as you keep paying. SEO is about the normal search results below them, also called organic results. You don't pay when someone clicks through to your website from there. SEO takes longer to work, but doesn't need to cost money, and can therefore be a valuable channel.

How does SEO work?

SEO works by improving your website on the things Google looks at when it decides which pages to show first. These are called ranking factors. Google uses many of them, but the most important are:

• Relevance: how well a page matches what someone searches for.
• Quality: how useful, reliable and up to date the content is.
• Usability: how quickly the page loads and how well it works for visitors, also on a phone.
• Trust: whether other websites link to your page and mention your business.

For example, two plumbers in Leeds both have a page about boiler repairs. The first page explains which boilers they repair, what it costs and how quickly they can come out. It loads fast on a phone, and a local business directory links to it. The second page only says "we repair boilers". Google is much more likely to show the first one.

Before Google can rank a page, it has to find it and add it to Google's index. Google discovers pages by following links (crawling) and then decides whether to store them in its index (indexing). Not all pages get indexed. Google might not index pages it can't reach, sees as duplicates or doesn't consider useful enough. A big part of SEO is making sure that Google can find your pages and sees them as worth indexing.

To get indexed and rank higher, you work on three things: the content of your pages, the technical side of your website, and what other websites say about yours. These are the three pillars of SEO: on-page, technical and off-page.

The three pillars of SEO

On-page SEO

On-page SEO is about the content of your pages. It covers things like:

• Keywords: use the words people type into Google when they look for what you offer. Use them in the title, the main heading and the text, while keeping the text readable. Keyword research helps you find the right keywords.
• Content: write content that your visitors want to read and that answers the search clearly and completely.
• Title and description: write a clear title tag and meta description, which are the texts that Google shows in the search results.
• Headings: structure your page with clear, hierarchical headings, so visitors and Google see what each part of the page is about.
• Internal links: link to related pages on your own site. These internal links help visitors and Google find more of your content.
• Images and videos: add images and videos that make your page easier to understand. They can also show up in Google's image and video results. Give each image a short description, called alt text.

Trust counts too. Google favours pages that show real experience and expertise. An About us page, your own photos, real examples from your work, and contact details all help.

Technical SEO

Technical SEO makes sure Google can find, read and index your website, and that visitors can use it easily. It covers, for example:

• Mobile-friendly: make sure your site works well on a phone.
• Speed: make sure your pages load quickly and pass Core Web Vitals.
• HTTPS: use a secure connection for your whole site.
• Crawling and indexing: make sure Google can find and index your important pages. A sitemap lists your pages for Google. Check that your robots.txt file doesn't block them, and that they don't have a noindex tag, which keeps a page out of Google's results.
• Duplicate and translated pages: tell Google which version of a page is the main one with a canonical tag, and which language or country a page is for with hreflang.
• Moved pages: use a 301 redirect to send visitors and Google to a page's new address.

You don't have to set all of this up by hand. A good website builder or a well-set-up WordPress website takes care of some of these things.

Off-page SEO

Off-page SEO happens on other websites. The biggest part is backlinks, which are links from other sites to yours. A link from a relevant, trusted site tells Google your page is worth showing. A few links from reputable sites are often worth more than a lot of links from spammy and unrelated websites.

How to start with SEO

You don't have to do everything at once. Start with these steps:

1. Set up Google Search Console. Google Search Console is a free tool from Google that shows how your website does in search. Add your website and submit your sitemap there.
2. Make sure your pages can be indexed. In Search Console, check which of your pages are in Google's index. If an important page is missing, check that it isn't blocked by a noindex tag or your robots.txt file, and that other pages on your site link to it.
3. Identify relevant keywords and search queries. Find out what your customers type into Google when they need what you offer, from your service and your town to the questions they ask.
4. Create pages that match those searches. Group searches that mean the same thing, and give each group one page that answers them. Use the on-page basics above. Our guide shows how to write content for search, and if you sell online, the ecommerce SEO guide covers product and category pages.
5. Check the technical basics. Open your site on your phone, and check that pages load quickly and that your address starts with https. If pages are slow, here's how to speed up your website.
6. Get listed locally. If you serve customers in your area, set up a Google Business Profile. There's more on this below.
7. Earn links from other websites. Websites link to you when you have something worth linking to: a useful guide, real news about your business, or a partnership with another local business. Listings in relevant directories and trade associations can also help.
8. Check your results every month. In Search Console, see which searches bring you visitors and which pages have problems. Then improve the pages that matter most.

