SEO (search engine optimization): What is it? & How does it work?

Introduction

Every second, over 99,000 search queries are entered into Google worldwide. So do your customers, competitors and potential partners. In this dynamic digital world, your online visibility largely determines your success. Search engine optimization, better known as SEO, is therefore not a nice-to-have, but an absolute must.

SEO ensures that your website appears at the top of search results when someone searches for your products or services. This not only means more visitors, but especially relevant visitors. Visitors who are actively looking for what you offer and therefore become customers faster. Through clever use of SEO you strengthen your online authority, increase trust in your brand and structurally ensure growth in sales and customer satisfaction.

But how exactly does SEO work and how do you harness its full potential? In this article, we'll take you through the most important facets of SEO. From keyword research to technical optimization, from Google's E-E-A-T principle to link building. Read on and find out how to put your business on the digital map and leave competitors behind.

What is SEO?

SEO - search engine optimization, or Search Engine Optimization, is the set of techniques and strategies to improve a website's visibility within the organic (non-paid) results of search engines such as Google.

The goal is simple: make sure potential customers find your website before those of competitors, so they are more likely to come to you for a product, service or solution.

SEO consists of three pillars that work together to ensure strong online findability:

1. Technical SEO

Technical SEO is all about the technology behind your website. You ensure that search engines like Google can easily find, search and index your site. Factors that are important here are:

• Website speed: Fast sites rank higher in Google.
• Mobile optimization: Good performance on mobile devices increases your findability.
• Structured data: This helps Google better understand what your pages are about.
• Secure connection (HTTPS): Websites with an SSL certificate are better rated by Google.

2. Content

This refers to the optimization of content on your website. You make sure your pages match what your target audience is looking for. Crucial elements are:

• Keyword research: identifying relevant terms that potential customers use.
• Content quality: Informative, unique and valuable texts that answer search queries.
• Meta data and headings: Good title tags, meta descriptions and headings (H1, H2, H3) that clearly state what your content is about.

3. Link building

Off-page SEO focuses on strengthening your website authority through external factors. It mainly involves:

• Link building: Obtaining quality backlinks (referrals from other websites to yours).
• Social proof: Positive reviews, mentions and social signals that increase your brand trust.

By combining all these aspects, you build a robust, sustainable online presence that ensures structurally better findability in Google.

Google is dominant in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands, Google has a 92.85% market share (Statista, 2023) and is the only relevant search engine for most companies. So search engine optimization in the Netherlands means primarily Google optimization.

Why is SEO more important than ever?

With SEO, you attract traffic to your website. In fact, SEO is still the biggest source of traffic to websites, even though all kinds of gurus may have tried to tell you that SEO is dead. The big advantage of SEO: you don't have to keep paying for every click. And if you are able to grow your traffic on a sustained basis, the returns get bigger and bigger. Think of it as an investment in your reach.

In the long run, this can make a huge difference. For example, in a search result where only organic results are displayed, the first search result receives 43.61% of the clicks and the second only 12.77%. Positions outside the top 2 have a CTR (click-through-rate) of less than 10%. To give you a good idea of the effect of a top ranking, we chart the average CTR of the top 10 rankings of "organic" and "organic and people ask too" search results for you. The data is from Advancedwebranking (2023).

What can you achieve with SEO?

The goal of SEO is to get more relevant traffic to a Web site through the organic, unpaid, search engine results. The ultimate goal of companies doing SEO is often growth: more customers or leads. But that's not the only thing you can achieve with it.

• Understanding what your potential customers are searching for and how they are searching. Also useful for other communications.
• A logically structured website based on the search behavior of your potential customers.
• An endless stream of ideas for new content.

Google E-E-A-T

Google increasingly rates websites based on E-E-A-T, which stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. These factors determine how trustworthy and relevant your website is according to Google, which directly affects your rankings.

In a nutshell:

• Experience (Experience): Show that you have direct experience with the topic.
• Expertise: Demonstrate in-depth knowledge and skill.
• Authoritativeness (Authority): Get others to recommend your site through backlinks and mentions.
• Trustworthiness (Reliability): Make it clear that your site is trustworthy and secure (for example, with reviews, HTTPS and transparency about your organization).

For a detailed explanation, practical tips and examples, please visit our comprehensive article on E-E-A-T: All about E-E-A-T for better SEO results.

Search term research: the foundation

Good keyword research helps you understand what your target audience is looking for and how they are doing it. As such, it forms the foundation of your entire SEO approach.

