The Three Pillars of SEO
Understanding SEO Basics
SEO is really complicated. In reality, we know that Google has hundreds if not thousands of ranking factors, and the exact algorithm is a closely guarded secret.
But what if we’re talking about SEO 101? If all you need is an understanding of Search Engine Optimization basics, then it can be helpful to think of SEO as focused on three important pillars: Content, Technical SEO, and Backlinks. Let’s go over them one by one.
The First Pillar: Content
There’s an expression that’s often heard in SEO: “Content is king.”
While I’m encouraging you to think of the Three Pillars of SEO as being equally important, content does have a crucial role to play that makes it the focus of many of our efforts at Accuracy SEO.
As you already know, Search Engine Optimization is based on gaining organic website traffic by raising your Search Engine Results Page (SERP) rankings for a variety of keywords. Raising rankings is the primary focus of technical SEO and backlink building, but you’ll never rank for a keyword if it doesn’t first appear in your content.
Broadly speaking, we can say that each page on your website should have only one main keyword target. Why? Well, there are some clear reasons:
- Each page only has one Title Tag and Meta Description
- Each page only has one URL
- It’s easiest to maintain content relevance on a single focused subject
- Multiple pages targeting the same keyword will compete against each other (SEOs call this “content cannibalization”)
Since keyword research uncovers dozens if not hundreds of keywords relevant to your business, you can see why creating a lot of content is fundamental to SEO.
Competition levels for rankings vary from keyword to keyword, so even if your site is unable to rank for broad root keywords related to your industry, you’ll usually find more traction with longtail and niche keywords. Sometimes it even takes a dedicated page to find out how well you’ll rank for a given keyword target!
These are just some (by no means all) of the reasons why Content is one of the Three Pillars of SEO. I could spend all day writing about Content but let’s move on.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO can be a huge problem for some, and a non-issue for others. Let’s break it down into subheadings:
Basic Setup
There are a few aspects of your site that need to be set up correctly. Without getting too into the weeds, these include your robots.txt, XML sitemap, https, htaccess, and more.
Problems in any one of these areas can have a huge negative effect on your site, or prevent it from ranking altogether. Thankfully, simple tools will alert you to these problems. Once your basic setup is complete and error-free, this facet of Technical SEO usually won’t require further attention (of course there are always exceptions to the rule).
Site Speed
This is a big one for a lot of clients. It’s also a big headache.
When testing on Google’s <https://pagespeed.web.dev/>, I consider anything 60 and above to be acceptable. It’s always worth noting that running this test at different times of the day (or even running it multiple times in a row) will result in different scores every time. That makes technical changes that might effect speed difficult to pin down.
I’m proud to say that sites developed by Accuracy SEO usually test in the 70s-90s range. If your site tests in the low 60’s or below, there are certain things we can do to help you (compressing images, utilizing .webp format, and tweaking certain settings). However, in many cases, you may need to contact a dedicated web developer for help.
Other Issues
When we run an SEO Audit, many dozens of technical issues are tested. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a site get a perfect 100/100 score on one of these audits. Even Accuracy SEO ranks in the 90’s, not 100.
Some common technical issues include broken links, duplicate content, and missing image alt tags. Fixing issues like these will have a positive effect on your rankings. Ideally, you should only have a handful of minor problems and no major ones.
Summing Up Technical SEO
Technical SEO is one of the Three Pillars of SEO because your rankings can be absolutely tanked by technical issues. Furthermore, great scores in Site Speed and SEO Audits will make your site rank better than similar sites with worse scores.
It can be easy to forget about technical issues if you’re only looking at the front end of your site, but ignore Technical SEO at your own peril!
Backlinks
Many people fail to understand that Backlinks are equally as important as Content and Technical SEO. You won’t know how many backlinks you have unless you run a tool to count them, so many small business owners never give them any consideration.
I usually put it like this: “Every site that links back to yours is like a vote for your site’s authority. When comparing two sites, the site with more votes is usually more powerful.”
I would love to say that this backlink “voting” only applies in a like for like scenario, but it’s not that easy. The fact is that your site could be bigger and superior in terms of Content, and may even load faster and have fewer problems in terms of Technical SEO, but if it’s lagging far behind in terms of Backlinks, then the site with more backlinks will often win out.
This is why a Full Service plan at Accuracy SEO includes Link Building. If you take a slow and steady approach to building links to your site, over time you’ll have enough links to outrank small and mid-sized local competition. If you’re trying to rank for national search terms, you might need to scale link building up and increase your link building budget.
Need to know more about Backlinks? Check out my article “Everything You Need to Know (About Link Building).” Or just know what you absolutely need to know: The Backlink Pillar is every bit as important as the Content and Technical SEO Pillars.
Don’t forget the Three Pillars of SEO!
If you’re looking at your competition and wondering why Schlubby Website A is outranking you, it probably has something to do with the Three Pillars. For most non-experts, even the most obvious of the Three Pillars (Content) can be difficult to accurately assess. As for Technical SEO and Backlinks— if you’re not running SEO Audits on yourself AND your competitors then you probably don’t even know how you compare to the rest of your industry.
Luckily you have Accuracy SEO to help with that! Our Free SEO Analysis will give you perspective on how you’re doing on each of the Three Pillars. If you continue to work with us for SEO, our Full Service Plan works with all Three Pillars and ensures that you’re building an evenly optimized foundation. Click the link to Get Started today!
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