Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the term used by online marketers describing the process and method to rank their website high from a search result.
Search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo are search platforms, where SEO is most applicable. Each of these search engines display relevant websites that closely match a users’ search term, and by using SEO correctly the most optimized site will be displayed in the first few pages.
SEO in a nutshell.
Search engines have a particular algorithm that spit out relevant websites; the job of the online marketer (or yourself) is to follow a set of guidelines or markers that are approving to search engines’ algorithm. A few of the basics would be:
Website Structure
Design and content are key.
By using SEO correctly you’ll be driving traffic to your site, but you want to keep them there. A clean simple user interface will gain your visitors’ retention and gain more repeat visitors. Your website needs to have a simple or a navigable interface for the user. If your users are lost on your site and they can’t easily go back and forth searching for things on your site then you pretty much lost visitor retention and repeat visitors.
As you drive traffic to your site, you also need to give your visitor the answer they are looking for. They need content. They want to read. Think of them as information-hungry animals. And as you create content for them, you are also developing your SEO strategy. Simply ask yourself what does my company do? Once you the answer come, then think about what the potential customer wants to know about a service or product that you offer. The idea is to generate content to give your customers the answers they seek – this will place your company in authoritative spotlight, which will translate to customers that confide in your work or products.
Content Optimization
Content is key. Your visitors want it and search engines need it so they can correctly rank you. This is why when you a crafting your latest article to answer or fulfill a web surfers need you need to think of a few things while or preferably after you finish your piece.
Use relevant keywords
Look over the article you just wrote. Is there a central theme? Probably there is. Well that theme is how you’d create your keyword(s). And this keyword is what a web surfer will probably type in a search engine’s search bar.
By using relevant keywords on an article you are beginning to craft your SEO chops. Don’t overdo it and repeatedly use the keywords a hundred times in your article. Find context that you can squeeze in your keyword or have similar phrase resembling said keyword. Also, use your keyword in H1, H2, H3 (header tags) title – just like I did in this article.
You’ll also want to have external links within article that direct reader to a resource where they can verify your writing. This gives clout to what you are expressing and leads to two SEO thumbs up.
While this is a brief and basic overview of SEO, it will lead you to better optimizing your website for higher ranking in search engines.
