How Does SEO Work?

Frankly, the more people who like your site, the better your SEO score will be. Full stop.

All the techniques we use to increase SEO scores are simply strategies that respect online users' time, align with their desires (i.e., their reasons for being online), and bring them joy, comfort, amusement, or any other pleasurable emotion. SEO that "works" delivers a dopamine hit.

Here’s a simple breakdown of how each technique gets those neurons firing:

Keywords

Keywords help users quickly find the answers they’re searching for. Search engines like Google are designed to deliver solutions in the shortest amount of time possible. So, if someone searches for "How does SEO work?", a well-optimized webpage that provides a clear, comprehensive answer, along with supporting content (such as internal and external links), and unique insights (not just the same answer everyone else gives) will rank higher in search results.

Ever read a blog post and had to scroll halfway down the page just to find your answer? It’s aggravating! Makes you want to leave and try somewhere else. This is where keywords come in, they show that a page has the relevant information users are seeking and places it front and center. While this article could have started with an explanation of the SEO acronym, I would have been remiss to begin that way. That introduction would be more relevant for the search query "What is SEO?".

The aforementioned "filler" or "stuffing" technique (i.e., adding irrelevant content) is common when an author wants to cram as many keywords as possible into the content. This strategy is commonly used because search engines prefer long-form content (around 1,000–2,500 words). However, it’s not effective—both search engines and users can spot keyword stuffing and filler text from a mile away.

Internal and External Linking

These are the highlighted bits of text and clickable elements, like buttons, found on a website. They simplify the user’s journey by creating easy pathways to desired content and allowing visitors to explore further on their own.

For example, if a visitor wants to learn more about the SEO techniques sitemapping and hyperlinking, and the website provides additional clickable information on the topic, the visitor can dive deeper to gain a fuller understanding.

When used internally, this technique helps keep users on-site and reduces bounce rates. External linking, on the other hand, directs visitors away from your site, but these links are still valuable for SEO—as long as the linked content is high-quality, reliable, and authoritative.

Search engines like Google prioritize the user experience. They want the user’s entire online journey to be seamless, so hyperlinks that lead off-site but genuinely aid the user can actually improve your site’s ability to rank.

Furthermore, the same user who explored several internal links might now be interested in purchasing an SEO course. They should be able to find a link to sign up for the course quickly and easily.

Websites that offer this kind of ease of access, paired with other optimizations, consistently outperform those that don’t use effective linking strategies.

Metadata

Meta titles and descriptions appear on search engine results pages (SERPs) like Google. They are the blocks of text you see below the search bar after entering a query and hitting search. Crafting effective meta titles, descriptions, and alt text for images helps both search engines and users understand your content at a glance.

User attention spans are short, and brands want users to recognize their identity instantly—one-glance recognition, if you will. In this vein, metadata speeds up processing time for online users by answering their queries quickly without jargon or filler.

Bots also rely on meta titles and descriptions, as they serve as high-level synopses of a page’s content. While bots will still crawl the entire page to understand its full scope, metadata gives them an immediate, concise overview. Note: Metadata should always accurately describe the page’s content. Good metadata, paired with relevant content, increases the chances of your page being shown to users searching for similar topics.

Images with alt text further support accessibility by aiding visually impaired users. Alt text is a brief written description of an image or graphic on your site. Those using screen readers can hear the description, providing an inclusive experience. Users are more likely to stay on a site that considers their needs.

Header Tags and Written Structure

Speaking of bots and crawling, let’s not forget header tags and the importance of proper written structure in your website’s copy. Content should follow a hierarchical layout: the most important titles at the top, followed by supporting titles, subheadings, and then regular paragraph text.

Here’s how header tags work:

• H1 Tag:

  This indicates the most important title on your page, and there should be only one H1 per page. It’s typically the first title a visitor sees—so make it count. Think of it as the headline that sums up the entire page in just a few words.

  
  

• H2–H6 Tags:

  These are used for subtitles, sub-subtitles, and so on. While they don’t need to appear in strict numerical order, you should never skip levels (e.g., jumping from H2 directly to H4).

  
  

• Paragraph Text:

  This makes up the bulk of your content and serves as the body text beneath your headings.

I can’t stress enough the importance of visitor comfort. When header tags are implemented correctly, search engine bots can easily identify the page’s structure, from the main topic (H1) to subtopics (H2–H6). If the content aligns closely with a user’s query, search engines are more likely to serve it up, providing the user with a great experience.

Page Speed

Did I mention that attention spans are practically nonexistent? This is partly because of the lightning-fast speeds we’ve come to expect online, where content loads instantly without spinning icons or annoying page jumps.

Have you ever tried to click a button, only for the page to shift and you accidentally click an ad instead? Arg! Yeah, it’s frustrating. This is called content jumping or layout shifting, often caused by elements like ads loading or dynamic content changing size, making the page jump up or down unexpectedly.

Any scripted webpage elements loaded from external sources—such as third-party commenting systems, CTA buttons, CMS plugins, or lead-generation popups—need to be populated each time the page loads. The jump happens because these elements load more slowly than the rest of the content.

Similarly, images often take the longest to load on a website because image files tend to be large. Fortunately, image load times can be reduced through optimization, which typically involves adjusting resolution and dimensions, and compressing the file itself.

Lastly, redirects occur when a visitor clicks a link to one webpage but gets forwarded to another. Redirects add fractions of a second—or sometimes even whole seconds—to page load times. While they’re useful for avoiding 404 error pages, redirects can be overused, especially on large websites managed by multiple people.

To maintain fast load times, website owners should set clear guidelines for third-party elements, image compression, and redirect usage, and regularly audit key pages to identify and remove unnecessary elements and redirects.

Optimizing for Mobile

Making your webpages user-friendly applies not only to desktop layouts but also to smartphones and tablets. Responsive visuals, fast loading times, and touch-friendly navigation keep users happy and engaged across all devices.

This often means increasing the size and spacing of buttons and text so they’re legible and easily clickable with our giant fingers, and ensuring images and graphic elements are clear and properly formatted to fit different screen sizes.

Consider this: mobile accounts for 58.21% of global internet traffic, surpassing desktop traffic at 39.76% and tablet traffic at 2.03%. It’s crucial that users feel more than just mildly thrilled with your mobile layout—and that it does everything, if not more, than the desktop version of your website.

In a Nutshell...

Users who can quickly find and complete the actions they want are more likely to stick around. We’re at the mercy of platforms like Google, which always prioritize the user over the business.

So, if you want to rank higher and score more awareness, clicks, traffic, conversions, and all-around satisfying outcomes, it’s got to be about them, not you.

Happy optimizing!