What is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, but forget the fancy term for a second. Think of it like this: you know how when you're looking for a restaurant, you probably Google "best pizza near me" or something like that? Well, SEO is basically making sure your website shows up when people search for stuff you can help with.
I learned this the hard way when I first started my blog. I'd write these amazing articles (or so I thought), but literally nobody was finding them. It was like throwing a party and forgetting to send out invitations.
Here's how the whole thing actually works:
Google has these little robot things called "crawlers" that are constantly browsing the internet, kind of like really dedicated librarians who never sleep. They're reading websites, taking notes, and filing everything away in Google's massive digital library.
When someone types a question into Google, the search engine goes through all those notes super fast and tries to serve up the most helpful answers first. The tricky part? Google uses over 200 different factors to decide what's "most helpful."
The stuff that really matters:
From my experience, here are the big ones:
Content that actually helps people - Google's gotten really good at spotting fluff. If your page doesn't genuinely answer what someone's looking for, you're not going anywhere.
Using the right words - You need to think like your audience. What would they actually type into Google? I spent months targeting "fitness optimization" when people were really searching for "how to get in shape without a gym."
Making your site not terrible - Slow websites, broken mobile versions, confusing navigation - Google notices all of that stuff because it makes for a bad user experience.
Building trust - When other reputable websites link to your content, it's like getting a recommendation. Google sees that as a good sign.
Why should you care?
Here's the thing that really opened my eyes: most people don't scroll past the first page of Google results. If you're not there, you might as well be invisible. And unlike paying for ads (which stops working the moment you stop paying), good SEO keeps bringing people to your website even while you sleep.
I've got blog posts from two years ago that still bring me visitors every single day. It's pretty amazing when you think about it.
The real secret?
Stop trying to game the system and start actually helping people. Google's algorithms are smart, but they're ultimately trying to connect searchers with genuinely useful content. Focus on that, and the technical stuff becomes way less important.
That's really all there is to it. Sure, there are more advanced tactics you can learn later, but if you nail the basics - helpful content, right keywords, decent website - you're already ahead of most people trying to do SEO.