Which SEO tools do you need?

To start, Google Search Console is enough. It's free and shows how your website does in search. PageSpeed Insights is also free and checks Core Web Vitals and how quickly your pages load. Google Trends, another free tool from Google, shows how interest in a search term changes over time and by region. Screaming Frog crawls your website the way Google does and finds problems like broken links and missing titles. Its free version checks up to 500 pages. Paid tools like Semrush and Ahrefs go much further, with keyword research, competitor data and ranking tracking, but they cost a monthly subscription.

If your website runs on WordPress, plugins take care of a lot of the basics. Rank Math helps you with various on-page SEO tasks. WP Rocket makes your pages load faster, which helps with Core Web Vitals.

AI tools like ChatGPT can help too, with keyword ideas and first drafts. Check and edit anything AI writes before you publish it. Here's how to use AI for SEO.

Local SEO: getting found by customers nearby

If your customers come from your area, local SEO helps you show up when people nearby search for what you do. It isn't a separate type of SEO, but the three types applied to local searches and Google Maps.

Google ranks local results mainly on three things: relevance (how well your business matches the search), distance (how close you are to the person searching) and prominence (how well known your business is, including its reviews). You can't pay for a better local ranking.

For a hair salon in Bristol that wants to show up when someone in Bristol searches for "hairdresser near me", that means:

• Claim and complete your Google Business Profile, with your opening hours, services and photos.
• Use the same business name, address and phone number on your website, your profile and any directories.
• Give each main service its own page, and mention the area you serve.
• Ask happy customers for a review, and reply to every one. Here are a few ways to get more customer reviews.

Our local SEO guide goes into more detail.

SEO and AI answers

For some searches, Google shows an AI-generated answer at the top, in AI Overviews or AI Mode, with links to the pages it used. Google's guidance on AI features says there are no extra requirements to appear there. Your page still needs to be indexed and show in the normal results.

AI assistants like ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity work in a similar way when they search the web. They find pages, read them and link to the ones they use. Optimising for these answers is sometimes called GEO (generative engine optimisation). It doesn't replace SEO. The work you do for SEO also helps with GEO, and the other way around. A page that's easy to find, clearly written and trusted works for both.

AI answers can mean fewer clicks for some searches, which makes it more important to be the page they link to. Read more about how to make your website visible in AI search.

Should you do SEO yourself or get help?

There are many things you can do yourself, like most of the steps above. But when you face a lot of competition or want to get even better results, it makes sense to get help from an expert.

They can also help you when you don't have time to work on SEO regularly, or have specific SEO problems. A good SEO expert usually starts by checking your whole website, then fixes technical problems, improves your content and helps you earn links.

Rather leave SEO to experts? Our SEO team does the work on your website for you.

Common questions about SEO

What is black hat SEO?

Black hat SEO means using tricks that break Google's policies, such as stuffing a page with keywords, buying links, hiding text or showing Google different content from what visitors see. A site that uses them can get a manual penalty from Google, drop in the rankings or disappear from Google completely. White hat SEO follows the rules, and grey hat sits in between. It's recommended to stick to white hat.

How long does SEO take?

Some changes show in Google within a few hours, others take several months. Give a change a few weeks before you judge whether it worked. For newer sites, it usually takes longer. Our article on how long SEO takes explains why.

How much does SEO cost?

If you do it yourself, it just costs time and not necessarily money. Google Search Console and Google Business Profile are free. Paid SEO tools usually charge a monthly fee, and so do most SEO specialists and agencies, depending on how much work your site needs.

Do meta keywords still matter?

No. Google doesn't use the keywords meta tag, so you can leave it out and spend the time on your title tag and meta description instead.

Is SEO the same as SEM?

No. SEM (search engine marketing) covers both SEO and paid search ads. Here's more on the difference between SEO, SEA and SEM.

Now you know how SEO works, start with step 1 and work through the list at your own pace. If you'd rather leave it to us, use our SEO services.