SEO

What exactly does SEO do?

SEO is the work of getting your website ready so search engines can find it, understand what it says, and show it to the right customers. Google explains that search works in three stages: crawling, indexing and serving results.

Crawling is when a search engine's automated visiting program reads your pages. Indexing is when it analyzes what it read and adds it to its searchable list. Serving results is when a customer searches and the engine picks the right page from that list to show them.

SEO makes sure nothing gets stuck at any of these three stages. Google itself says that following all of its guidelines still doesn't guarantee crawling, indexing or visibility, so the realistic goal is to steadily build "a structure with no roadblocks" and "content that's genuinely useful to customers."

• It has to be readable: search robots must be able to get in, and your pages must be connected to each other with links.
• It has to be understood: titles, body text and photo descriptions need to be written out as text so search engines know what you sell.
• It has to be chosen: for the same search, your page has to answer the customer's question better than other businesses' pages.

What's the difference between SEO, GEO and AEO?

All three share the same goal of "making your business visible when customers look for it"; what differs is the screen where customers get their answer. SEO targets the list of search results, AEO (answer engine optimization) targets the short answer that appears right at the top of the search page, and GEO (generative engine optimization) targets the answers AI writes out in full sentences.

In practice, most of the work overlaps. You start with a structure search engines can read easily, then add sentences that answer questions directly and accurate business information, so it isn't three separate jobs.

For a small business, a sensible order is to get the SEO basics in place first so search engines can read your site, then polish your FAQs and the paragraph introducing your business to cover AEO and GEO at the same time.

How is Naver SEO different from Google SEO?

The website basics are the same; what differs is how the results page looks and which tools you use to manage it. On Naver, its own services such as Place, Blog and Cafe take up a big part of the search results, and your website shows up in the website section among them.

That's why the impression and click numbers in Naver Search Advisor don't include the blog search section or search ads. To bring in customers from Naver, it's a good idea to keep your Naver Smart Place information in line with your website as well.

Google gives more weight to web pages, and in local searches your Google Business Profile (the business info shown on the map) appears alongside them. On both, the starting point is writing your business name, address and phone number exactly the same as on your website, down to every character.

How do you use your blog, Place listing and website together for Naver SEO?

You don't pick one of the three; it works best to give each a role and use them together. Your Place listing shows location, hours and phone number to customers looking for somewhere to go right now, your blog draws interest with behind-the-scenes posts and news, and your website is the reference source that holds your prices, services and booking details most accurately.

Which section shows up first in Naver's results depends on the search. A search for a business and a search for how to do something can bring up differently arranged results pages, so it's safer to have all three in place than to rely on just one.

The key is linking the three together. Put your website address in the website field of your Place listing, add a link at the end of blog posts to your detailed pricing and booking pages, and connect your website to your map and news pages.

When your information changes, having a set order keeps things from getting confusing. Update your website first, match your Place information the same day, then post a notice on your blog if needed. Having one place as the reference keeps the information on all three from drifting apart.

Where should a small business website start with SEO?

Start by making sure your website reliably shows up when people search for your business name. Going after "area + business type" searches when your own name doesn't come up yet is doing things in the wrong order.

Right after launch, work through the steps in order in one go; after that, you just check the checklist items yourself once a month. Everything here assumes a small business website with 5–10 pages.

To make this easier to follow, let's use a made-up business as an example. Say the owner of a flower shop called Deulkkot Sangjeom ("Wildflower Shop") in Mangwon-dong has just launched a new 6-page website. It isn't a real shop, just an example for illustration.

First, the owner matched the address format on Smart Place and Google Business Profile to the one on the website. They assigned the home page to "Mangwon-dong flower shop," the bouquet page to "Mangwon-dong bouquet same-day pickup," and the class page to "Mangwon-dong flower arranging one-day class," and they turned the price list, which had only existed as a photo, into a text table.

A month later, Search Console showed the class page was getting impressions for flower arranging searches but almost no clicks. That was because the description shown in search results was "Welcome to Deulkkot Sangjeom." The owner rewrote it with the information customers need to choose, like "Bookings for 2 or more, 90-minute class, prices including materials," and compared the same report again the following month.

• When you search your business name, do your website, Place listing and Business Profile all show up?
• Does each page have its own title and first paragraph, including the search term that page is responsible for?
• Are details like prices, hours and parking written as text rather than shown in photos?
• Does each photo have a short description of what's in it (alt text)?
• Did you update your website first with any changed menu items, prices or days off?
• If you deleted a page or changed its address, does the old address forward to the new one?

1. 01Write out your business name, address, phone number and hours one per line, and make sure they match Naver Smart Place and Google Business Profile exactly.
2. 02Pick one search term for each page to target. For example, "Mangwon-dong flower shop" for the home page and "Mangwon-dong flower arranging one-day class" for the class page.
3. 03Work that search term and your business name naturally into the page title, main heading and first paragraph, and write prices and times as text, not photos.
4. 04Register your site with Google Search Console and Naver Search Advisor and verify ownership.
5. 05Submit your sitemap to both, and request indexing for your main pages.
6. 06Open the site on your own phone and check that the first screen loads quickly and the call and booking buttons are visible right away.
7. 07A month later, check in both tools which search terms you appeared for, and rewrite the titles and descriptions of pages with lots of impressions but few clicks.

