Core Concepts

SEO Means Optimising for Search Engines

It's not about "gaming" the system. It's about reducing the cost of information retrieval.

If you help search engines work faster and smarter, they reward you by showing your content to more users. Here is the technical reality of how that works.

The Misconception

More Than Just Keywords

Many people talk about SEO, but if you ask them what it actually is, you’ll hear a lot of different answers. People will say that SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is all about things like:

Getting your website to rank #1 on Google for certain keywords.

Stuffing your pages with the “right” keywords.

Building backlinks to boost authority.

Tweaking technical settings or meta tags to appease algorithms.

Using secret tricks to “game” the search rankings.

Whereas the end result may actually be to improve the overall visibility of your website so that you get more leads or sales—this is only the end goal.

So, what is SEO really about?

In simple terms, SEO is about making your website as friendly as possible to search engines – in other words, optimising for search engines in a way that helps them do their job more efficiently. And why? Because the longer it takes for them to "understand" your website the more resources they need to expend in order to be able to deliver great results and more resources costs them...well, more time and money.

The real goal isn’t just to achieve a top ranking or to tick off some checklist; the goal is to make it easier (and cheaper) for search engines to find, index, and retrieve information from your website.

The Mechanics

The Cost of Information Retrieval

Key Concept

Information retrieval (IR) is the process search engines use to fetch relevant information from a huge pool of data. Every extra second a search engine spends crawling confusing site structures is an added “cost.” SEO, at its core, is about reducing that cost.

In this context, “cost” is about the effort and resources a search engine must expend to get information from your site.

But think about that for a minute... there are billions of search queries carried out every day worldwide. This means A LOT of resources need to go into that process. Resources require time and infrastructure which in turn costs MONEY.

It's not just about delivering an excellent end SERP (Search Engine Results Page), it's about doing it as cost effectively as possible!

The Googlebot Perspective

Imagine Google’s crawler arriving at your homepage. If your SEO is poor, Googlebot might have to jump through hoops: dealing with slow page speeds, broken links, messy code, or unclear content. That’s a high cost.

On the other hand, if your site is well-organised, Googlebot’s job becomes easy. The easier (or “cheaper”) you make it for search engines to retrieve your information, the more likely they are to crawl you frequently and rank your pages.

The "Helpful Content" Connection
Recent updates reward sites that filter out bloated pages. Why? Because low-quality content wastes resources. By down-ranking unhelpful content, Google reduces its own processing load. One report noted a 40% reduction in unhelpful content showing up in results.

Core Strategy

5 Ways to Reduce Search Engines’ Workload

When we approach SEO from the perspective of helping search engines, best practices fall into place. Here is how each area lowers the “cost” of retrieval:

Technical SEO: Helping Crawlers Navigate

Think of this as the plumbing. Clean site structure and logical URLs give Google a roadmap. XML Sitemaps act as a cheat sheet. Fast page loading means Googlebot can fetch more pages in less time.

Structured Data: By adding Schema markup, you feed search engines explicit facts (e.g., "cooking time is 30 mins"). It’s like handing them a filled-out form rather than making them guess.

On-Page Optimisation: Making Content Digestible

This is about speaking the search engine’s language. Clear H1/H2 headings act as a table of contents. Semantic relevance means covering related topics (e.g., discussing "battery range" on a page about "electric cars") so Google instantly grasps the context.

Formatting: Bullet points and tables allow engines to extract answers for Featured Snippets with minimal effort.

Internal Linking: Connecting the Dots

A good internal linking strategy creates a network of related content. By building Semantic Content Clusters, you tell Google "these pages belong together."

Descriptive anchor text (e.g., linking the words "technical SEO checklist") gives the crawler a one-phrase summary of the destination page, reducing the processing power needed to understand it.

Page Experience: Satisfying Intent

If your page satisfies the user on the first try, they don't hit "back." This ends the search session successfully—a perfect outcome for Google. If users "pogo-stick" back to the results, it creates extra work for the engine.

Using the correct format (video vs text) and ensuring fast load times (Core Web Vitals) signals to Google that your page is a "low-risk" result to serve.

Backlinks: Earning Trust (Pre-Screening)

Links act as a shortcut for evaluation. If a trusted site links to you, Google can infer quality without spending as many resources analysing your page from scratch.

It’s like a professor reading a paper because it was cited by other experts. The backlinks have effectively done the verification work for Google.

Growth Strategy

Topical Authority: Becoming the Go-To Source

Topical authority refers to being recognized as a comprehensive library for a specific subject. If Google trusts you as an expert, it crawls you more frequently because it knows it will find value.

🎯

Keyword Research

Focuses on specific commercial terms ("best cupcakes London"). It targets what drives immediate business but is often narrow.

📚

Topical Research

Asks "What are ALL the questions a user might have?" It covers breadth and depth (e.g., recipes, history of pastry, decorating tips) to establish expertise.

Breadth and Depth

To achieve this, you need a Content Cluster approach: A "Pillar" page that is comprehensive, linking out to detailed "Cluster" pages. This structure makes the search engine's life easier by organising information logically.

The Payoff

Resilience. Sites with true topical authority tend to ride out algorithm updates better. Also, new content ranks faster because Google gives you the benefit of the doubt based on your site's reputation.

The Future

The Impact of AI and GEO

With the rise of ChatGPT and Google's AI Overviews, users often get direct answers. This has given rise to GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation).

Here is how the game is changing:

Citations Matter: AI tools now cite their sources. Being cited is a new form of visibility.
Structure is King: AI prefers content that is organized (bullets, summaries) because it is easier to extract.
E-E-A-T is Critical: AI models are picky. They will prioritize sources with demonstrable trust and authority.

In summary, AI rewards the same core principles: be the best, most reliable source. If you help the user, you help the AI deliver a good answer.

View our Generative Optimisation Service

Ethics

White Hat vs. Grey Hat

Why does "reducing search engine workload" matter? Because it is the definition of White Hat SEO.

The Sustainable Path

White Hat SEO

Aligns with guidelines. Focuses on genuine value. You are working with the search engine to help them satisfy users. This builds real equity that survives updates.

The Risky Path

Grey Hat SEO

Exploits loopholes (like buying links). You are essentially trying to "inject" authority artificially. It forces Google to spend resources detecting you, putting you in their crosshairs.

The Dead End

Black Hat SEO

Blatant cheating (cloaking, spam). This creates chaos for search engines and usually results in penalties or bans.

As we move into an AI era, the gap widens. AI likely won't cite a "Grey Hat" site as a trusted source. The best way to optimise is not to cheat.

The Bottom Line

SEO is a partnership. You create the repository of knowledge; the search engine connects people to it. Rankings are the reward, not the goal.

Serve the user, and in doing so, serve the search engine.