Search Engine Optimization – Everything you need to know

SEO stands for search engine optimization, which is a set of practices designed to improve the appearance and positioning of web pages in organic search results. Because organic search is the most prominent way for people to discover and access online content, a good SEO strategy is essential for improving the quality and quantity of traffic to your website.

Website visibility is commonly measured by the placement — or ranking — of the site on search engine result pages (SERPs). And companies always vie for the first page, where they are most likely to garner the most attention.

Using Google as an example, SERPs often feature ads at the top of the page. These are positions that businesses are willing to pay for to ensure placement on that first page. Following ads are the regular search listings, which marketers and search engines refer to as organic search results. The SEO process aims to increase a business’s organic search results, driving organic search traffic to the site. This enables data marketers to distinguish between traffic that comes to a website from other channels — such as paid search, social media, referrals and direct — and the organic search traffic.

Organic search traffic is usually higher-quality traffic because users are actively searching for a specific topic, product or service for which a site might rank. If a user finds that site through the search engine, it can lead to better brand engagement.

How deos SEO work ?

While there is a way to maximize results, it is almost impossible to fully manipulate search algorithms Businesses often look to the shortest path toward ideal results with the least amount of effort, but SEO requires a lot of action and time. There is no SEO strategy where something can be changed today with the expectation of clear results tomorrow. SEO is a long-term project, with daily action and constant activity.

Search engines use bots to crawl all website pages, downloading and storing that information into a collection known as an index. This index is like a library and when someone searches for something in it, the search engine acts as the librarian. The search engine pulls and displays relevant information from the search query and shows users content related to what they were looking for. Search engine algorithms analyze webpages in the index to determine the order those pages should be displayed on the SERP.

SEO Techniques

Technical optimization. This is the process of completing activities when building or maintaining a website to improve SEO. It often has nothing to do with the content that is on the page itself. Some ways to manipulate technical optimization include having an XML sitemap, structuring content in a way that is intuitive to user experience and improving site performance — such as page load times, correct image sizing and hosting environment.

On-page optimization. This is the process for ensuring the content on a website is relevant to the users. This content includes the right keywords or phrases in the headings and body of the copy; and ensuring that each page includes meta descriptions, internal links within the site and external links to other reputable sites, and a good URL with the focus keyword. Website administrators use content management systems to maintain on-page content.

Off-page optimization. This technique is deployed to enhance a site’s rankings through activities outside of the website. This type of activity is driven largely by backlinks. Businesses can generate these from partnerships, social media marketing and guest blogging on other sites.