Search engine optimization, or SEO as it is commonly called, is vital to a blog or website. Unless you just blog or have a website for fun and don’t care if anyone else in the world finds your site, you need to be aware of search engine optimization.
What is this search engine optimization thing that everyone is always talking about? SEO is a way of making a site more visible to search engines on the internet. Every website owner wants their site to have the highest rank possible because, in general, the higher the site ranks, the more visitors land on that site.
Search engine optimization accounts for how search engines work. SEO experts know things like what people search for, as in the exact words that are typed into a search engine to obtain results. There is a lot involved in properly optimizing a website. The practice of SEO originated back in the 1990s when the first search engines were just starting to catalog the web. The term ‘search engine optimization’ likely started being used in about 1997.
On Page SEO
On page search engine optimization involves making sure your website’s coding and structure are the best they can be. If there are issues with things like meta tags, duplicate content, and page load time, your rankings may suffer. It is also important that things like keyword density are taken into account.
Off Page SEO
Off page search engine optimization is all about making your site an authority site so that it can increase in rank in the search engines. This can be done by search engine submissions, article submissions, directory submissions, and by link building, among other things.
The problem with doing your own SEO is that it can be majorly time consuming. It can be done but if you run a site that needs constant content, then you will be taking time away from creating content to work on SEO issues. And if you are not really that familiar with SEO, you might cause more harm than good. This is because search engines are constantly changing the way they rank websites. What worked well a year ago may no longer work. If you are using outdated methods, without even realizing it, you might be jeopardizing your site’s rankings.
If you are not sure about the whole SEO thing, you might want to find a reputable company to take a look at your web presence. If you get some help with SEO, you might be surprised at the amount of traffic you begin to receive that you never realized was possible. An SEO expert can be just what you need to get your site to the next level of success.
About the guest author: Nirra Poret is a writer, blogger, and teacher. She occasionally writes content for Bullseye media, one of the top search engine optimisation agencies in the UK.
This is a unique article published on SEO Desk with exclusivity.
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I think that the biggest thing you didn’t discuss is the social part of the algorithm that is a factor when determining a websites ranking. I think that is is becoming more and more important and will eventually pass in importance compared to the amount of back-links to your site.
Twitter: seodesktips
says:
I agree with you Caleb
Nice tips but what I think is:
Seo is not very important anymore(although it is not dead yet) with after the latest update from Google in algorithm. Google is now smart enough to judge your content both syntactically and semantically. You cannot dodge him. Your first priority in these days should be write for people not for search engines to get long term benefits.
This is a great post about SEO. I have started learning all about SEO about 3 years ago and honestly, it never ends. You truly can’t stop learning about SEO because of how it changes all the time. It’s hard to stay on top of at times. Caleb was right when he said that the “social media” factor is a huge part in how Google ranks sites these days. Anyway, fantastic article! Thanks for the fresh wisdom
Hiring an seo expert is very much needed these days especially if you have no experience. Many sites are being penalized for over optimizing their sites the wrong way.
Very good, very interesting, very complete. I really thank you for sharing this tips that, if some of them are well known, they are not as much respected as they should be.
Congratulations for this great post,Nirra, and very nice to share it!
After the new Google update “penguin” quality of SEO is most important. Google has hit many sites who are doing spamming. Mostly people think that Penguin update means no SEO but it is not true because Google only wants to stop spamming. If we do White Hat SEO in ethical ways then I am deadly sure we will get huge reward in shape of improvement in our business, SERP and web traffic.
Post-penguin a lot of older, spammier methods just don’t cut it. The time factor can be cut down with some automation tools, but these again require time to learn.
You are right about suggesting using an expert. It is all about balance – doing the easily manageable things in-house, and letting experts use their toolkits for the trickier parts – in an ethical ‘white hat’ way of course.
Finding the right experts is a bit like the needle in the haystack, though. I recommend the reputable econsultancy.com database for finding good expertise – I’m in it
I wanted to thank you for this great blog! I really enjoying every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff you post.
Twitter: seomanipulator
says:
Great simple explanation for those just starting out.
im still learning about seo, done a lot of reading and a few trial and error on my blog.. it is really hard lol, sometimes i feel like giving it up but then we need traffic and visitors to our sites and yes we gotta have that high rank..
Just starting out in SEO I found this very helpful, thank you!
SEO is an ever changing process. I agree with the article that what worked a year ago might not work today. Companies that are proficient at SEO are able to boost sales of other companies by getting them ranked for their keywords in the search engines which allow for more traffic then in turn provides sales for said companies.
SEO is so hard to keep up with it drives me crazy. You no sooner get your posts ranking on page 1 and the mighty google makes a change and you are re-learning the whole ballgame. Very frustrating
Thanks for sharing the SEO techniques.
Personally, I think beside SEO, there are lots of ways to drive traffic like ‘articles writing’, ‘classified Ads’, ‘Video marketing’, ‘Forum’, ‘Adswap’, ‘Ebook Marketing’ and etc.
can you suggest me a list of free website directories please
Twitter: 282,000 esnntl
says:
Seemed to be gradual alteration and adjustment must have to adopt for we can get along with the virtualization of technology. SEO also comply this kind of changes and working more knowledgeable things about SEO must be done to adopt the ever changing environment of it.