If you've ever felt overwhelmed by SEO jargon, you're not alone.
Between technical mumbo-jumbo and acronyms that seem designed to confuse, it's easy to feel lost before you even start.
That's why we sat down with David Krauter, who's been working in SEO for close to 15 years. But here's what makes his perspective different: he's a marketer first, SEO geek second.
Google has evolved from pure algorithms you could game into something far more sophisticated.
Nowadays, if you don't understand marketing, you're going to have a hard time ranking.
What Are the Basic SEO Terms You Need to Know?
SEO (search engine optimisation) breaks down into three core elements: technical SEO (removing barriers so Google can crawl your site), on-page SEO (making your pages relevant to what people search), and off-page SEO (building reputation through backlinks from other websites).
In our experience working with hundreds of businesses over 15 years, mastering these three fundamentals is what separates sites that rank from those that don't. The businesses we've seen succeed aren't using tricks or shortcuts—they're simply getting these basics right and understanding what their customers actually search for.
Here's a breakdown of each element and how we're seeing them work together to help businesses show up on Google, drive more organic traffic, and grow their revenue.
Technical SEO: Taking the Handbrake Off
Technical SEO covers the technical aspects of your site.
- Does your site load well?
- Is it structured properly?
- Is the code written cleanly?
- Does it load fast?
But here's a dead-simple test: if people can use your website really well without problems, it's loading quickly, and they can see everything clearly, your technical SEO is usually pretty solid.
Think of technical SEO as removing the handbrake from your car. Get this right and Google starts to like your site. They'll enjoy indexing it, crawling it, and ultimately adding it to their search results.
On-Page SEO: Making Your Pages Relevant
Once your technical foundation is solid, on-page SEO tells Google what your pages are actually about.
If you want to rank for a specific term, you build content that's relevant to that term and make your page relevant to that keyword or theme.
For example, if you want to rank for "best hairdresser in Brisbane," you need to create a page that talks about the best hairdresser in Brisbane.
On-page optimisation is simply the process of creating content that matches the keyword you're targeting.
It's still on your website. It's about making sure your content and pages are relevant to what people are searching for.
Off-Page SEO: Getting Votes from the Internet
The third element is off-page SEO, which is essentially backlinks: links from other websites pointing to yours.
These backlinks tell Google how many other people around the internet are vouching for you.
They're saying you should rank for the keyword you're trying to optimise for.
Think of it as reputation building. You've made your site relevant to a keyword through on-page work, and now other websites are telling Google, "Yes, they're relevant, and they should be ranked."
That's what pushes your website up in the search results.
How Does Google Actually Work?
Google operates through three core processes: crawling (discovering pages by following links), indexing (cataloguing those pages into a massive library), and ranking (ordering results based on relevance to what someone's searching for).
When someone types a query into Google, they're searching through billions of pages Google has already indexed and organised. Google's algorithms analyse the intent behind each search—whether someone wants to buy, learn, or find something specific—then serve up the 10 most relevant results.
Crawling: How Google Finds Your Pages
Crawling is how Google finds web pages.
They have what are called spiders or bots that run around the internet, following links from one page to another.
Think of it like someone exploring the internet by clicking from link to link.
That's how Google discovers new content.
Indexing: Getting Into the Library
Once Google finds your pages through crawling, the next step is indexing.
When Google finds a page, it goes through a process of making sense of what's on that page and understanding what it's about. That's when they add it to their index, their massive library of web pages.
This is where your on-page SEO work pays off. If you've made your content relevant to specific keywords, Google will understand what your page is about and file it appropriately.
Ranking: Making It to the Top 10
Finally, there's ranking.
This is the order that all the results show up in when someone searches for something.
Google's goal is to show the most relevant and helpful result for whatever someone's looking for. The order isn't random. It's based on how well Google thinks your page will answer the searcher's question.
Understanding Keywords and Search Intent
Keywords aren't about ranking for one specific term anymore—they're about understanding the dozens of different ways people search for the problems they're trying to solve or the products they want to buy.
Based on data from thousands of campaigns we've analysed, the businesses that succeed at SEO understand search intent: what someone is actually trying to accomplish when they search. Are they trying to buy something? Learn something? Find a specific website?
The key is simple: understand the intent behind your keywords and create content that genuinely helps that person.
Long-Tail Keywords: More Specific, Less Competition
There's an important distinction between short-tail and long-tail keywords.
Short-tail keywords are usually one word or very short phrases like "shoes."
Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific phrases that someone types in, like "best running shoes for flat feet."
Why do long-tail keywords matter?
They're easier to rank for because there's less competition. And the people searching those terms are usually closer to making a buying decision.
Essential SEO Terms You'll Actually Use
SERPs: Search Engine Results Pages
SERP stands for search engine results page.
It's the page you see after you type something into Google and hit enter.
Simple, right? But understanding SERPs means understanding where your potential customers actually see you.
Organic vs. Paid Traffic
Organic traffic is the visitors that come to your website from search engine results that you didn't pay for. If you rank on Google naturally through SEO, that's organic traffic.
