The following content is taken from an email explanation I wrote to a client about SEO:
What is SEO and how does it work?
The purpose of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is to make your website appear in high positions on Google and other search engines. SEO can be divided into two main areas:
1. On-page optimization
- Adjusting content to match target keywords.
- Improving page loading speed (smaller image sizes, less JS).
- Mobile optimization.
- Adding META descriptions and image “alt” tags.
- Using a secure SSL certificate.
- Removing broken links.
- Uploading a sitemap to Google Search Console.
- Using only one H1 heading per page.
- Improving user experience (live chat, larger text, interactive elements).
- Individual pages (courses, services, etc.) rank for their own keywords separately.
2. Off-page SEO
- Listing your business on Google My Business, Trustpilot, and social platforms.
- Getting backlinks from other websites.
- Removing harmful backlinks from negative sources (18+, spam, gambling sites).
- Increasing social media activity and reviews.
- Keeping business information (name, address, phone number) consistent across all online platforms.
Ongoing tasks
- Publishing new content monthly (e.g., blog posts).
- Posting regularly on social media (using tools like Buffer/Hootsuite).
- Regularly checking for harmful or broken backlinks.
- Updating older articles and aligning them with new keywords.
Results
SEO increases website visibility and traffic.
Important note:
SEO is not an exact science. Nobody knows Google’s algorithm perfectly. What we do know is that relevant content and strong user experience are the most important ranking factors.
Short summary
The point of SEO is to configure your website so Google, Bing, and similar search engines prefer it.
When someone searches for a keyword, Google ranks results according to:
- How relevant your content is to the searched keyword(s).
- User experience:
- How long visitors stay
- How active they are on the page
- How many pages they visit
- How far they scroll and how much they interact
- Your website’s overall reputation:
- Google looks at how many places online contain your website’s URL.
- Backlinks from strong, reputable sites improve your credibility.
- Backlinks from bad sources (18+, gambling, spam) harm your reputation because Google sees it as “bad company.”
These three are the most important factors, but Google also checks:
- Whether the site is secure (SSL).
- Page speed (image formats, image size, too much JS).
- Mobile optimization.
- META descriptions.
- Image alt text (important for image search).
- Caching settings.
- Font sizes (at least 16–18px, ideally 24px for readability).
- Whether the site is indexed (Google’s bots must find and save your pages to Google’s directory).
- Existence of a privacy policy.
- Clean, logical URLs.
- Online reviews on Google, social media, Trustpilot, etc.
- Broken links.
Every page on your website ranks individually for differentKeywords.
For example:
“mysite.com/eng/communication-course” may rank #1 for “communication training Florida,” but not for “management training.” A different page might rank for that.
Key fact:
The first Google result gets 70–90% of all clicks.
SEO has two main parts
1. On-page optimization
- Targeting content toward specific keywords
- Improving loading speed
- Enhancing user experience
- Improving technical aspects of SEO
- Writing (useful) articles
- Installing an SSL certificate
2. Off-page activities
- Listing your business name, URL, address, etc. on directories, review platforms, and social media (Google Maps, Trustpilot, Yelp, Yellow Pages, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, etc.)
- Getting backlinks from other sites
- Removing backlinks from harmful sites
- Being active on social media and increasing followers and reviews (Google checks these for credibility)
Bonus:
Ads can help SEO only if visitors from the ads spend time on the site, browse actively, or return later.
SEO work process
- Keyword research
(Identify relevant keywords that can bring new customers.) - Competitor analysis
(Where they get backlinks and which keywords they target.) - Fixing broken links
- Checking for a sitemap
(A simple navigation map for Google’s bots.) - Submitting sitemap to Google Search Console
- Website technical improvements (SSL, theme settings, minifying JS, caching, etc.)
I also recommend adding live chat (e.g., Tidio – free). It improves user experience and helps manage messages across web + social media. Also: show your Google and other reviews on every important page. - Optimizing key pages
- Page speed
- Image descriptions
- Image sizes
- Video sizes
- Font sizes (16–24px recommended)
- Mobile optimization
- Only one H1 on each page
- META descriptions
- Better browsing experience (videos, interactivity, easier navigation)
- Registering / updating Google My Business and review platforms
(Trustpilot, Glassdoor, Good Firms, Yelp, etc.) - Registering / updating social media accounts
(Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Threads… etc) - Ensuring the “NAP” data is consistent
- Business Name
- Address
- Phone Number
(Google loves consistency)
- Listing your business on directories
(Name, phone, address, website, description, services, etc.)
Recommended monthly work
- Add your website link to more sites (guest posts, blogs, directories).
- Grow social media followers through consistent posts or ads.
- Tip: Turn each blog post or email into 3–4 social posts.
- Tools like Buffer/Hootsuite can auto-post everywhere.
- Check for negative backlinks monthly.
- Check for broken links monthly.
- Re-optimize all outdated pages (meta descriptions, images, videos, keyword focus).
- Write one new (useful) article each month.
- Respond to reviews on all platforms.
Bonus idea
Create a “resource page” with the best tips, techniques, and value-rich content. This boosts your authority, and Google rewards this with higher rankings.
Important:
SEO is not an exact science. Marketers can only make educated guesses about how Google ranks pages. Results cannot be guaranteed.
The techniques listed above are the most accepted and proven ones in the industry.
However, everyone agrees on two main ranking factors:
- How relevant your page is to the search query
- The quality of user experience on your site
Tips:
Lot of people don’t undertstand what is “valuable content”. It simply is data that is useful, interesting or relevant. If you are a car mechanic then “How to fix you engine” would be valuable. If you are an event organizer then “Previous events” would be interesting. If you are a software developer then “Know these common mistakes before you develope an app” would be useful.
If you are just starting out with a brand new business without any brand recognition, customer base or sales. Then the best thing you could do is spend a few hundred dollars on social media advertising to grow your follower count. Work on having highly detailed and transparent pages and descriptions. Register to every relevant sites and fill out your profile fully. Only then should you start advertising and SEO.
