SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It’s the practice of optimizing a website to improve its visibility and ranking on search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. The goal of SEO is to attract organic (non-paid) traffic to a website by making it easier for search engines to understand, index, and rank the content.
SEO involves several strategies, including:
- On-Page SEO: This focuses on optimizing the content and structure of the website itself. Key elements include:
- Keyword research and usage
- Writing high-quality, relevant content
- Proper use of headings, meta tags, and descriptions
- Optimizing images and media
- Off-Page SEO: This focuses on external factors that can impact rankings, such as:
- Building high-quality backlinks from other websites
- Social media marketing and mentions
- Online reputation management
- Technical SEO: This involves ensuring the website is technically sound for search engines to crawl and index. It includes:
- Improving website loading speed
- Ensuring mobile-friendliness
- Using proper URL structures
- Ensuring security with HTTPS
- Local SEO: This is used to optimize a website for local searches, especially for businesses serving specific geographic areas. It involves managing local listings, such as on Google My Business.
SEO helps businesses and websites get more visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs), which can lead to more visitors, higher conversions, and ultimately, greater success online.