Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is often talked about as a technical, complex discipline, but at its core, SEO is about two simple things: helping search engines understand your content, and helping users find your website. When done well, SEO ensures your site appears in relevant search results, drives qualified traffic, and supports long-term digital growth.
How search engines work
Google is a fully automated search engine that uses programs called crawlers to explore the web. These crawlers discover pages primarily by following links from other pages Google has already indexed. Once a page is found, Google attempts to understand its content and decide where it should appear in search results.
This means SEO isn’t about “tricking” Google, it’s about making your website accessible, understandable, and genuinely useful.
The five core pillars of SEO
While SEO includes many tactics, it generally breaks down into five key steps:
- Keyword research
This involves understanding what your audience is searching for and how they phrase those searches. A beginner and an expert might search for the same topic using very different terms, so intent matters just as much as volume. - Content creation
Content should be written for users first. It needs to be well-structured, accurate, easy to read, and genuinely helpful. Copying content or writing purely for rankings is ineffective long term. - On-page SEO and structure optimisation
This includes page titles, headings, internal links, URLs, and overall site organisation. A logical structure helps both users and search engines navigate your site. - Links and mentions
The vast majority of new pages Google finds are through links. High-quality links and brand mentions signal credibility and authority. - Technical SEO
This ensures your site can be crawled, indexed, and rendered properly. It includes page speed, mobile friendliness, secure connections, and clean code.
Platforms, plugins, and tracking
WordPress is a self-hosted platform, meaning you host and manage it yourself, but it also offers hosted solutions. Either way, SEO plugins like Yoast or Rank Math can help manage basics such as titles, meta descriptions, and sitemaps without touching code.
Performance can be tracked for free using Google Search Console, which shows how Google views your site, which pages are indexed, and what queries you appear for.
Domains, hosting, and site structure
Your domain name and hosting provider form the foundation of SEO. When choosing a web host, consider security (SSL/TLS encryption), server location, 24/7 support, and accessibility for search engines and AI systems. You should be able to control robots.txt files and sitemaps easily.
A logical site structure is equally important. Each category and subpage should connect naturally through internal links, helping users and search engines understand how content relates.
Local SEO and visibility
Local SEO focuses on helping your business appear in geographically relevant searches across Google Search, Google Maps, and increasingly, AI platforms. This is especially important for businesses serving specific regions or physical locations.
Helping Google see your site clearly
You can submit a sitemap to guide search engines toward your most important pages. It’s also crucial that Google can access elements like CSS and JavaScript. If key components are blocked, your pages may not appear correctly in search results.
Clear URLs, breadcrumbs, and structured data all improve how your site is interpreted. Reducing duplicate content and setting canonical versions of pages ensures Google doesn’t waste time crawling URLs you don’t care about.
Content that works
Good SEO content is interesting, useful, and written naturally. Break content into sections, use headings, update old posts regularly, and remove content that’s no longer relevant. Images should be clear, relevant, and supported with descriptive alt text to help both accessibility and image search.
What SEO is not
Some things simply aren’t worth focusing on:
- Meta keywords
- Keyword stuffing
- Content length alone
- Treating E-E-A-T as a direct ranking factor
Final thoughts
SEO is not a one-off task; it’s an ongoing process rooted in clarity, quality, and usability. By focusing on strong foundations and user-first thinking, SEO becomes less about algorithms and more about building a site that deserves to be found.