What is SEO (Search Engine Optimization)?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website or webpage in a search engine’s unpaid results—often referred to as “natural,” “organic,” or “earned” results. In general, the higher ranked on the search engine results page (SERP), and the more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine’s users. SEO may target different kinds of search, including image search, video search, academic search, news search, and industry-specific vertical search engines.
SEO techniques can be classified into two broad categories: techniques that search engine companies recommend as part of good design (“white hat”), and those techniques of which search engines do not approve (“black hat”). The search engines attempt to minimize the effect of the latter, among them spamdexing. Industry commentators have classified these methods, and the practitioners who employ them, as either white hat SEO, or black hat SEO.
SEO is an acronym for “search engine optimization” or “search engine optimizer.” Deciding to hire an SEO is a big decision that can potentially improve your site and save time, but you can also risk damage to your site and reputation. Make sure to research the potential advantages as well as the damage that an irresponsible SEO can do to your site. Many SEOs and other agencies and consultants provide useful services for website owners, including:
• Review of your site content or structure
• Technical advice on website development: for example, hosting, redirects, error pages, use of JavaScript
• Content development
• Management of online business development campaigns
• Keyword research
• SEO training
• Expertise in specific markets and geographies.
Technical Terms Used in Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Here are some common terms used in search engine optimization (SEO):
Keywords: Words or phrases that a user enters into a search engine to find relevant websites or content.
On-page optimization: The process of optimizing the content and HTML source code of a webpage to improve its ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Off-page optimization: The process of improving the ranking of a webpage by building links from other websites.
Meta tags: HTML tags that provide information about a webpage, such as the title, description, and keywords.
Meta description: A brief summary of a webpage that appears in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Alt text: A text description of an image that is used for SEO purposes and is displayed if the image cannot be displayed.
Backlinks: Links from other websites to a webpage, which can improve the ranking of the webpage in search results.
Anchor text: The clickable text in a hyperlink.
Canonical tags: HTML tags that tell search engines which version of a webpage to prioritize when there are multiple pages with similar or duplicate content.
Content marketing: The creation and distribution of valuable, relevant, and consistent content with the goal of attracting and retaining a clearly defined audience.
Link building: The process of acquiring backlinks from other websites to improve the ranking of a webpage in search results.
Local SEO: The practice of optimizing a website for local search results, such as for a specific city or region.
Long-tail keywords: Longer, more specific phrases that are less commonly searched for but may have less competition in search results.
Mobile SEO: The practice of optimizing a website for mobile devices to improve its ranking in mobile search results.
On-site SEO: The practice of optimizing a website’s content and HTML source code to improve its ranking in search results.
Page speed: The speed at which a webpage loads, which can impact its ranking in search results.
Schema markup: A type of microdata that helps search engines understand the content of a webpage and display it in a more useful way in search results.
Technical SEO: The practice of optimizing a website’s technical aspects, such as its server configuration and code, to improve its ranking in search results.
Title tag: The HTML element that specifies the title of a webpage, which appears in the title bar of a browser and in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Content optimization: The process of optimizing a website’s content to improve its ranking in search results.
Internal linking: The practice of linking to other pages on the same website, which can help search engines understand the structure and content of the site and improve its ranking in search results.
Long-form content: Content that is longer and more in-depth than typical web content, often containing more than 1,000 words.
Mobile-first indexing: A policy adopted by search engines in which the mobile version of a website is used as the primary source of information for indexing and ranking.
Off-site SEO: The practice of improving a website’s ranking in search results by building links from other websites.
Page authority: A score, on a scale of 0 to 100, that predicts how well a webpage will rank in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Search intent: The purpose or goal behind a search query, such as finding information, making a purchase, or navigating to a specific website.
Sitewide links: Links that appear on every page of a website and can have a significant impact on its ranking in search results.
User experience (UX): The overall experience of a user when interacting with a website or app, including how easy it is to use and how satisfied the user is with it.
XML sitemap: A file that lists all the pages on a website and is used to help search engines discover and index the site’s content.
Alt tag: An HTML attribute that specifies an alternative text for an image, which is displayed if the image cannot be displayed and is used for SEO purposes.
Domain authority: A score, on a scale of 0 to 100, that predicts how well a website will rank in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Keyword density: The percentage of times a keyword or phrase appears on a webpage in relation to the total number of words on the page.
Link popularity: The number and quality of links pointing to a webpage, which can affect its ranking in search results.
Meta keywords: A list of keywords that are relevant to a webpage, which are used by some search engines to help determine the page’s content and ranking in search results.
Off-page SEO: The practice of improving a webpage’s ranking in search results by building links from other websites.
Page rank: A score, on a scale of 0 to 10, that was used by Google to measure the importance of a webpage and was used as a factor in determining its ranking in search results. Page rank is no longer updated.
Search engine friendly: A website that is easy for search engines to crawl and index, and that follows best practices for SEO.
URL structure: The organization of a website’s URLs, including the use of folders and subfolders, which can impact its ranking in search results.
Web crawler: A software program that scans the Internet and indexes websites for search engines.
