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What is SEO? Whether you're new to the online space, an expert looking for definitions, or just trying to figure out what everyone is talking about, it's worth taking a look back to the basics of SEO.
1/30/2012
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, (Search Engine Optimisation for those of you who speak British), does have a succinct definition - Dictionary.com defines it int his way:
Search Engine Optimization
noun
the methods used to boost the ranking or frequency of a Web site in results returned by a search engine, in an effort to maximize user traffic to the site: The first step in search-engine optimization is to generate keywords that are relevant to your site's content. Abbreviation: SEO
The problem with this definition is that it's not very informational. It tells us that SEO is a set of methods for improving a website's rankings and traffic; but just what are those methods? In truth, the methods aren't an exact science, because new search engine technologies and user search behavior shifts are happening all the time, and because search engines are purposefully vague about their ranking algorithms in an effort to keep malicious webmasters from taking advantage of the system. That said, there are basic methods that hold true through all the shifting and evolving.
SEO can be segmented into three general categories: technical issues and considerations (code and structure), methods of housing content on your website (on-page optimization), and methods of gaining website authority (off-page optimization). We'll examine each of those categories in a little more detail.
What is SEO? Technical SEO
Technical SEO should be considered the backbone of a thorough SEO process. This includes the technologies and platforms your website is built on, how the information is structured and delivered, and specific methods of comminicating with search engines about your site.
Important aspects:
Use your robots.txt file properly to communicate with search engines - tell them which pages to ignore, but make sure not to block important pages
Show Googlebot (Google's web crawler) and other search engine's crawlers the same pages you show users (Search Engiones do not allow "cloaking" - serving different content to users than is shown to web crawlers)
Use technologies like JavaScript and Flash correctly - is JavaScript is disabled, make sure the content and navigation still works properly
Make sure your site pages load quickly - Google has begun to downgrade sites that load too slowly
Use an XML sitemap with all of your site pages listed to tell search engines what pages are on your site that you want to have indexed
Mistakes in areas of technical SEO can automatically ruin your search engine rankings, regardless of how great your site content is, so this is the first area to get in order.
What is SEO? Website Content
Website content is the next SEO key. The content on your site must simultaneously show users and show search engine crawlers what your site is about and why it is important. This means making the most of your Title and Meta tags - researching your keyword targets and placing them prominently - as well as using those same keywords in header tage and throughout the actual page content. Text content is extremely important, as well as making sure that images have file names and Alt tags that include your keyword targets.
What is SEO? Website Authority
Website authority is a key aspect of search engine ranking algorithms. This means that in order to prove to a search engine that your content is valuable, you must have the "votes" of other sites pointing to your content - or, links coming to your site from others. Links can be gained by placing your site into relevant directories, asking a related site to place a link to your site, or by producing great content that people will find and want to share with others. The key for getting the most out of your links is to make sure that they're links from quality sites that have related content to yours, and getting that "anchor text" (the words actually used in the link) are the keywords your targeting. Ideally, links will come from a variety of sites to a variety of your site pages on a variety of anchor text terms.
There are many resources available to learn more about each of these aspects of SEO, and researching what is right for your site is essential. Remember to take care of the basics before moving to the next steps, and don't forget the golden rule of SEO: if you build a great site, with great content and a great user experience, search engines will reward you as well. After all, search engines exist to show users the websites that best match what they're looking for.
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