What is holistic SEO? | SEO for beginners
In this video, we explain
what holistic SEO entails, and what you need to keep in mind
when you want to practice holistic SEO. We will also mention some
short-term SEO tricks that you should avoid because they might lower
your ranking in the long run. At Yoast, we believe that a long-term,
holistic SEO strategy is the way to go. This means that you look
at the bigger picture, with all its facets, rather than getting caught up
with one of its many elements. You could compare it to designing a house. When you design a house you want it
to look nice and to be comfortable to live in. But, you also have to think
about less obvious things, like plumbing. Having awesome plumbing won't improve
your living experience straight away, but it will in the long run. In short, we look at all of the things
that make a website awesome.
Your primary goal should be to build,
and maintain, the best possible website. Ranking in Google
will likely improve with time if your website is
of extremely high quality. After all, Google wants
to serve their customers. They have to show their users
the results they're looking for, because that's what users visit Google for. It's how Google makes money. So if your website is
the best option for their users, Google will want to rank it high. So, to be the best option permanently,
you need an extensive SEO strategy that focuses on every aspect
of your website and marketing. We're talking user experience,
your content, the technical side of SEO, everything needs to be awesome. So to keep ranking well, you should develop
– what we call – a holistic SEO approach.
But, where do you start? It's important to keep in mind that
you should focus mainly on your users and their experience of your website. Google wants to show their users
the best result, so focus on providing that. Remember, a holistic approach to SEO
means you focus on everything. You have to think about
proper keyword research, where you dive deep into what words
and queries your target audience uses and how you can use
that information to reach them. Good technical SEO, so that, for example,
visitors don't run into links that don't work, or have to wait ages for a page to load. A great user experience. Isn't it annoying when you have to scroll all the way down
a page to click an important button? Or when the webpage is cluttered
and unclear? Let's fix that. Writing quality content that is original and provides your site visitor
with an answer to their question.
Also a solid social media strategy, to help reach new audiences
and potential partnerships. Also mobile optimization, let's be real,
most people use their phone all the time. It's a wasted opportunity not to include mobile optimization
in your thought process. And what about security? HTTPS certification
and other security measures help to build trust
in your message and expertise. And don't forget accessibility, everyone deserves to be able
to easily access your content, whether they're visually impaired or unable to navigate your site
with a mouse, for example.
Don't worry…
But why would you go holistic? Well, awesome websites,
that have been optimized for all the aspects we mentioned earlier,
have a lower bounce rate, which is the rate at which people leave
the website without performing an action. People are less likely to stick around when they feel like the website
isn't giving them what they're looking for. If the website looks secure and safe, it shows information clearly,
and it's quick to navigate, there's a higher chance
people will stick around and browse.
Also, they have a much higher chance
of receiving social media attention. If nobody ever talks about your website, how can Google keep thinking
it's a good site? Last but not least, awesome websites
will also result in higher conversion rates. A 'conversion' happens every time a visitor
completes a desired action on your website, like buying a product. If your audience likes
and understands your website, the chance of them buying your products
or returning to your website is much higher. Now it's time to talk about which actions
could have a negative effect on your SEO. Because, holistic SEO is also
about avoiding short term tricks. Websites that use tricks like these exploit loopholes in the Google algorithm
to try to rank higher than they deserve. A few examples include keyword stuffing, where sites fill their pages
with keywords or numbers. These keywords often appear out
of context, for example in a list or group.
Sometimes they even use white text to hide
the fact that they are stuffing keywords. Also, there's link buying
or link trading. Some sites try to rank higher
by buying links. This includes paying for links, but also sending someone
a free product in exchange for a link. Finally, there's page swapping. Page swapping is a trick
for getting ranked for one page, and then, after the page has attained
a good position in the search results, replacing that page for another. Google has updated its algorithms
to deal with these tricks. With the updates, these results
were heavily penalized. Using similar tactics can get you banned
from Google for a long period of time. What we want you to do is create
a sustainable SEO strategy, which will not only have you rank today
but in the long run as well. The better Google's algorithm becomes,
the less effective short term tactics will be. So, let's look at our key takeaways: At Yoast, we believe that holistic SEO
is the best way to become the best result because you focus on making
every aspect of your site great.
We advise you to not do
any short-term tricks because, in the long run, this will have
negative consequences for your ranking. Instead, we recommend you
to practice sustainable SEO, where you keep the user's experience
on your site as a top priority. In the next video,
we'll explore holistic SEO further..
