By definition, Search Engine Optimization is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a website from search engines via search results for certain keywords.
Typically, the earlier a site is listed in search results, or the higher it “ranks”, the more searchers will visit the site. SEO can also target different kinds of searches, including an image search, local search, and industry-specific vertical search engines.
How does it work?
SEO employs a variety of techniques, mostly geared towards determining how search algorithms work and the type of searches being conducted. Site attributes like coding, content, and structure all play a role in impacting SEO.
What does SEO involve?
The first concept one needs to understand is that Google is capable of closely monitoring the SEO activity of millions of websites, and the framework and rules set forth by Google can both help and hurt a site.
Put simply, Google is remarkably intelligent, and as a result there are no shortcuts in content-based, non-pay-per-click SEO. There are no quick and underhanded ways to instantly make a site leap to the first listing on the front page of a search overnight. There are no loopholes or exceptions, and even if by chance you’ve found one and take advantage of it, it’s only a matter of time before Google finds out and your site may be blacklisted.
Your Content is Important.
Unique and original content that is optimized and enhanced for SEO purposes is one of the most reliable and surefire ways to ensure that search engine robots will notice your site.
Factors such as structure of language, choice of copy, and even presentation are all taken into consideration. Thankfully, these qualities can be tweaked for your benefit while also making your site more generally appealing to users in the process.
Content Optimization
Over are the days when SEO was simply about loading up code with META tags. Now every facet of a site from title tags and images, to copy placement and text formatting have an impact on not just SEO, but also how you wish your site to be presented to both Google and web users.
Using heading tags to present your information will make your content easier to read for your visitors as well as the search engine spiders. This post is a good example of how to use them. It is a very good practice to get into while writing new content for your site.
Making sure your images have alt and title tags will not only allow image disabled browsers to read all of your content but will also allow search engines to read what the image is about, giving you an incremental boost to your search rankings.
Phrase and Keyword Optimization
A large portion of optimizing your content involves choosing the right keywords and phrases for your site. Keywords are essentially any words or phrases that user may search for that would draw them to your site. Due to the shear volume of available information and more internet users being familiar with search, the average length of search queries has become longer, increasing the importance of key phrases.
Keep in mind that keyword “stuffing”, or blatant overuse of keywords is easily recognized by the search engines and can end up penalizing your site. It is much better to write content that is for people to read and not the search engines. What will really make your site prosper in the long run is satisfied visitors. That should always be foremost in all considerations for your site.
Web pages should have at least 300 words of quality content, enriched with your keywords. Also try to include keywords in your title tags without making it look overly blatant.
Code Optimization
Google visits millions of sites when conducting its indexing process, and as such can overlook sites that take longer to load due to poorly coded pages that make your site a cluncker.
Standard HTML has a reputation for being dense and heavy, so a website’s code needs to be as light as possible since long loading times for the user translates to long loading times for Google.
The code of your website must also present the content in your pages to the search engines in a manner that helps them determine what is actually on your site. You can provide the search engines with a sitemap that gives them directions through your pages and instructions of how to read them. You can also tell the search engines that you have a sitemap and where to find it.
Your code should also be pulling page titles and descriptions for your meta tags directly from your page content or allow you to easily customize them if you choose. You can get an idea of what information is being presented to the web by opening your browser and clicking on “View Source”. You should be able to find your site title, description and keywords with no trouble on every page.
External SEO
Your ranking may increase in Yahoo and MSN with the techniques already outlined, but for Google, you will need links on your site, and as many of them as you possibly can. This is called external SEO, and it can make a huge difference for your online presence.
One way to do it is to write articles and arrange for them to be posted on other websites with a link back to you. Blogging is another example of how you can garner attention, both from the search engines and from potential customers.
This leads us to the toughest part of the Google SEO process — back links. Back links are websites that link directly to your website. The general principal is the more back links you have, the higher your pages will be ranked, as the consensus is your page is more important if so many links are pointing to it.
Submitting your site to dmoz.org, Yahoo! and other directories can increase the number of sites linking back to yours; however, one issue is that setting up back links takes time. One technique of getting other sites to link to yours is to write “linkbait” types of posts.
Linkbait is generally a compilation of gathered information that allows a reader to find in one location something that they would normally have to surf to many websites to get. They tend to link to these types of posts as a resource for their own website visitors.
Do It Right
There’s no room for slackers and cheats when it comes to Google. There is no easy way out, and no foolproof method for getting to the top ranking instantly.
Though many sites may try resorting to shady tactics such as “black hat SEO,” “spamdexing,” or keyword and link stuffing, these can actually harm search engine results, and Google may remove them from their indexes altogether. The bottom line is that Google wants quality websites where the appropriate amount of work has been devoted to SEO.
Give Google its fair due of credit for being an intelligent, well-crafted search engine tool and it will reward you with a higher ranking. There are rules and guidelines that have been set forth for achieving strong results, some of which can be bent, but ultimately sites looking for more traffic want to adhere to these mandates.