SEO Basics
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It is the methodology of obtaining natural web traffic from search engines like Yahoo, Google, Bing etc for free. It is one of the most time consuming and difficult tasks a webmaster has to go through when developing or promoting a website. SEO also stands for Search Engine Optimizer or the one who does the SEO for a company. You must understand that SEO and Search Engine Marketing are two different concepts which are linked in a concentric manner.
Notion about SEO
It is a notion that the earlier you come up when people search for something, the more web traffic you will get. More technically we could say that the better search engine ranking position you have in the SERP’s (Search Engine Ranking Pages), the more people are going to visit your site. You could keep track of the web surfers who visit your site by using various traffic analysis tools. It is generally proved right. Most web surfers do not go beyond the first 10 results a search engine returns. Some people do not go past the first 3-5 results. That means the higher the position of your website, more chances of people coming to visit your site and probably buying something you have to offer. SEO Training by Aaron mathew Wall, one of the most recognized names in the SEO industry proved to be a great eye opener for me.
Why do you need SEO?
Search Engine Optimization is a tricky business. Search engines often keep updating their algorithms which decide which website should come up in the top of the SERP’s. Webmasters need to keep up with the latest trends in order to have a competitive edge. What might work today might not work tomorrow from an SEO stand point.
There are various paid techniques through which you can bring in visitors to your website or blog. All webmasters want to increase web traffic to their website. Would you prefer a free and targeted method of driving traffic to your site or an expensive method like PPC (Pay Per Click)? Obviously, you would choose the free method.
To have an effective reader base you need to opt for the best method to drive traffic to your website. I would say that even though SEO is the best method to bring in loads of visitors, you need to have patience because SEO can take time.
One major advantage of SEO other than it being free is that the visitors are all targeted. This means that they are high quality traffic and we have a huge chance of selling to them and making profits.
SEO Classification and Methodologies
Search engine optimization can be classified into two
- On Page SEO
- Off Page SEO
On Page SEO
One page search engine optimization takes into consideration various factors such as
- Keyword in your domain.
- Name of your file.
- The title tag.
- The description tag.
- The keywords tag (Now obsolete).
- Body Copy Text.
- Canonical URL’s.
- Headings.
- Sitemap.
- Fresh Content on your site.
- Robots.txt file.
- Broken links.
- Age of your site.
- Image optimization.
- Internal linking.
- Keyword Proximity.
- Keyword density (Now obsolete).
Off Page SEO
Off page SEO takes into account other factors such as
- Number of incoming links
- Anchor text of these incoming links
- Link diversity
- Quality of the links
- Page Metrics
- Site Metrics
- Number of years the domain is registered for
- Whether the domain was earlier dropped or not
- How fast the links appear and disappear
- Page rank
Note these factors are just the main ones. Google uses over 200 factors to decide which of your site should appear at the top of the rankings.
Hiring a SEO consultant
There are various SEO firms and consultants out there who can help you with ranking your website in the various search engines. This is one area where you need to be careful with. Nowadays there are a lot of Gurus who claim to be SEO expert where in fact they might know just the theory behind SEO. If someone says they are an SEO consultant then they must have a working knowledge about SEO. Only then can they provide the SEO service to others. There is nothing like guaranteed top 10 rankings. Since Google does not accept paid placements in organic searches, no one can guarantee a position. Hence look out for people who offer such guarantees as they are mostly behind your money. To be honest with you SEO is a very tiresome and resource intensive work. Let me remind you that SEO is never cheap and if someone offers you cheap SEO services then just be careful.
Why do SEO for your website?
Search Engine Optimization is a method used to analyze the effectiveness of a web page to appear in top positions of relevant searches. SEO can make the content present on the website more relevant and attractive. The potential customers find locating the data sturdy and niggling, if they don’t find the keywords. A good website is one which using no tricks, returns relevant information to the user and provides a solution to the user. If the traffic at the website is extremely low then there emerges the need for Search Engine Optimization.
Classification of SEO Techniques
The SEO techniques can be classified broadly into two main categories. This classification is on the basis of techniques that SEO commend and techniques which SEO condemn.
- White Hat SEO Techniques
White Hat is known as the computer Security Expert. The White Hat specializes in testing methodologies such as penetrating testing. White Hat makes certain that the vital information of the company is safe and sound. White Hat is also referred to as Sneakers or Tiger Teams sometimes, when companies employ them to carrying out the various security checks.
- Black Hat SEO Techniques
These are referred to as slang which breaks out into a computer breaching the security. Black Hat SEO has their specialization in penetrating of the authority of the system. These penetrations may lead to modification or destruction of the data.
SEO as a Marketing Strategy
Relevant Studies have shown that SEO is playing the role of a market strategy also these days. The Search Engine Referrals are not acting as a sales booster. A successful marketing strategy may increase the traffic on a site. SEO provides freedom from crawling and indexing of the sites. SEO technique may create a return on the investment. The SEO are not paid for organic traffic search and algorithmic changes. The step which SEO is following as a Marketing Strategy is continued referrals. All the top rated companies are using Search Engine Optimization as an irony and twist in their market value.
SEO Strategies
In order to keep the search high over a longer period of time there are certain strategies which are taking place.
- Update the Content Regularly: – Keywords are the basic targets of SEO. Updating of the contents and keeping them up-to-date regularly is very important. The incorporation of new words enhances the chances of grabbing traffic to a site.
- Get Appropriate Links for the Content: – In the SEO Strategies, link building plays a vital role. High quality inbound links are to be obtained from authority sources to gain trust with the search engines and obtain a better position in the SERP’s.
- Website should be Reviewed periodically: – The content of a web site should not be without links or non functional. Review of a website after a little period of time is necessary. If there are certain pages on the website which are taking longer time and not opening them should be examined properly. You should regularly check for broken links as well.
- Keyword Research should be Constant: – SEO is not a onetime task. There is always an emergent need to add new phrases. You should continuously target the long tail keywords while trying to optimize for the main phrases.
- Always Focus on Usability: – The best focus at the end of the day is the usability of the site. Just because you need to do SEO for your site, does not mean that you should render the site un-usable for the readers. It is a win-win situation only when both the search engines and the users get what they want. What use is it to get people to your site, only to see them leave?
SEO Training Resources
- SEO Book By Aaron Mathew Wall
- Free SEO Book by Dan theis
- Traffic Geyser- SEO domination