Briefly, keyword research includes:

• Identify relevant search terms: Understand what your potential customers actually enter into Google.
• Analyze competition and search volume: Use tools such as Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs or SEMrush.
• Responding to search intent: Tailor content to the specific need behind the search (informational, commercial, transactional).

For a comprehensive guide with roadmap, examples and useful tools check out our article: Comprehensive keyword research for successful SEO.

Content optimization

Strong content is more than just well-written SEO copy. Content optimization ensures that your content not only appeals, but also ranks high in Google.

Key focus areas for good SEO content are:

• Relevant keywords: use your keywords strategically in titles, headers, and the first paragraphs of your text.
• Meta tags: catchy meta titles and descriptions increase click rates.
• Header tags: use clear headings (H1, H2, H3) to structure your text logically.
• Internal linking: link to related content within your website so that visitors and search engines better understand your website.
• Use images and videos: visual content retains visitors longer. Optimize them with descriptive file names and alt texts.

Examples and practical tips:

• Title tag example: "Writing SEO copy: 5 tips for higher Google rankings"
• Meta description example: "Find out how to write SEO copy that ranks better in Google and brings in more visitors with these 5 simple tips."

Technical SEO

Technical SEO is all about the technology behind your website. A technically strong website makes it easier for Google to understand, index and rank your content better.

Important technical aspects are:

• Speed and load time: Sites that load within 2.5 seconds have on average 50% better rankings than slow sites.
• Mobile optimization: Over 80% of searches are done via mobile. So ensure perfect mobile usability.
• Structured data (schema markup): Provides additional information to Google about the content of your page, which increases the chances of rich snippets.
• Website architecture: A clear structure with clear URLs and logical navigation helps search engines and visitors better understand your site.
• Security (HTTPS): Secure websites with HTTPS are favored in rankings and increase visitor trust.

By paying attention to these technical factors, you lay the foundation for sustainable SEO results.

Link Building

Link building is still one of the most powerful ways to make your website more findable. When trusted websites link to your page, Google sees this as a sign that your content is valuable and relevant.

Why are backlinks important?

• Increased authority: Backlinks act as recommendations, leading to higher rankings.
• More traffic: Good links immediately generate additional visitors.
• Increased brand visibility: External links increase your online presence and credibility.

Effective strategies for link building

• Guest blogging: Write valuable articles for related websites.
• Content creation: Create unique and high-quality content that gets shared naturally.
• Collaborations: Build relationships with other companies and partners for mutual referrals.

Local SEO

Local SEO makes your business more findable to people searching within a specific region or city. Especially for physical stores, service providers and local business owners, this is essential.

Key components of local SEO are:

• Google Business Profile: Make sure your business profile is complete and current.
• Local keywords: Use place names and regional terms strategically on your website.
• Online reviews: Collect positive reviews for increased trust and visibility.
• Local citations: Listings of your business on trusted local websites strengthen your local authority.

Want to know all about local SEO and receive immediately applicable tips? Then read our extensive article: Local SEO: being found better in your region.

Measurability and KPIs

Successful SEO is all about measurable results, but what do you mean by that? Analyzing your results regularly ensures that you can adjust and improve your strategy.

Important SEO KPIs to keep track of:

• Organic traffic: How many visitors come in through search engines and how much growth do you achieve compared to last year?
• Keyword Rankings: At what positions are your most important keywords ranking?
• Conversion rate organic traffic: What percentage of visitors actually take action (such as purchases or contact requests)?
• Bounce rate: What percentage of visitors leave your site immediately?
• CTR (click-through rate): How often is your page clicked on in Google relative to how often it is shown?

Useful SEO tools for analysis:

• Google Analytics: Comprehensive analyses of traffic and conversions.
• Google Search Console: Detailed insights into keywords, rankings and click behavior.
• SEO specialist tools (Ahrefs, SEMrush): Deep analysis of keywords, competitors and backlinks.

Trends and developments

SEO is constantly evolving. Google regularly adjusts algorithms, and new technologies create constant changes in how people search and find information.

Key SEO trends for 2025 and beyond:

• AI and generative search results: Google and Bing actively integrate AI into search results, making direct answers more prominent. Optimize content to be visible in these (AEO - Answer Engine Optimization).
• Voice Search continues to increase: More and more users are using voice search through mobile devices and smart speakers. Provide natural, conversational content.
• Zero-click searches: Searches where users get immediate answers without clicking through are increasing. Your content must be visible and informative enough within the search results themselves.
• Video content is becoming more dominant: Google is giving more and more space to video results. Optimize videos and leverage platforms like YouTube to increase visibility.
• Focus on User Experience (UX): UX factors such as speed, mobile compatibility and usability are gaining prominence in rankings.

