To be very specific, SEO’s Tower of Strength lies primarily on three of its underpinnings – Content, Links and Social Media. While it was comparatively easier to accomplish most of these during pre-2013 days, the issue has become much more critical after promulgation of Google Penguin updates (as of 2013). Success in SEO today hangs precariously on businesses tuning together an integrated web of outstanding content, reality links and credible social signals. Mind you, each of these should not only stand individually on its own legs but also collectively support each other, thereby creating something that satisfies the viewer while at the same time establish your authority and brand value on the World Wide Web.

Number One is no doubt “Content”

The first underpinning on which SEO stands firmly is the content and structure. Starting from the very method you apply to build your site to how you optimize your content, you need to take into account the following key aspects which will ensure your success. A practical on-site SEO plan must include keyword research, content optimization, user experience, site design as also the use of a blog with useful content which must be updated as often as possible. Let’s, however, take a closer look at each of these noteworthy components.

• Keyword research, incidentally, is not as difficult as say, rocket science research. The concept, by the way, is quite simple. The only knowledge that you need to acquire is about your niche market. In other words, you must know for whom you are trying to sell your product or services online. For instance, if you are trying to sell rare books, your keywords may include ‘Books for erudite scholars’ or ‘Books for PhD students”, etc. On the other hand, if you are selling pre-owned automobiles, your keyword could be ‘Cars for everyday use’ or ‘Cozy Convertibles’, etc. However, you can take the help of Google’s Keyword Tool to solve the problem easily and well.

• Content Optimization isn’t difficult either, especially since you have already got your keywords. But hold your horses for a minute. This does not mean that you go on stuffing your keywords whenever you find a gap. Nor should you follow the repeated formula that tells you that “Keywords should appear X times per 500 words OR at certain percentages. No, that wouldn’t do. Use discretion. Read it aloud and see if the flow breaks wherever a given keyword appears in the content. However, do not forget to include your primary keyword in the Title and meta tags of your article. Also remember that each page of your site mirrors an isolated piece of content that can be optimized for sundry specific phrases and conversion goals.

User experience is equally important

To gain better ranking as also to have satisfactory SEO effect, it is indeed necessary to know whether the people who visit your site can do what they want quickly and efficiently. In other words, when they wish to make a purchase or are looking for specific information, can they do it smoothly? If the answer is not in the affirmative, you can never hope to go high up in your ranking.

However, this is no jig-saw puzzle at all! In fact, you can easily figure it out by taking a look at your bouncer rate on Google Analytics, to be sure. A bounce, incidentally, is indicative of a visitor who leaves your site in a jiffy, just after touching a page. High percentage of visitors bouncing back from your site strongly indicates that either the site carries irrelevant matter or has poor navigational issues.

Site design can make a lot of difference

For instance, a spammy-looking site, more often than not, proves real spammy. When you are trying to build an authentic site but are working on a devious or outdated design, you don’t expect a good result either in terms of ranking or in terms of conversions. However, the easiest way of coming out of that trap will be upgrading it to a simple website on WordPress. It surely is an easy to use content management system with a large number of outstanding designs (known as templates) that are available for free. Premium templates (designs), however, may cost something but they may be customized to suit your purpose.

Blogs that are regularly Updated

Google’s Freshness Update indicates that there is a ranking premium for sites that are getting new content on a regular basis. One of the easiest ways of achieving this is by way of adding a blog.  By regularly adding articles that are valuable for your readers – from timely pieces that comment on trends and news to evergreen pieces like how-to’s or product reviews – you’ll build your authority and improve your search rankings.

Back Links that gives Value in terms of Traffic

Links still give Google significant signals that some other site or viewer has found valuable material on your web page which is relevant enough for him to link to it. However in terms of Internet users, back licks are the great source of traffic too. Obviously, the more number of links you get, the more valuable your content becomes in the eyes of the search engines.  However, Google has now put some restrictions about link building, in a sense that it encourages good, relevant links while discouraging irrelevant useless links.

Social Media

It is no wonder that even now, many believe that social media would herald the death of SEO. However, in realty, social media has amplified and transformed the way that people think about SEO, sans making the discipline itself go away. What is more, now social signals are having an unswerving impact on the way sites are ranking in the SERPs.