Search Engine Optimization – How To Rank High In Search Engines?
Search Engine Optimization is the procedure of increasing the quantity and quality of site visitors to a particular web site or a blog from search engines using different methods. The purpose of SEO is to improve the ranking of a site by influencing the search results. SEO targets both paid and unpaid traffic rather than natural traffic or direct traffic. The techniques used for SEO are called, respectively, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM).
SEM, also known as Search Engine Marketing, encompasses paid advertising via Google AdWords, Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns, and text link ads on other websites. These techniques can be broadly divided into organic SEO, which includes creating and managing inbound links from outside the website, and PPC or pay-per-click advertising. On the other hand, SEO can be further subdivided into two main types, which are based on keyword usage and link popularity. In organic SEO, the emphasis is on internal structure and keywords that are contained within the website. Whereas, in PPC, external advertising links play an important role in driving traffic to the website.
The aim of search engine optimization or SEM is to ensure high visibility of the site in search engines, specifically major engines like, Google, Yahoo, Ask Jeeves, AOL Search, Netscape Search, and Bing. Keywords are the most common factor in determining the rankings of a web site in search engines. Hence, SEO involves designing websites that rank well in search queries based on popular keywords and phrases. Keyword usage in SEO is primarily dependent on what a search query is about, so that web pages can be optimized accordingly.
Organic SEO, as well as on-page SEO, depend largely on optimizing the content of a site. This means including meta tags, keyword tags, and alternate tag descriptions in the website content. Content also comprises of Meta tags, titles, headers, footers, and alt image tags. Some search engines also use other techniques to determine the relevancy of a web site for a search query. These include using meta tags to indicate the keyword or phrase with which a particular page is related, using title tags to indicate the relevance of a page for a query, and using other techniques to associate a web site with a particular set of keywords or phrases. Hence, to rank well in search engines, it is necessary to optimize on-site content.
The on-site SEO or search engine optimization deals with creating inbound links from relevant websites. For this, a link popularity program is used. Link popularity program generally includes on-site descriptive content. Inbound links are a very important aspect of on-site SEO. Thus, to rank higher in search engines, it is important to create as many inbound links as possible.
On the other hand, off-site SEO deals with optimizing websites for organic search engine results. Off-site SEO also includes article marketing, directory submission, search engine optimization of web pages, directory submission, press releases, viral marketing, blog posting, social media marketing, link farming, and other similar strategies. Organic traffic is more favored by search engine results. Organic traffic comprises of visitors coming to the site through natural search results such as links from other websites.