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WHAT IS SEO?
SEO
refers to "Search engine optimization".Search engine optimization
(SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in
a search engine's natural or un-paid search results. In general, the earlier,
and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more
visitors it will receive from the search engine's users. SEO may target
different kinds of search, including image search, local search, video search,
academic search,news search and industry-specific vertical search engines.
As an
Internet marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engines work, what people
search for, the actual search terms or keywords typed into search engines and
which search engines are preferred by their targeted audience. Optimizing a website
may involve editing its content and HTML and associated coding to both increase
its relevance to specific keywords and to remove barriers to the indexing
activities of search engines. Promoting a site to increase the number of
backlinks, or inbound links, is another SEO tactic.
------WHY
SEO?
SEO is a
big decision that can potentially improve your site and save time, but you can
also risk damage to your site and reputation. Make sure to research the
potential advantages as well as the damage that an irresponsible SEO can do to
your site. Many SEOs and other agencies and consultants provide useful services
for website owners, including:-
# Review of your site content or structure
# Technical advice on website development:
for example, hosting, redirects, error pages, use of JavaScript
# Content development
# Management of online business development
campaigns
# Keyword research
# SEO training
# Expertise in specific markets and
geographies.
------WHY
SHOULD YOU LEARN ABOUT SEO?
SEO isn't only for online marketers. As a
web designer or frontend developer, most on-site SEO is your responsibility.
If your site is not search engine friendly,
you might be losing a lot of traffic that you’re not even aware of. Remember,
besides visitors typing in "www.yourwebsite.com" and backlink
referrals; search engines are the only way people can find your site.
There are many benefits of getting a high
ranking site. Let’s use ndesign-studio.com for example. I have, on average,
about 14,000 visitors a day. About 40 - 45% of that traffic comes from search
engines (about 6000+ referrals a day). Imagine, without search engine
referrals, I would be losing thousands of visitors everyday. That means, I’m
risking losing potential clients too.
SEO
is also a value-added service. As a web designer/developer you can sell your
SEO skills as an extended service.
-----WHY
CAN'T THE SEARCH ENGINES FIGURE OUT A WEBSITE WITHOUT SEO?
Search
engines are smart, but they still need help. The major engines are always
working towards improving their technology to crawl the web more deeply and
return better results to users. However, there is a limit to how search engines
can operate. Whereas the right SEO can net you thousands of visitors and
attention, the wrong moves can hide or bury your site deep in the search
results where visibility is minimal.
In
addition to making content available to search engines, SEO also helps boost
rankings so that content will be placed where searchers will more readily find
it. The Internet is becoming increasingly competitive, and those companies who
perform SEO will have a decided advantage in visitors and customers.
------CAN
YOU DO SEO FOR YOURSELF?
The world
of SEO is complex, but most people can easily understand the basics. Even a
small amount of knowledge can make a big difference. For the most part, SEO
education is free and available on the web, including guides like this. Combine
this with a little practice and you are well on your way to becoming a guru.
Depending
on your time commitment, willingness to learn, and complexity of your
website(s), you may decide you need an expert to handle things for you. Firms
that practice SEO can vary; some have a highly specialized focus, while others
take a more broad and general approach. Optimizing a web site for search
engines can require looking at so many unique elements that many practitioners
of SEO (SEOs) consider themselves to be in the broad field of optimization and
website strategy.
Still,
even in this case, it's good to have a firm grasp of the core concepts.
------YOUR
JOB AS A SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZER
SEO jobs
Each
search engine has its own algorithm in ranking web pages. Understanding the general
factors that influence the algorithm can affect your search result position,
and this is what SEO experts are hired for. An SEO’s job has two aspects:
On-Site and Off-Site.
On-Site
SEO: are the things that you can do on your site, such as: HTML markups, target
keywords, internal linking, site structure, etc.
Off-Site
SEO: are the things that you have much less control of, such as: how many
backlinks you get and how people link to your site.
This is a
guide for designers and developers. The main concern is the On-Site aspects.
Secretly though, if you do your job right… and design a beautiful site… and/or
produce useful content… you’ll get Off-Site backlinks and social bookmarks
without even lifting a finger.