Key Google algorithm updates

Google makes regular updates to its algorithm to make search results better. The best known are:

• Panda (2011)
  Focuses on content quality; penalizes thin, poor, or duplicated content and favors in-depth, unique articles.
• Penguin (2012).
  Combats spam links and unnatural link profiles. Rewards quality backlinks and punishes link manipulation.
• Hummingbird (2013)
  Improving semantic search; focuses on search intent behind searches, making context and meaning more important than individual keywords.
• Pigeon (2014)
  Focuses specifically on local search results. Ensures that local businesses are more visible in location-specific searches.
• Mobilegeddon (2015)
  Introduces mobile-friendliness as an official ranking factor, making mobile-optimized sites rank higher.
• RankBrain (2015)
  AI algorithm that helps interpret complex search queries, especially unknown and longer search terms.
• Fred (2017)
  Penalizes websites with excessive ads, affiliate links and low content quality aimed at generating revenue at the expense of user experience.
• Medic Update (2018).
  Focused specifically on websites in health, financial and legal sectors (YMYL sites). Strong emphasis on Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness (E-A-T).
• BERT (2019)
  Further improvement in understanding natural language and search intent; Google better understands nuances in longer searches.
• Core Web Vitals (2021).
  New focus on user experience, emphasizing website speed, visual stability and interaction capabilities.
• Helpful Content Update (2022).
  Rewards content that truly helps and provides value to visitors, and penalizes content written just for search engines.
• SpamBrain (2022)
  Refinement of Google's approach against spam and manipulative SEO techniques using advanced machine learning.
• Product Reviews Update (2022-2023).
  Encourages comprehensive, authentic and detailed product reviews, and penalizes superficial, inauthentic reviews.
• Google AI Search Generative Experience (SGE) (2023-2024).
  Integration of generative AI into search results, providing users with immediate comprehensive AI-generated answers over traditional search results.

Curious about an overview of all Google algorithm updates? Mary Haynes has a comprehensive list of all Google updates from 2011 online.

Common mistakes

Even experienced marketers sometimes make mistakes when executing their SEO strategy. Here are the most common mistakes to avoid:

1. Keyword stuffing

Overuse of keywords, keywords, search terms, keywords makes texts unnatural and can lead to lower rankings.
Solution: Write natural content focused on user experience, use keywords strategically and sparingly.

2. Duplicate content

Having identical or very similar content on multiple pages confuses Google.
Solution: Provide unique content on each page and use canonical tags on similar pages.

3. Neglect mobile optimization

With over 80% mobile searches, a poor mobile experience leads to higher bounce rates and worse rankings.
Solution: Test your website regularly on mobile and make sure your design and content are responsive.

4. Slow load times

Slow websites frustrate visitors and lower rankings significantly.
Solution: Optimize images, use caching, and improve your hosting to increase speed.

5. No attention to meta tags

Neglected meta titles and descriptions reduce your click-through rate (CTR) from search results.
Solution: Pay attention to catchy, relevant meta tags for each page.

6. Unnatural backlinks

Poor quality backlinks can lead to Google penalties.
Solution: regularly check your link profile and work on natural link building.

Ready to take your SEO to the next level?

SEO remains a powerful tool for achieving online growth, better findability and more customers. But as you have read, it is also a field that is constantly changing and requires in-depth expertise. Want to see quick results and be sure you're getting the most out of your SEO?

Our SEO specialists are ready to help you further with:

• A comprehensive SEO audit to identify areas for improvement.
• Personalized advice on how to immediately improve your SEO strategy.
• Complete support in implementing and optimizing your online findability.

Contact us today and find out how we can work together to bring your website to the top of Google.

👉 Read more about how we work as an SEO agency

Resources

Advancedwebranking. (2023).Google Organic CTR History. https://www.advancedwebranking.com/ctrstudy/

Backlinko (2024). SEO Statistics 2024: The Ultimate List of SEO Stats. https://backlinko.com/seo-stats

Google. (2023). Search Central: Google Search Essentials. https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials

Moz. (2024). Beginner's Guide to SEO. https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo

Ahrefs. (2024). SEO Statistics 2024: Data from analyzing billions of Google searches. https://ahrefs.com/blog/seo-statistics

SEMrush (2024). The State of Search 2024: Data & Trends. https://www.semrush.com/blog/category/seo/

Search Engine Journal. (2024). Complete Guide to Google Algorithm Updates. https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-algorithm-history/

Wired. (2024). Google's AI Mode and the Future of Search. https://www.wired.com/story/google-ai-mode-search/