Search Engine Optimization Explained
The term Search Engine Optimization (SEO) may be applied to any technique which improves a web page's search engine ranking for a specific search term. In common usage, Search Engine Optimization has an implied plurality and is used to describe the application of one or more techniques in order to enhance a website's search engine rankings for a number of targeted search terms. Detailed consideration of the definition of Search Engine Optimization will clarify many of the confusions surrounding the use of the term.
Qualifying SEO Techniques
Any action which is applied, either directly or indirectly, to a web page which has the potential to improve its search engine ranking for a specific search term is a search engine Optimization technique. Common Search Engine Optimization techniques include rewriting a page's title and meta tags (an example of on-page Search Engine Optimization), reorganising a site's directory structure (developmental Search Engine Optimization) and developing links to the website (off-page Search Engine Optimization).
Search Engine Rankings
The search engine results pages (SERPs) for a particular search term comprise a list of web pages which the search engine determines are relevant to that search term. The results are ranked according to their relevance to the search term, with the web page that is considered to be the most relevant displayed at the top of the SERPs and subsequent results displayed below it in order of decreasing relevance. The web page occupying the No. 1 position on the first results page is the highest ranking or top ranking result for that particular search term. Improving or enhancing a web page's ranking is to move it up the search engine results towards the No. 1 ranking position. It should be emphasised that it is web pages and not websites which are ranked by search engines - developing well differentiated web pages each targeting specific search terms is the only effective way of achieving high search engine rankings across a large number of disparate search terms.
Specific Search Terms
A search engine will deliver a different set of results for each unique search term, even to the extent that most search engines produce different results for singular and plural versions of the same word. It is implicit in Search Engine Optimization that ranking improvements are achieved for those search terms which have been selected as being relevant to the site and suitable targets for a Search Engine Optimization campaign. Indeed, keyword and keyphrase selection is one of the most important and complex areas of Search Engine Optimization practice. Selecting suitable search terms which meet relevance and search traffic criteria, whilst offering the prospect of achieving a top 30 ranking, ensures that Search Engine Optimization results in increased search engine traffic.
SEO Terminology
Having established that there is a widely accepted view as to what constitutes Search Engine Optimization, it will come as no surprise that there are a number of companies operating at the fringes of the industry who choose to misuse the term. The most common misuse is that practised by search engine submission companies which classify their activities as Search Engine Optimization. Search engine submission is of dubious merit - the most it can achieve is to get a website not previously indexed by a search engine into its index. Repeated submission to the search engine will not cause any improvement in search engine rankings. Search engine submission is not a form of Search Engine Optimization, since it does not enhance search engine rankings for selected, or indeed any, search terms for a website which is already indexed. It is vitally important that anyone contemplating employing a Search Engine Optimization company satisfies themself that the company operates using recognised and effective Search Engine Optimization techniques.
