WHAT IS SEO?

What is SEO? Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a form of website promotion, which is entirely focused on improving your personal or company's website positioning, to rank as high as possible on internet search engines such as Google, Yahoo & Bing. SEO utilises targeted keywords and phrases that are relevant to you as an individual, your business and/or your customers.

It is generally accepted that SEO can be broken down into two two distinct functions:

1. Internal SEO
2. External SEO

Internal SEO is concerned with optimising the functions of your website to ensure that it is as search engine friendly as possible. External SEO focuses around building high quality links to your website from other websites on the internet.

This guide is designed to enable you to be able to answer the question what is SEO? It will provide a broad overview of SEO including commonly used phrases in the SEO industry, how to make your website search engine friendly and good practice with link building.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SEARCH ENGINES

There are literally 1000's of search engines on the internet, some broad and some specific to a topic or industry, but there are three main search engines that generate the most traffic, unique users and searches and therefore should be taken into consideration when marketing your website. These three search engines are Google, Yahoo and Bing.

The table below illustrates the huge dominance that these three search engines share:

As you can see from the figures above the power of search engines is incredible, so to not have your website registered on the main search engines would mean that you are missing out on a huge opportunity. If your website provides products, services, information or just simply content content, the major search engines are the favoured method of internet navigation for almost all users.

The simple keywords that users type into their favourite search engine (known as a search query) in order to find what they are looking for have incredible power. If your website is the featured near the top of the major search engines for commonly searched keywords relating to your website then you are sure to generate large amounts of traffic and therefore potentially greatly increased revenue. Attracting these targeted visitors to your website can also generate publicity, more links to your website and exposure that any other form of internet marketing or surface marketing communications could only dream of.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO IMPLEMENT SEO?

All of the major search engines are continually working as hard as possible to improve the technology that sits behind the scenes and make each search carried out by a user return the most relevant results possible. Despite this continued evolution there will always be a limit to the way in which search engines can operate. There is often a fine line between making the correct move and generating your website 1000's of new visitors and making the incorrect move and rendering your website in obscurity.

SEO is not simply concerned with making your website accessible to search engines, if carried out correctly it can be used to give your website position a real boost. With the increasing recognition of SEO as an important element of marketing and the increased amount of competition in all markets, those companies that invest in SEO are sure to have a massive competitive advantage over those companies who do not.

If you still need answers to the question: what is SEO? or want Devoted Domains to do your SEO for you please contact us.

Want to know more about how to SEO your website? Take a look at your FREE SEO Guide or if you want to take your SEO skills to the next level buy our DIY SEO Guide.