How does SEO work

If you found this page via Google search, you likely searched Google for [what is seo] or [seo]. 

This guide is published on Search Engine Land, an authoritative website with great expertise on and experience in the topic of SEO (we’ve been covering all SEO changes, big and small since 2006). 

Originally published in 2010, our “what is SEO” page has earned a whopping 324,203 links. 

Put simply, these factors (and others) have helped this guide earn a good reputation with search engines, which has helped it rank in Position 1 for years. It has accumulated signals that demonstrate it is authoritative and trustworthy – and therefore deserves to rank when someone searches for SEO. 

But let’s look at SEO more broadly. As a whole, SEO really works through a combination of:

• People: The person or team responsible for doing or ensuring that the strategic, tactical and operational SEO work is completed.
• Processes: The actions taken to make the work more efficient.
• Technology: The platforms and tools used.
• Activities: The end product, or output.

Many other things factor into how SEO works. What follows is a high-level look at the most important knowledge and process elements. 

Six critical areas, in combination, make SEO work: