SEO basic

SEO BASICS: AN OVERVIEW OF SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

Search engine optimization, otherwise known as SEO, has become one of the fundamental parts of digital marketing. Despite the ever-insistent presence of those who negate its importance, the fact of the matter is, SEO is truly one of the most vital processes that make your pages visible to the target audience in organicsearches.

What is SEO? It is the process that leads to your site gaining more traffic from search results that search engines present to users. There is so much information on general SEO out there, but this simple guide should allow you to have a bird’s eye view of what it is about.

Introduction to Search Engine Optimization

What is the purpose of SEO? Basically, search engine optimization is done to make your website more appealing to search engines. This means that there is a higher chance of your pages showing up in the first search result page and will be visited by the target audience. This is done through the use of different tactics, such as clear site structuring,  meta tags, internal link building, the use of valid for search engine HTML code, and appropriate keywords, social activity, back linking and, perhaps, the most important –  relevant content.

Keywords are the terms that people type into their search box to find the information they need. These keywords search engines use them to recognize what your site page is about and lead interested users to your website. So, it is just a matter of using these words when you build your content so that they correspond to what your audience usually looks for.

Backlinks are hyperlinks placed in different websites, leading readers to your own. Aside from keywords, they are also one of the main building blocks that makes search engine estimate your site as valuable. Appropriate back links help users to find your website by link.

Aside from these two factors, there are a number of other aspects that come with search engine optimization. It is truly a broad topic that encompasses a number of different concepts. One way to see how it works is by knowing the difference between on-site SEO and off-site SEO.

Understanding On Site and Off Site SEO

Is there search engine optimization beyond my own domain? That is right! SE is not bound by the limits of your website. Here is a basic explanation.

On Site SEO

·         There are a number of things that you have to optimize: website structure and URL address, robots.txt, and sitemap.xml  files – the last two provide the directives for SE robots on how to treat your site pages. You have to think about duplicate content, proper redirects, server errors, and internal linking.

When it comes to on site SEO, you have a long checklist facing you just to cover everything that needs to be done.

·         Have you installed Google Webmaster tools to check your site?

·         Have you learned how to use Google Analytics?