If you are looking for more detailed information on SEO optimization, you may feel bombarded with answers. The simple question, “What is SEO?” will typically get you a response about ‘techniques’ used to ‘drive search engine traffic to your site.’ But what does any of that mean anyway?

Let’s start with the basics about search engines before we dive into a more detailed answer about how SEO works.

You probably already know that the major search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.) are the primary means by which users find sites with products/information that they want to know more about. The search engines have a complex set of methods, i.e. algorithms, that they use in order to return the best and most relevant results in the blink of an eye.

How do the Search Engines Build Indices?

Search engines have four primary functions:

  • Crawl the web to locate site pages
  • Index site pages into the directory of pages listed on the search engine
  • Rank these pages based on relevance and popularity for specific keyword terms
  • Generate useful results for users in a millisecond

After learning all of this, you may be wondering how this applies to improving your ranking with the search engines. Very simply, you need to make it easy for the search engines to do their job! One way to ensure that the search engines will index your site pages is to activate a sitemap. After that, it all comes down to the quality and optimization of the content on your site.

What is SEO and How Will it Help Your Site?

When done the right way, SEO can revolutionize the way that you do business online. In order to increase your site’s ranking, you need to successfully incorporate the principles of SEO optimization (using the right keywords at a particular density on each site page) and provide value to your readers/customers. In addition to that, you will need to increase the popularity of your site by creating engaging content that others will readily link to. (This strategy is called back linking.)

Choosing the Right Keywords

If you don’t know where to start with your content, first you need to choose some relevant keywords. There are some best practices that SEO experts use to do this, and we’ll discuss those in another post.

Answering the Question, “What is SEO?” — Using it to Your Advantage

The beauty of the way that these search engines operate is that when users type in a relevant keyword search term, you can use your content to guide your potential customers or target market directly to your site.

This post will eventually unfold into a multi-part series (and an Ebook). Any new webmaster or small business owner will need a crash course in SEO Optimization in order to make it work for them. If you still need more information on SEO, don’t worry. You are not alone, and I will be back to help soon!

Written by: Lauren Wilkison