By definition, SEO is Search Engine Optimization which explains pretty clearly what you are trying to do with the techniques as by improving the visibility of your site to the various search engines out there, will increase your overall ranking in the list. The closer you are to the top of page 1, the person doing the searching is more likely to click on your link than on someone else’s link on, say, page 32 of the results.
Good quality content will generate a good ranking and you should try to ensure that any article or blog you publish contains unique information and is not a cut and paste from another source. I appreciate that writing about traffic generation methods will lead to duplication of the ways that this is accomplished, but if writing with your own slant and knowledge of the subject, this will be viewed as unique in that situation.
There are also two schools of companies that promote their SEO abilities, namely white hat and black hat. The difference is that white hat methods are designed to promote your site within the constraints set by the ranking companies whereas those employing black hat use techniques to fool and wrongly manipulate the search engines to bring in more traffic. Once your site is found to be using black hat processes, you will find that it both loses ranking and will get banned along with other possible clean sites you are running so it is not a risk worth taking.
The results of a well presented SEO site will not be an overnight success, but will show a gradual and growing increase of traffic visiting your site and clicking on your offers. Sites with good SEO on their sites will definitely show a faster rise up the rankings that a site without!
One problem though that you face are the everchanging “rules” of the bigger search companies so you need to be aware of what is and, of course, what isn’t allowed on your site. Many sites have been seen to vanish off the rankings when a new protocol is introduced and their site does not meet the new rules. This is why you must always be looking at current methods to add to your site and that probably means that a book written three years ago will now be out of date except for the essentials.
In conclusion, good SEO methods will help a site rise in the rankings for the selected search keywords, but always ensure that you are reading and working within the current guidelines so that you are not punished as they change.
What are your experiences with the search engines and do you maximise your SEO at every opportunity or just adapt as you produce content? Let me know below please!
4 replies to "What Exactly Is SEO?"
Hi Dave
On some blogs I worked on years ago I used to experiment with the HTML meta-keywords (remember those), they are about as useful as a chocolate teapot now!. I used to search through search engine listings for a certain phrase or keyword and then check out the top 3 sites list of keywords using my Browser HTML viewer for that page.
Another point about SEO and optimization is that while you have tools like Google Keywords you are still on guessing to an extent as to what people are typing in, or actually looking for.
The theory of the day was go and type in a phrase like ‘potty training your dog’ and see how many people were searching for that and related terms, and then pick perhaps a medium range keyword to give say 100 visits a day, which was fine, and it did give you an indicator of what people were looking for. But it did not tell you the most popular phrases within that niche, and how to find them.
I’ve also found that posts and articles I put up with no SEO and really no care putting them together has resulted in page 1 rankings and a consistent level of traffic, sometimes more traffic than all other posts put together. So it just goes to prove the point about the difference between guessing a good search phrase and what people are actually looking for.
Suppose it’s the old penicillin moment when we discover that phrase by accident.
Regards
Andrew
Thanks Andrew for the comment
I remember meta tags and the like; never knew what they were, but still tried hard to optimize for them as per the instructions from the various plug ins I had on the site.
To be honest, like you, I’m now writing for me and hope that people find my musings interesting enough both to read and to make comment
DaveT
Hi Dave,
Regarding the white hat and black hat SEO. Nowadays, it is better to stick with white hat seo tactics rather black hat techniques for long term results. Though many people are still cling to black hats as they want fast and instant results 🙂
Cheers! 😉
Glen
Hi Glen
I think the black hat methods only work for a short time, but if the person can make enough money in that short period then they will probably continue in that vein until found out and banned.
I want to try and grow a viable on-line business so will stick with white hat methods as I know that I won’t be punished of I stick within the rules
DaveT