Search Engine Optimization
The acronym “SEO” stands for Search Engine Optimization. It is the process of improving the visibility of a web page or a website in search engines via un-paid, organic/natural, or algorithmic search results. Other types of Search Engine Marketing or SEM, target paid listings. Generally the higher on the page and how frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will typically receive from the search engine. SEO can target numerous kinds of search such as: industry-specific vertical search engines, image search, video search and local search.
SEO gives a website its web presence. As a marketing strategy on the Internet, SEO considers what people search for and how search engines work. Promoting a site to increase the number of inbound links or backlinks is one SEO tactic. Optimizing a website may involve editing its HTML and associated coding and editing its content in order to remove barriers to the indexing activities of search engines and to also increase its relevance to specific keywords.
The acronym "SEO" can also refer to "search engine optimizers." This term has been adopted by employees who perform SEO services in-house along with an industry of consultants who carry out optimization projects on behalf of clients. Search engine optimizers may offer SEO as part of a broader marketing campaign or as a stand-alone service. Due to the fact that effective SEO may require changes to the site content and to the HTML source code of a site, SEO tactics may be incorporated into website design and development.
The term “search engine friendly” may be used to describe website designs, menus, videos, shopping carts, content management systems, images and other elements that have been “optimized” for the purpose of search engine exposure.
Black Hat SEO or “spamdexing,” is another class of techniques that utilizes methods such as keyword stuffing, article spinning and link farms that degrade both the user experience of search engines and the relevance of search results. Search engines look for sites that use these techniques and try to remove them from their indices.
