Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a digital marketing strategy designed to improve a website’s visibility on search engines like Google, while requiring minimal advertising expenditure. By effectively leveraging SEO, businesses can reach potential customers organically, without heavily relying on paid ads.
Google has consistently dominated the search engine market. According to Statista 2021, Google has maintained a usage share of 85–90% since 2010, far surpassing competitors such as Bing and Yahoo. Users trust the search results Google provides, regularly turning to the top-ranked pages for information, shopping, travel planning, and more.
Being featured at the top of search results — particularly on the first page — can significantly increase website traffic and brand exposure, connecting businesses with thousands of potential customers online. This is the core value of SEO.
The Fundamentals of SEO Process
SEO is a collaborative effort involving multiple divisions within an organisation, including sales, marketing, and content teams. A key component of effective SEO is analysing competitors: examining the content they produce, the keywords they target, and how they engage their audiences.
While Google is the preferred search engine, ranking principles generally apply across platforms: quality website content, authoritative backlinks, and strong user engagement are crucial for achieving higher search engine rankings.
The SEO process typically consists of six main phases:
- Business Research & Competitor Analysis
Understand your market, study competitor strategies, and identify opportunities to stand out. - Website Health Assessment & Keyword Research
Evaluate your site’s technical performance, content quality, and structure. Conduct keyword research to identify high-value search terms relevant to your business. - Strategy & Planning
Develop a plan covering content creation, link-building, social media management, and technical optimisation. Decide what types of content will be produced and how to attract relevant backlinks. - Implementation
Apply SEO optimisations across all pages. This phase can take 3–6 months to show results. Once your website starts ranking, consistent effort is needed to maintain and improve positions, particularly in competitive industries. - Monitoring & Assessment
Track performance metrics such as web crawler activity, traffic, and rankings. Regularly assess the effectiveness of your strategy to accelerate results and adjust tactics as necessary. - Maintenance
Conduct ongoing website updates and technical fixes. Optimise new content like articles and guides to maintain alignment with your SEO strategy.
During this process, businesses may also combine SEO with paid advertising campaigns for additional visibility. While paid ads appear at the top of search results as “Ad,” organic SEO provides a long-term, sustainable advantage in search engine rankings.
Quick Recap
SEO is the process of improving a website’s ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs), increasing visibility to potential customers. While it involves technical work and strategic planning, SEO offers a lasting competitive edge, attracting qualified traffic and boosting conversions over time.
For Malaysian businesses looking to enhance their online presence, a well-executed SEO strategy can deliver consistent, measurable results, contact SEO Agency now.
