SEO (search engine optimization) is a set of methods and measures that are designed to increase the importance of a site in the eyes of search engines in order to increase search traffic.
In simple words, this is a set of tasks, by completing which, your site will have a greater chance of getting into the TOP-10 of search engine results, which means bringing in more users.
It is worth considering that today, for effective SEO promotion of a website, it is not enough just to complete a number of tasks: such a simple and magical step-by-step instruction simply does not exist. It is rather complex and complex work.
Why do you need SEO?
Simultaneously with the advent of search engines in the distant 90s, many users realized that they needed to learn search engine algorithms in order to easily get traffic and customers on the Internet.
At that time, an understanding came of why SEO was needed and such a profession as “SEO specialist” appeared – these were people who were professionally engaged in SEO promotion of sites.
During this period, basically, it was enough to spam the text with keywords in order to be in high positions. The search results were terrible and did not satisfy either users or search engines.
SEO-promotion of sites, what is it and what are the types?
As we said earlier, SEO promotion is a whole range of measures that require systematic work – from working on content to building up a link mass. But conditionally, all works can be divided into 2 types:
- internal optimization
- external optimization
Internal website optimization
This is the whole complex of measures that you apply directly to your site, and not on external resources. Here are some examples of such tasks:
- Compilation of the semantic core (preliminary stage)
- Development of the robots.txt and sitemap.xml file
- Correction of technical errors
- Work related to optimization on the page – writing text, writing Title and META tags. In the SEO world, this is called “on-page optimization” (optimization “on the page”)
- Site Structure Improvement
Image, video optimization - Linking work
- Working on commercial factors
- Work on behavioral factors
It should be borne in mind that all the parameters listed above must be constantly monitored and corrected. Experienced SEO specialists create checklists for themselves and regularly check sites against them. Otherwise, you may miss an important error that will lead to traffic loss.
External site optimization
External optimization – on the contrary, is a set of measures that you carry out on external resources. As a rule, this is work with link mass and brand awareness.
To get a good reference mass, it is important:
- Writing and publishing articles on external authoritative resources
- Posting press releases
- Exchange links with authoritative resources
- Active posting on specialized resources
- Working with journalists
- Increasing brand name awareness without linking
SEO optimization methods
As you understand, in any business, along with legal methods, not entirely legal or even prohibited methods may appear.
And SEO is no exception. Here are the following methods:
- White optimization
A completely legal method in which the work is aimed at improving the quality of the site by improving all of the above parameters. This is a huge work, which sometimes requires a lot of knowledge, but the result is worth it. - Gray optimization
A set of methods that, although not directly prohibited by search engines, are still somewhere “on the verge” of what is permitted. For the use of such methods, you can get under the filter. - Black hat optimization or “black-hat SEO”
Using methods that are prohibited by the rules of search engines. Sooner or later, the site will be filtered or banned. Such methods include, for example, doorways.
Simply put, as a result of high-quality SEO, the site rises in the search engine results, which means that the link to the promoted page receives traffic from visitors, which will be the greater, the higher the position of such a link. Therefore, answering the question of what SEO optimization is, we can also say that it is one of the most effective technologies for attracting cheap traffic to the site.
The principle of operation looks very simple
The user enters a query of interest to him, and the search engine builds a list of links to resources in a certain order.After that, the potential client gets acquainted with a brief description of the resource and goes to it if it interests him.
The higher in the results such a link is, the more likely the transition is, since the user usually does not go beyond the first page of the issue.The principle of constructing search results on demand uses a complex sorting formula that takes into account dozens of parameters.
At the same time, the exact algorithm for such a ranking is not disclosed by the owners of search engines, who voice only the general principles of building a high-quality and useful resource for people, helping to climb to the top. In practice, without the use of SEO promotion technologies, it is almost impossible to bring a site to the first page of search results in highly competitive commercial topics, even if its content and technical implementation are perfect.