Search engine optimization or SEO is the procedure of enhancing the volume and quality of site traffic for a particular site or even a single web page by search engines. SEO aims to increase the rankings of a site in search engine results. The main aim of SEO is that the user should be able to find the desired information on any search query easily from the relevant site. Search engines usually index sites according to keywords used by the user in searching.
There are two types of methods to improve search engine optimization, these are known as natural SEO and artificial SEO. Natural SEO is usually achieved by improving the website through link building, content improvement and so on. Artificial SEOs include techniques like Pay-per-click advertising, inbound links, directory submissions, article submissions and so on. Organic SEO on the other hand is concerned with increasing the website’s traffic through search engine marketing techniques such as Pay-per-click, search engine optimization (SEO), link popularity and so on.
In the past seo was mainly concerned with meta tags and keywords. Nowadays seo services focus more on optimizing the complete site. This includes not only meta tags and keywords but also other various aspects of seo such as keyword selection, keyword density, designing of the site, content creation, internal linking structures, link wheel and so on. These aspects are referred to as holistic seo. Holistic seo ensures a higher rank in search results for a site regardless of its competitiveness.
In order to achieve this goal several procedures are used. The most popular among them are on-page optimization using different techniques like meta tags, proper encoding, keyword research, designing of the site, internal linking structure etc. On-page seo includes on-page optimization such as writing original content, providing useful information to users, providing alternative links and so on. Organic seo measures seo techniques without affecting the ranking of the page because algorithms of Google are based on quality scores.
Google has three main algorithms that rank the websites. The first is popularly known as the Google Page Rank (PR) and is also known by its synonym, Page Score. This measure the relevance of a web site towards a particular keyword set. Other important factors that have an impact on PR include the total amount of traffic a site receives and the total number of incoming links. Apart from these Google also considers the link popularity i.e. the number of sites which link to the page.
Another popular seo technique is called search engine friendly seo. It uses several methods like keyword density, placement of meta tags and keyword matching to achieve higher rankings in the SERPs. A high search engine ranking is important because many online business people and website owners rely on search engines to reach out to maximum number of visitors. Hence, each new visitor to their websites is counted and a higher ranking means a better chance of more traffic. However, it is also possible for a site to fall in this ranking zone if certain criteria are not met.
Several other off-page seo factors also impact rankings. These include link popularity and link building techniques. Many web developers follow link building techniques to increase links to their sites. This in turn leads to better positions in search results.
Organic SEO methods are effective because they provide instant traffic to websites. There is no need for companies to pay for ads or for PPC campaigns. Apart from increasing traffic, organic SEO strategies are also known to increase sales. As more visitors start visiting a site, chances of sales also increase.