seo handbook
the comprehensive seo reference
Practical guides to how search works: covering on-page optimisation, technical SEO, link acquisition, keyword strategy, local and international search, and AI-powered discovery. From an independent SEO specialist.
Algorithm updates, industry shifts, and what they mean for your organic strategy.
→Process guides, checklists, and reference documents that span multiple SEO topics.
Plain-English definitions for every SEO term, metric, and acronym worth knowing.
seo guides
New to SEO? Start here. Plain-English explanations of how search engines work, what the different types of SEO do, and what to expect from it.
Title tags, content structure, internal linking, and E-E-A-T signals. The building blocks of a page that ranks and converts.
Crawlability, Core Web Vitals, structured data, and the signals search engines need to properly index your site.
Link acquisition, digital PR, and the external authority signals that determine how much search engines trust your domain.
How AI Overviews and generative engines are reshaping discovery, and what to do to stay visible in AI-driven search.
Search intent, volume, difficulty, and topic clusters: how to find the queries worth targeting and build a strategy around them.
Google Business Profile, local pack rankings, citations, and reviews: visibility for businesses that serve a specific geography.
URL structure, hreflang, multilingual content, and local link building: how to rank in multiple countries and languages without competing against yourself.
Content planning, topical authority, and the editorial frameworks behind a site that ranks across multiple queries.
common seo questions
How do search engines decide what to rank?
Search engines crawl the web, index content, and score pages against hundreds of ranking signals. The main factors are relevance (does the page match the query?), authority (do other trusted sites link to it?), and experience (does it load fast, work on mobile, and satisfy user intent?). The SEO basics guide covers how all three work together.
What does an SEO specialist do?
An SEO specialist audits technical infrastructure, maps keyword intent, optimises on-page content, builds link acquisition strategies, and tracks performance data to improve organic visibility. The work spans everything from fixing crawl errors to developing content frameworks that target multiple queries across a topic.
What is the difference between on-page and off-page SEO?
On-page SEO covers everything you control directly: titles, headings, content, internal links, and page structure. Off-page SEO covers signals that come from elsewhere, primarily backlinks from other domains, but also brand mentions and digital PR. On-page tells search engines what a page is about; off-page signals how much to trust it. See the on-page SEO guide and the off-page SEO guide.
What is technical SEO?
Technical SEO covers the infrastructure factors that affect how search engines crawl, index, and render a website. This includes Core Web Vitals, site speed, mobile usability, structured data, canonical tags, robots.txt, and JavaScript rendering. When technical issues exist, even strong content may not rank. The technical SEO guide covers each area in detail.
What is on-page SEO?
On-page SEO refers to the optimisation of individual pages to rank higher in search results. It includes crafting effective title tags, meta descriptions, header hierarchies, keyword-informed content, and internal linking, ensuring pages clearly address user search intent. The on-page SEO guide covers each element in detail.
What is E-E-A-T?
E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. It is a framework Google uses in its quality rater guidelines to assess whether a page genuinely serves the user. It shapes many ranking signals, including author credentials, original research, citations, and the depth of coverage on a topic. The on-page SEO guide covers how to signal E-E-A-T effectively.
What are Core Web Vitals?
Core Web Vitals are user experience metrics that Google uses as ranking signals. They measure loading performance (Largest Contentful Paint), visual stability (Cumulative Layout Shift), and interactivity (Interaction to Next Paint). Pages that perform well on all three may rank higher as a result. The technical SEO guide covers how to measure and improve each metric.
How long does SEO take to show results?
For a new site with no existing authority, meaningful organic traffic typically takes 6 to 12 months. Established domains targeting less competitive terms can see movement in weeks. The timeline depends on domain age, current technical health, content quality, competitive pressure, and how consistently SEO work is maintained. Quick wins from fixing technical issues are possible early; compounding growth comes later.
What is keyword research?
Keyword research is the process of identifying the queries your target audience uses in search, then mapping those queries to content that matches their intent. It goes beyond search volume to examine intent (informational, navigational, transactional), competitive difficulty, and how topics cluster together. The keyword research guide covers intent mapping, topic clusters, and how to prioritise targets.
What is local SEO?
Local SEO is the practice of optimising a business's online presence for geographically specific searches, such as "plumber near me" or "accountant in Bristol". The most important asset is a well-managed Google Business Profile, followed by consistent citations, review signals, and location-specific page content. The local SEO guide covers each element in detail.
What is a backlink, and why does it matter?
A backlink is a link from another website to yours. Search engines treat backlinks as votes of trust: a link from an authoritative, relevant site signals that your content is credible. Not all backlinks carry equal weight. A link from a high-authority, topically relevant source is worth far more than one from a low-quality directory. The off-page SEO guide covers link acquisition strategies and what makes a backlink valuable.
How is AI changing search?
AI Overviews and generative answer engines are changing how content gets surfaced. Users increasingly receive synthesised answers rather than a list of blue links, which means brands need to be cited sources as well as ranked pages. This emerging discipline is called Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO). The AI search guide covers how to adapt.
What is content strategy in SEO?
Content strategy in SEO is the planning process behind what to publish and why. It covers topical authority, content types, internal linking architecture, and how to maintain a content output that builds over time. The goal is thorough coverage of a subject area so a site ranks across many related queries. The content strategy guide covers editorial frameworks and how to build a site that ranks at scale.