What is SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and How Does it Help?
Search engine optimisation, or SEO as it is commonly referred to, is the method of enhancing the volume and quality of site visitors to a specific website or even a single web page in search engines. In layman’s terms, SEO means “search engine optimisation.” SEO targets free or unpaid traffic and not paid or direct traffic. It aims to get the website on the first page of search results pages for popular keywords or phrases. The goal is to get the customer into the website, then capture or convince them to take some action, such as making a purchase or submitting a lead to the company’s sales funnel.
Keywords or phrases play a very important role in ranking a website high in the search results. The more popular keywords used, the better the chance that the website will show up for a particular search query. This is known as search engine optimisation. There are numerous ways to use keywords in SEO, but the most effective way is to focus a keyword or phrase in a sentence, and build up other related words or phrases in the rest of the sentence.
This is called SEO by example. For instance, if your website discusses a particular medical condition, you may want to mention this in the title of the article and also in the last sentence. If you discuss alternative remedies for the same medical condition, you can mention this, again, in the title and in the last sentence. As long as your articles are keyword-rich, you can have great success with SEO and achieve first page ranking in search results.
The actual writing of the text in SEO is known as SEO copywriting. SEO is just one component of a successful website. Proper use of keywords in content, links, and site architecture all go towards increasing traffic and establishing business relationships with customers. Search engine optimisation is just one component of this, and you will find that it has been overused by many websites in their attempts to obtain first page rankings in search results.
The actual writing itself is quite different from SEO in many ways. When creating a text-based SEO website, you are given a template or set of keywords to work with. These keywords are then combined in a logical manner to form a meaningful piece of copy. It is not necessary to use the same keywords in each and every paragraph of the site. You can instead vary the keywords, place them in the writing or italicisation of the text, and this will still create relevant copy for your site.
Search engine optimisation is a great way to get your website noticed in search results and it has a long-term impact on how well a site ranks in search results. However, SEO should not be used exclusively. Having quality content is as important as having good SEO, as poor content is ranked poorly in search results and can drive customers away. Quality content is therefore an essential part of a quality website design.