Most articles explaining SEO start and end with the same empty sentence: “SEO is search engine optimization.”
This sentence is not wrong, but it is so superficial that it doesn’t help anyone understand what it is really doing , why some pages appear on the front page and others disappear without a trace.
In practice, SEO is the process of building trust and relevance between a website and Google. Google does not award positions for beauty, nor for the number of keywords, but for what best serves the user at a given moment.
SEO is not a single action. It is a series of small decisions, made correctly and with patience, that over time produce results.
What problem does SEO solve in business?
Regardless of the industry – rental cars, clinics, marketing agencies, hosting & domains, building materials or filtration systems – the problem I encountered was always the same:
business was not visible.
The website existed, the service was real, but potential customers couldn’t find it on Google. And if you’re not on the first page, you practically don’t exist. SEO exists for exactly that reason: to connect people’s real demand with the page that makes the most sense to show them.
SEO in practice: a real case, not theory
One of the most significant cases I have worked on is a car rental website in Tirana. Before we started, the site was not ranking on the first page for any valuable keywords. The competition was strong and the industry was very aggressive.
After about three months of steady work, the site achieved:
- first place for “rent car tirana”
- Top 5 positions for many long-tail keywords and queries related to car rental and travel
This wasn’t achieved by mechanically “optimizing” an existing page. It was achieved by understanding what people really ask and answering those questions consistently, with content based on the company’s real experience. Two articles a week, no rush, no gimmicks.
Mistakes that will teach you more than any SEO course
In my early days, I made classic mistakes: I was in a hurry, relied too much on artificial intelligence, bought weak backlinks, and stuffed texts with keywords. On paper, it looked like I was doing “hard SEO.” In reality, I was building something without a foundation.
What I learned over time is that SEO is unforgiving. It may not penalize you right away, but it simply doesn’t reward you. And a lack of results is often the clearest punishment.
SEO is simple to explain, but very difficult to implement properly.
What is SEO today (and why many people do it wrong)
Today, SEO is not about gimmicks. Google is much better at distinguishing between content written for people and content produced solely for rankings. The content it wins is that which reflects real experience , not just recycled information.
Backlinks continue to exist, but they are misunderstood. It’s not just the fact that you have a link that matters, but why that link exists . If there is no logical connection between your industry and the source that refers to you, Google will either ignore it or see it as a negative signal.
Why I Never Promise Time on SEO
SEO is not a mathematical formula. It is closer to a football match than a laboratory experiment. You can do everything right and still not win immediately. I am a Real Madrid fan and this is one of the things that football teaches you well: dominance does not guarantee the result.
In SEO, what guarantees something is consistency and experience , not artificial deadlines.
How to realistically measure SEO success
Success is not measured by how good an article looks, but by how often it appears and how many clicks it gets. Impressions and clicks show whether Google considers you relevant. Positioning on the first page is the main objective, because that’s where the real game happens.
If a topic loses interest over time, that doesn’t make SEO a failure. It just shows that the market is changing and the strategy needs to adapt.
How my way of doing SEO has evolved
Over time, I’ve moved from a technical obsession to a more natural approach. Today, I don’t try to impose meta descriptions or artificial titles on Google. The title of the article is a real title, the content is written for people, and Google is allowed to do its job.
Ironically, it was when I stopped “manipulating” SEO that results started to grow more consistently.
Does SEO work for every business?
SEO works for any business that has real demand online . If no one is looking for your product or service, SEO can’t create demand out of thin air. It can only increase visibility, not artificial interest. This is especially true for local businesses and professional services, where people search directly by city or area, and a concrete example of how this works in practice is local SEO for businesses that offer professional services .
What is SEO, after all?
SEO is the process of building trust between a business and Google through content that has real meaning for people. It’s not magic, it’s not a shortcut, and it’s not quick. But when done right, it’s one of the most sustainable investments a business can make online.