Paid traffic is when you pay for ads, like Google Ads or Facebook Ads, to get people to your website.
What's the difference?
Organic is valuable because once you rank, you don't have to keep paying for each click. But it takes time to build. Paid traffic is instant but costs money every time someone clicks.
Local SEO: Showing Up in Your Area
For local businesses, there's another layer.
Local SEO is optimising your online presence to show up when people search for businesses in their area.
Think searches like "plumber near me" or "coffee shop in Brisbane." This involves your Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business), local citations, and reviews.
Backlinks and Domain Authority
Backlinks are essentially votes from other websites. A backlink is just a link from another website to yours. The more quality backlinks you have, the more Google sees your site as authoritative and trustworthy.
Domain authority is a score (created by Moz) that predicts how well a website might rank in search engines. The scale runs from 1 to 100. The higher the domain authority, the better your site is likely to rank.
Title Tags and Meta Descriptions
The title tag is the headline that shows up on the search results page. It's one of the most important on-page SEO elements because it tells both Google and users what your page is about. You'll see this as the blue clickable link in Google results.
The meta description is the little snippet of text that shows up under your title tag in search results. It doesn't directly affect rankings, but it can affect whether people click on your result or not. Think of it as your 160-character sales pitch.
White Hat vs. Black Hat SEO: The Right Way vs. The Risky Way
There's a clear distinction between legitimate SEO and shortcuts.
White hat SEO means following Google's guidelines and doing SEO the right way. It's about creating good content, making your site easy to use, and getting links naturally. This is the long-term, sustainable approach.
Black hat SEO is trying to game Google, trick the system, or use shortcuts to rank faster. Things like buying links, keyword stuffing, and hiding text on your pages.
It might work short-term, but Google will eventually catch you and penalise your site.
The advice is simple: don't do it. It's not worth the risk.
The Biggest Shift in How SEO Works
After 15 years in the industry, the evolution is clear.
The meaning of SEO hasn't changed. It still means search engine optimisation.
But the biggest shift over the years is that SEO used to be very formulaic, focused on trying to rank for one keyword.
Now?
If you understand how to create content that gets in front of your customers or clients with what they're actually searching for, you'll succeed.
That's been the fundamental shift in how SEO works.
It's not about gaming algorithms anymore.
It's about understanding people.
Common Mistakes That Kill Your Rankings
What's the simplest mistake that stops sites from ranking?
Just not doing anything.
Just leaving the site as is.
The checklist is straightforward:
- Optimise your pages (on-page SEO) so you're relevant
- Make sure your site works (technical SEO) for a good user experience
- Get backlinks (off-page SEO)
Even if your optimisation and backlinks are solid, if your site doesn't provide a good user experience, you might rank but you won't convert the traffic. All three need to work together.
How Professional SEO Teams Actually Work
Here's something most SEO articles won't tell you.
Professional SEO teams use testing sheets to track changes.
The process is straightforward: make a change, then over the next two months, look at what it did. Did it have a positive or negative impact? If it's positive, keep it. That's your new control. If it's not good, go back to your original control.
Too many SEOs don't test things. They don't even keep records of the changes they make to a site.
But with a good testing control sheet, you can never do too much. If something goes negative, you just undo it and go back to what gave you the best result. Then you tune something else.
This is real-world SEO at work.
Where to Start with SEO for Your Business
If you're just getting started, the approach is refreshingly simple.
The Learning Order
Focus on creating awesome content on your website first, then focus on getting your website out there.
On-page and off-page.
Create great content, make sure it's a good user experience (that's your on-page work), then find ways to get links.
Content first. Distribution second.
The One Free Tool You Actually Need
Forget expensive SEO software for now.
Early on, use Google Search Console. It'll give you data on how many people are coming to your website organically, what keywords they're using, what you're ranking for, and where you're ranking.
It's a treasure trove of information. Even professional SEO teams are in there every day. It's still the main tool the pros use.
Fix One Thing Per Week
If you can only fix one SEO issue per week, focus on this: understand the intent of your keywords and create awesome content for that person who's looking up that keyword.
That's it.
Why Your SEO Campaign Should Be About More Than Rankings
Don't get hung up on keyword rankings—focus on traffic, conversions, and sales because that's where the money is.
Here's why: SEO is shifting. It's not just about ranking for your keyword anymore. It's about being everywhere. You can measure that by how much traffic is coming from your SEO, how many conversions you're getting from SEO, and how much money you're making from SEO.
That's how you should be judging and focusing your SEO campaign.
Ranking #1 for a keyword means nothing if it's not bringing in customers.
The Bottom Line
Most of the time, all that's required is nailing the basics.
Get the basics right, and you tend to rank.
Technical SEO removes the handbrake. On-page SEO makes you relevant. Off-page SEO builds your reputation.
But above all, understand what your customers are actually searching for and create content that genuinely helps them.
That's SEO in 2024. No tricks, no shortcuts. Just good marketing backed by solid technical fundamentals.
Want to learn more? The team at Websites That Sell helps businesses get these basics right.