Search engine optimization (SEO)

SEO is a process marketers use to acquire traffic from search results on search engine sites. SEO software tools are available to help the user create web pages that will appear at the top of search engine listings.

How it works

Companies that have a web presence must ensure that their website has a high ranking on search engine listings. To achieve this, they frequently use SEO tools to monitor where their website appears when keywords are searched for, and take steps to keep it moving up the search results page. Some of the important measures marketers take include coming up with the right keywords, linking to other websites, and generating content that includes frequently searched keywords or phrases, so that their website remains relevant to a wide variety of search queries. Search engines offer pay-per-click,
a service that places a company’s listing at the top of a search results page. Every click generates a fee payable to the search engine.

SEO process

Keyword research Use SEO tools to research the most popular keywords.

• ❯ Brainstorm keywords
• ❯ Find words in top engines
• ❯ Test traffic using words

Keyword selection Use a combination of intuition and analysis to choose words.

• ❯ Think of key phrases
• ❯ Avoid overused words
• ❯ Try variations of a word

Competition analysis Check competitors’ rankings to
ascertain how to rise above them.

• ❯ See ranking with SEO tool
• ❯ View rival web links
• ❯ Find top-ranked domain

Link-building Add links from related websites to point back to own site.

• ❯ Link to high-profile sites
• ❯ Contribute to forums
• ❯ Ask partners to link

Reporting and tracking Use tools to track traffic and report on website ranking.

• ❯ Focus on quality of visits
• ❯ Check server reports
• ❯ Tally sales from searches

Keyword revision Monitor search results from current keyword selection and make adjustments.

• ❯ Make sure terms aren’t broad
• ❯ Avoid specialized words
• ❯ Alter word order

SEO spider Software that crawls the internet, adding content to search engine databases

SEO TIPS

Avoid single words because multiple-word phrases rank higher.

Add blog to offer content that search engines will pick up.

Use reputable sites with relevant content to link back to your site.

Monitor search statistics using Google Keyword Tool, for example.

Prioritize
good content and update it regularly with keywords.

Give headings keywords that relate to content
on page.

NEED TO KNOW

❯ Robot.txt Text file that stops web crawler software, such as Googlebot, from crawling certain web pages

❯ Search algorithm Step-by-step calculation that looks for clues to decide on search rankings

❯ Metadata Information that describes stored data – data about data

❯ Cloaking Technique for improving SEO by making some web content invisible

❯ Panda and Penguin Two updates to how Google calculates its website rankings, preventing unfair rankings from SEO tools