Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of affecting the online visibility of a website or a web page in a search engine’s unpaid results often referred to as “natural”, “organic”, or “earned” results.
In general, the earlier (or rank higher on search results pages), and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine’s users.
SEO may target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, video search, academic search, news search, and industry-specific vertical search engines.
There are a number of techniques in use by web designers to achieve high rankings for a given web page. Likewise, these techniques can be classified into three main categories: on-page, off-page, and technical optimization.
On-Page Optimization
On-page optimization refers to all measures that can be taken directly within the source code and content of a website in order to improve its position in the search engine results pages (SERPs).
The majority of on-page optimization techniques are codified into a set of best practices known as search engine optimization guidelines or SEO guidelines.
Factors used in On-Page Optimization:
Title Tag: The title of a document is one of the most important factors for ranking in search engines. It is also the first thing a user sees when looking at search engine results. The title tag should be 50-60 characters long, including spaces, and include the main keyword for the page.
Meta Description: The meta description is a brief, 160-character snippet that appears under the title in search engine results pages. The meta description should include the main keyword for the page and should be enticing to users so that they will click through to the website.
Headings: Headings are important on web pages because they help to break up the content and make it easier for users to scan. They are also one of the most important factors for ranking in search engines. The main keyword should be included in at least one heading on the page.
Images: Alt text is an attribute that can be added to images to help improve their ranking in search engine results pages. The alt text should include the main keyword for the page.
Off-Page Optimization
Off-page optimization refers to all measures that can be taken outside the website in order to increase its rankings in the search results, such as link building and anchor text optimization.
In general, those techniques are more technical and difficult for end-users to implement. Likewise, many off-page optimization techniques are prohibited by the search engines, such as link farming and reciprocal linking.
Factors used in Off-Page Optimization:
Link Building: Link building is the process of acquiring links from other websites to a website. In order for links to be effective in increasing a site’s ranking, they must be from high-quality websites with high PageRank.
Anchor Text: Anchor text is the text that uses hyperlinks from one web page to another. The anchor text is the visible and clickable part of a link, for example, “click here” or “invest now”.
Domain Name: The domain name is one of the many factors search engines use in determining how a site should rank. Search engines will prioritize websites with names matching keyphrases in searches.
PageRank: PageRank is a metric of Google that measures the importance of a web page. The higher the PageRank of a website, the more likely it is to rank high in search engine results pages.
Technical SEO Factors
Technical SEO refers to all elements of a website that are technically visible or alterable by the website owner, including:
Crawlability: Search engine crawlers need to be able to access and index as much as possible on a site in order for it to be successful. The crawlability of a site can be improved by allowing only crawling robots access to the site, creating a sitemap, and using robots.txt files.
Indexability: Once a page has been crawled, it must be indexed in order for it to appear in search engine results pages. The indexability of a page can be improved by adding the correct meta tags to the source code, including the main keyword in the title tag, and using canonical URLs.
Relevancy: In order for a website to rank high in the search engine results pages, its content must be relevant to the keyword being searched. The relevancy of a website’s content can be improved by including the main keyword in the title tag, meta description, headings, and throughout the content.
The Importance of SEO on Website
1. Increased Traffic
The main benefit of SEO is the increase in traffic that it can bring to a website. By optimizing a website for search engines, it can rank higher in the results pages, resulting in more visitors.
2. Increased Revenue
With more traffic coming to the site, there is also the potential for increased revenue. Similarly, an increase in traffic can lead to increased conversions, which allows the site owner to generate more revenue.
3. Brand Exposure
SEO can help build brand awareness for a business. Similarly, If a website’s rankings are high enough in Google or Bing, then the business’ website will be more likely to be visited by potential customers who may not have otherwise been aware of the company.
4. Increased Customer Loyalty
Once a customer finds a website that they like, they are likely to return in the future. SEO can help keep customers coming back by ensuring that the website appears high in the search engine results pages for their relevant searches.
5. Improved Visibility
A well-SEO website will have higher visibility in search engine results pages. This increased visibility can lead to more website visitors, and ultimately, more customers.
6. Improved Credibility
Having a high ranking in the search engine results pages can give a website more credibility with potential customers. This is because people generally trust the results that they see in search engines. And, will be more likely to buy from a website that ranks highly.
7. Improved Site Traffic
SEO can help improve the traffic that users navigate their way through a site. An increase in navigation traffic can result in more conversions, thus improving revenue for the site owner.
8. Improved Website Performance
Search engine optimization can help improve the overall performance of a website. Similarly, this is because good SEO practices will ensure that the website’s code is clean and organized and that it loads quickly.
9. Increased Customer Engagement
A good SEO strategy can help to increase customer engagement on a website. This is because it will help to position the company’s content in front of the right audience, at the right time.
10. Reduced Costs
The final benefit of SEO is that it can help to reduce the costs associated with marketing a website. Similarly, by increasing traffic and improving visibility, SEO can help a business save money on other forms of advertising.
11. Increased Conversions
The final SEO benefit that will lead to increased revenue is the increase in conversions that it can help drive. In addition, because search engines send targeted traffic to websites when visitors convert they are more likely to spend money than random site visitors.
Conclusion:
SEO is an important part of any online marketing strategy and should be considered by all businesses that want to improve their visibility online.