What is SEO?
Written by Martin Wong on September 30, 2009
Search engine users click on the organic (non-paid) listings 85% of the time (Source: Forrester)
What Is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search Engine Optimization is the manipulation of websites in such a way that it ranks better on Google and other search engines. There are many techniques that are used to achieve this goal and they include site structure, on-page factors and off-page factors.
Site structure refers to the actual coding of your website. For Search Engine Optimization to work effectively, the search engines need to be able to read what’s on your page. Messy or misplaced code makes it harder for the search engines to read your content and is therefore harder for them to index your site.
On-page factors refer to the actual content of your website. This includes your homepage, descriptions, content and blogs. All of these can be optimized in such a way to help the search engines categorize your site properly so that the right people find your site.
Off-page factors make up the largest portion of SEO, but also work in conjunction with site structure and on-page factors. These include creating high-quality back links and building relationships with other sites in your genre.
The Importance of Optimization
The whole point of having a website is to make sales and increase business. But if you can’t attract the right people to your site, you won’t achieve that goal. That’s what SEO does. It helps raise your rankings on the search engines for keywords that will bring converting customers to your site. Once your site gets more high-quality traffic, you’ll start to notice an increase in business and sales. SEO is a step in the right direction toward growing your business and increasing your sales.
Related Topics:
- What Is Internet Marketing?
- How Search Engines Work
- Search Engine Marketing Explained
- Content Management Systems (CMS) Explained
- What Is Web Analytics?
- Internet Marketing Tools
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