Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines (Google, Yahoo! or Bing) via the “natural” or unpaid (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results. Other forms of search engine marketing (SEM) target paid listings. In general, the higher the positioning of your website displaying on the search result page, and the more frequently a website appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from search engines.
Search engine optimization affects only organic search results, not paid or “sponsored” results, such as Google AdWords.
As an Internet marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engines work and what information people search for online. Optimizing a website may involve editing its content and HTML and associated coding to both increase its relevance to specific keywords and to remove barriers to the indexing activities of search engines. Promoting a site to increase the number of outbound links or inbound links, is another SEO tactic. Therefore it is an important strategy to exchange links with other similar websites.
SEO is not a rocky science. The good practices outlined below will make it easier for search engines to both crawl and index your website content.
- Include the target key words in your domain name
- Include the target key words in the page title
- Use the target key words in your content
- Update your website content frequently
- Exchange links with other quality websites
- Post your website in related business directories
- Register your website on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter
Search engine optimization is often about making small modifications to parts of your website. When viewed individually, these changes might seem like incremental improvements, but when combined with other optimizations, they could have a noticeable impact on your site’s user experience and performance in organic search results.