What is SEO? Learn About Search Engine Optimization from Jordan Hardy
SEO is not just Technical Optimization
SEO is search engine optimization, focusing on “organic” techniques to help a website rise to the top of search engine listings. The goal is usually to get more traffic, higher rankings on search engines, increase conversion, target and bring the right visitors to the website, and to get return visitors.
There is a lot more art, or creative work to SEO than technical work. It is necessary to keep up to date on search engine and industry updates and news. It is also necessary to know how to code, design and build websites.
But, beyond the right fields within code (and framework), it takes creativity and research to bring in a strategy that works. That strategy can be any number of so many techniques that will work for SEO, but, it is the ideas behind the strategy that are so important. Why will people come to your website? How long will they stay? What is your end goal of the website? What paths do you plan most visitors will take as they navigate through your website? Do you need the visitor to convert? Do they fill out a form? Do you want the visitor to return or just refer friends?
When you code a page on a website, or whole website, is that page really about what you planned? Ideally, if you build it, they will come. In other words, it would be nice if you could build your page and search engines and people will just find your page. That does often happen to some extent on large websites that are already popular due to other people contributing. It also often happens on blogs. But often it doesn’t just happen.
How to Make the Search Engines Note, Index, and raise Your Site in Ranking Over Time
Establish that your website deserves to exist. Enjoy working on the website, and include other people when possible. This may mean they link to you or you link to them. It may mean they write for your website. Think, if I were a visitor, would I enjoy this website? Step back and be objective. Learn all you can about SEO, coding, and your subject matter for the website.
This is very important: If you build it, often they will not come. Or at least that is, right away. People need time to tell others about your website. They also need time to see if they really like it and want to return. Search engines need to see what happens on your website over time. They need to see and believe what your point is. All of this takes time, and therefore you cannot guess exactly when you will move up in ranking next. But, you’ll learn in future posts on this website there are SO many things you can do to increase your chances.
I personally do extensive testing to see what works. I read books, articles, and search engines themselves. I look in code on websites. I intuitively figure out what elements will help people and websites learn and crawl through (with search engine spiders / crawlers ) a website more easily and positively.
In other words, I create my own algorithm / methodology which not only updates daily with new factors I discover, but SEO also is never the same from one website to the next. Each website has unique marketing depending on their branding, location (online space or physical location), goals, and technology used.
