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basic seo
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SEO

Basic SEO

January 31, 2026

Quick Answer

Basic SEO covers the fundamentals that help search engines understand and rank your site. This includes optimizing title tags and meta descriptions, using relevant keywords naturally, building quality backlinks, ensuring mobile-friendliness, improving page speed, and creating quality content. Proper basic SEO setup can increase organic traffic by 50-100% within six months.

Title Tags and Meta Descriptions

Your title tag appears in search results and browser tabs. It should include your target keyword and accurately describe the page. Keep it under 60 characters.

Your meta description is the snippet that appears under your title in search results. It should summarize the page and include a reason to click. Keep it under 160 characters.

Both directly impact click-through rates. Weak titles and descriptions lose clicks even if your page ranks well.

Keyword Research and Usage

Use relevant keywords naturally throughout your content. Don’t stuff keywords—write for people first, search engines second.

Target one main keyword per page. Include it in:

  • Page title
  • First paragraph
  • Headings
  • URL (if possible)
  • Meta description

Research keywords your audience actually searches for. Tools like Google Keyword Planner, Semrush, and Ahrefs show search volume and difficulty. Target keywords with decent search volume and realistic competition for your business size.

Content Quality

Search engines reward comprehensive, original content. Your content should:

  • Answer the user’s question completely
  • Be longer than thin competitor content (typically 1,500+ words for competitive topics)
  • Include real data, examples, and actionable information
  • Be up-to-date and accurate
  • Have clear structure with headings and short paragraphs
  • Thin content—pages with little substance—gets poor rankings. Depth and usefulness matter.

Mobile-Friendly Design

Over 60% of searches happen on mobile devices. Google ranks mobile versions of sites first.

Your site must:

  • Render properly on all screen sizes
  • Have clickable buttons and links sized for fingers
  • Load quickly on mobile networks
  • Have readable text without zooming
  • Not use intrusive pop-ups

Test your site on mobile devices. Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to check for issues.

Page Speed

Slow pages lose rankings and visitors. Google measures Core Web Vitals: loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability.

Improve speed by:

  • Compressing images
  • Minifying CSS and JavaScript
  • Using a content delivery network (CDN)
  • Enabling browser caching
  • Choosing quality hosting
  • Removing unnecessary plugins or code

Aim for pages that load in under 3 seconds. Use Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to identify specific problems.

URL Structure

Clear, descriptive URLs help both users and search engines understand page content.

Use:

  • Lowercase letters
  • Hyphens to separate words (not underscores)
  • Descriptive terms (/blog/seo-basics instead of /page123)
  • Short, clean URLs

Avoid:

  • Excessive parameters or numbers
  • Stop words (a, the, and)
  • Keyword stuffing

Internal Linking

Link to other relevant pages on your site. Internal links:

  • Help search engines discover content
  • Establish site structure and hierarchy
  • Distribute authority across pages
  • Keep visitors on your site longer
  • Use descriptive anchor text that describes the linked page. Avoid generic text like “click here.”

Headings and Structure

Organize content with clear headings. Use:

  • H1 for the main page title (one per page)
  • H2 for main sections
  • H3 for subsections
  • Headings help search engines understand your content structure and help users scan the page.

Image Optimization

Images need SEO attention too:

  • Use descriptive file names (product-photo.jpg, not IMG_001.jpg)
  • Add alt text describing the image
  • Compress images to reduce file size
  • Use modern formats (WebP when possible)
  • Alt text helps search engines understand images and improves accessibility for users with screen readers.

SSL Certificate (HTTPS)

HTTPS is a ranking factor. All sites should have SSL certificates. Your site URL should start with https://, not http://.

BeBizzy offers free SSL certificates on sites hosted on our server.

XML Sitemap

Your XML sitemap lists all important pages on your site. Submit it to Google Search Console. This helps search engines discover and crawl your content.

Regenerate your sitemap whenever you add significant new pages.

Robots.txt File

Your robots.txt file tells search engines which pages to crawl and which to skip. It’s a basic file placed in your root directory.

Most sites don’t need complex robots.txt files. A simple version allows search engines to crawl everything important.
Schema Markup

Schema markup helps search engines understand your content better. Common types include:

  • Article schema (for blog posts)
  • Product schema (for e-commerce)
  • Local business schema (for physical locations)
  • Review schema (for ratings)

Schema markup can earn rich snippets in search results, which increase click-through rates.

Backlinks

Quality backlinks from relevant sites signal authority to search engines. Get backlinks by:

Creating quality content worth linking to

  • Guest posting on industry blogs
  • Building relationships with other site owners
  • Getting listed in relevant directories
  • Earning mentions in industry publications

Focus on quality over quantity. One link from a relevant, authoritative site is worth more than dozens of low-quality links.

Key Statistics

  • First page results get 91.5% of search traffic. Ranking position matters significantly.
  • Mobile searches now exceed desktop searches. Mobile optimization isn’t optional.
  • Page speed affects 40% of users. Users abandon slow sites.
  • Sites with backlinks rank higher. Authority matters.
  • Updated content ranks better. Freshness signals quality.

Getting Started

Start with these priorities:

  • Fix mobile usability issues
  • Improve page speed
  • Optimize title tags and meta descriptions
  • Add quality content targeting relevant keywords
  • Build internal links strategically
  • Get your site in Google Search Console
  • Build quality backlinks

SEO takes time. Most changes show results within 3-6 months. Consistent effort compounds over time.

Contact BeBizzy to start your SEO strategy.

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