What is SEO?

SEO, or search engine optimization, is the practice of building webpages that will end up high in the search engine results. Good SEO occurs when certain coding elements in each page are optimized; the search engine spiders pick up on these and bring free traffic to the site. There are several approaches to SEO, and varying opinions on webpage optimization, with much of it depending on the site’s content, size, type and purpose. Generally, SEO is heavily reliant on proper keyword and keyphrase use.

The abovementioned keywords should appear in the page’s source code "title" section, and they should also show up in the meta description. The meta keyword section also has keyphrases and keywords that describe what the site offers and what it contains. In the ideal situation, each page’s source code will list its own keywords, and each page’s title should use one or more of these for the best results.

Since search engine optimization is almost completely reliant on keywords, the most important of these should be used generously in each page’s first two paragraphs of content; from there, they should be distributed evenly. Good keyword density is somewhere between 5 and 15%. Another SEO trick is to name an image file or anchor text with keywords. These anchors (also called crosslinks) are links to other pages on the site.

For good SEO, providing links both to and from other sites is essential. These links, called backlinks, are important as they are what the search engine spiders use to navigate. The text used to point to these links can contain keywords, as well.

If one wants to learn about search engine optimization, there are online courses available. For those that don’t want to go the DIY route, there are companies willing to provide their services for a fee. Be cautious in choosing a company, to ensure that they can deliver what they promise.

Whether you hire an outside firm or do your site’s SEO yourself, with the sheer numbers of webpages online and the number of hits that just one search can return, good search engine optimization is essential to anyone looking to attract high-quality traffic to their site.