What are common SEO mistakes?

The most common mistake is believing that the more search terms you cram in, the better. Google classifies unnaturally repeating the same words or area names to manipulate rankings as "keyword stuffing" spam.

Spending time on outdated tricks is common too. Google has stated that it doesn't use the meta keywords tag in search, that putting keywords in your domain name barely affects rankings on its own, and that word count by itself isn't a ranking factor.

Another is treating SEO as a one-time job you do right before launch. If your menu, prices or hours change but your website stays the same, both search engines and customers end up seeing outdated information.

• Uploading your menu, price list or hours only as a single designed image
• Giving every page the same title: just your business name
• Leaving the "block search engines" setting from development switched on after launch
• Listing area names one after another, like "Gangnam · Yeoksam · Seolleung · Samseong hair salon"
• Overhauling your titles and URLs after just a few weeks because results don't show up right away

How is SEO changing with Google's AI Overviews?

The basics stay the same; think of it as one more screen to check. Google says there are no extra technical requirements or special optimizations needed to appear in AI Overviews and AI Mode: any page that's indexed and eligible to show in search results with a snippet can be included.

What changes is that customers read the answer first and then pick a link. Google explains that both features break a single question into several subtopics and run related searches at the same time, so they can show a wider variety of links than regular search. That's why it pays to cover everything customers will want to know next, like parking, how long it takes and what to bring, on your page, rather than focusing on one main search term.

AI Overviews only appear when Google judges they'll be more helpful than regular search, so many searches don't trigger them, even in the same industry. Visits that come through AI features are counted together with regular search under the "Web" search type in Search Console's Performance report.

Settings that limit the text shown in search results, such as nosnippet, max-snippet and noindex, apply to AI features in exactly the same way. But because they also reduce your visibility in regular search, a business website that wants to bring in customers is usually better off leaving them alone.

• Don't block crawling: Google's robots must be able to get in, not just through robots.txt but also through your hosting and security settings.
• Put important information in text: write prices, hours and conditions in the body, and use photos and videos to support that text.
• Keep structured data identical to the page: don't enter prices or hours that differ from what's shown on screen.
• Keep your Business Profile up to date: when your hours, phone number or days off change, fix them that same day.
• AI-only files aren't required: Google states you don't need to create new machine-readable files, AI text files or special markup to appear in these features.

How long does SEO take and how much does it cost?

It takes anywhere from a few weeks to a few months depending on the search terms and competition, and the cost depends less on a going rate than on what gets done, across how many pages, and how often. Google says changes can take anywhere from a few hours to a few months to show up in search, and that no company can guarantee a #1 ranking.

It usually takes longer when your domain is new and search engines don't know it well yet, when there are many well-established competitors in the same area, or when you have so few pages that there aren't enough to target search terms with. On the other hand, searches for your business name, where there's almost no competition, tend to settle in relatively quickly once you're indexed.

When comparing quotes, match up the scope before the price. One-time initial setup, keyword research and writing copy for each page, and ongoing post-launch management where someone reviews the numbers and makes fixes every month all take different amounts of time, so two quotes that both say "SEO included" can differ a lot.

If you hire an agency, it's best to avoid any that promise a timeline and ranking, like "#1 within a month." After launch, keep your Search Console and Search Advisor accounts in your own name so you can keep seeing your past search data even if you switch agencies.

• Do they write a separate title and description for each page?
• Do they handle Search Console and Search Advisor registration and sitemap submission? Who holds the account permissions?
• Do they check that the search-blocking setting is turned off before launch?
• Can they show examples of work for similar businesses or areas, and explain what results to expect and roughly when?
• After launch, which numbers do they report and how often?
• Can they explain what they'll fix if your rankings don't improve?

How do you measure SEO results?

You judge SEO results by looking at impressions and clicks in search tools together with whether real calls, bookings and inquiries have gone up. If you only watch your ranking, the number changes with the searcher's location and device, so it's easy to misread the trend.

Google Search Console shows impressions, clicks, click-through rate and average position by search term and page, and Naver Search Advisor also shows your site's impression and click trends. Google says you don't need to check Search Console every day; about once a month, or whenever you change your content, is enough.

A drop in the numbers doesn't mean you need a major overhaul right away. Searches themselves can dip with the seasons, holidays and weather, so compare with the same month last year or the trend over several months, and if only one page has dropped, check that page's indexing status first.

1. 01Open Search Console and Search Advisor on the same day each month, and set the period to compare with last month.
2. 02First check for indexing errors or new alerts, and fix those first if there are any.
3. 03Pick 3 search terms with lots of impressions but a low click-through rate, and rewrite the title and description of those pages to fit what customers are asking.
4. 04If you're showing up for searches unrelated to your business, reread your body text to make sure it clearly says what you sell.
5. 05Note that month's number of calls, bookings and inquiries alongside your "where did they hear about us" notes, and pick one page to improve next month.