SEO (Search Engine Optimization-optimization for search engines) – a set of methods and measures that designed to increase the importance of the site in the eyes of search engines to increase search traffic. In simple words, this – a certain set of tasks, after completing which, your site will get a greater chance of getting into the TOP 10 search engine results, which means bringing more users.
It is worth considering that today it is not enough to simply perform a number of tasks for effective SEO promotion of a site: there is simply no such simple and magical step-by-step instructions. This is rather a complex and complex work.
Promotion
So, for successful promotion, your website must meet a number of parameters:
- The quality of the content. All materials (texts, images, videos, etc.) must be well prepared and fully meet the user’s request.
- A well-developed site structure. It should be convenient for the client, the user should be able to quickly find the information he needs.
- Commercial factors. If this is a commercial site, there must be such elements as:
- Phone number;
- Order form (if available from competitors) shopping;
- Cart (if available from competitors);
- Filtering (if available from competitors);
- Contacts;
- other elements that help the user decide on the choice of a product or service
- Brand awareness and reference mass. There is a simple rule here: “the more people know you, the more they talk about you,” and in the eyes of search engines it sounds like: “the more they know you, the more links they put on you.”
- The site loading speed. Recently, this has become an increasingly significant factor due to the growing popularity of mobile devices and the mobile Internet. It is important to monitor the optimization of the code and scripts for faster loading of the site. Special attention should paid to the display on mobile devices.
- Behavioral factors are one of the main ranking factors at the moment. We have already written in detail about what behavioral factors and external behavioral ranking factors are.
Nutshell
In a nutshell — it is an indicator of the quality of a resource in the eyes of search engines. The success of SEO promotion is influenced by many parameters:
- Time spent on the site
- Page view depth
- Bounce rate
- Dwell-time
and so on.
It is important to understand that the methods of search engine promotion of the site are constantly changing and improving. Therefore, what worked yesterday may not work tomorrow and vice versa. Let’s dive into the main periods of the development of search algorithms. This will help you understand the principle of promotion in general.
The origin. Why do I need SEO?
Simultaneously with the advent of search engines in the distant 90s, many users realized that they needed to study search engine algorithms in order to easily extract traffic and customers on the Internet. At that time, an understanding came about why SEO was needed and such a profession as an “SEO specialist” appeared — these were people who were professionally engaged in SEO promotion of websites. During this period, it was mostly enough to spam the text with keywords to be in high positions. The search results were terrible and did not satisfy either users or search engines.
The Era of links
In 1998, the Google search engine introduced the PageRank algorithm, which revolutionized the ranking field. After Google, Yandex introduced its algorithm TCI in 1999. Both algorithms were similar and were based on the reference weight. Each page and domain received its own link weight, depending on the number and quality of links that were put on them and passed the weight further to outgoing links from their domain.
At the same time, the SEO business is gaining more and more momentum-optimizers are starting to make sites for selling links in batches and the link business eventually leads to a large noise level of this ranking factor.
Machine learning
This period in Runet – considered to be from 2009, simultaneously with the release of Matrixnet. This is a machine learning algorithm that built the ranking formula itself and was developed by the Yandex search engine.
“The Linkless era”
Since 2012, search engines have started a tough fight against link spam. It all started with the introduction of the “Penguin” algorithm from Google in 2012. Further, in 2014, Yandex announced that it had completely disabled the influence of the link on the ranking formula, and in 2015 it released the “Minusinsk” filter, which punished for link spam.
Modern SEO
After about 2015, the optimizers realized that the rules of the game had changed a lot. To date, more than 800 factors that participate in the ranking formula declared. The only way to get into the TOP 10 of the search results today is a systematic and comprehensive work on the site.
SEO-website promotion what is it and what types are there?
As we have already said before, SEO promotion is a whole set of measures that need systematic work-starting from working on content, ending with building up the link mass. But conditionally all the works can be divided into 2 types:
- internal optimization
- external optimization
Let’s look at each type in more detail.
Internal site optimization
This is the whole set of measures that you apply directly to your site, and not on external resources. Here are some examples of such tasks:
- Compilation of the semantic core (preliminary stage)
- Developing a file robots.txt and sitemap.xml
- Editing technical errors
- Works related to optimization on the page — writing text, writing Title and META tags. In the world of SEO, this is called ” on-page optimization “(optimization” on the page”)
- Improving the structure of the site
- Image and video optimization
- Work on linking
- Working on commercial factors
- Working on behavioral factors
It should be borne in mind that all the parameters listed above need to be constantly monitored and corrected. Experienced SEO specialists create checklists for themselves and regularly check websites using them. Otherwise, you may miss an important error that will lead to a loss of traffic.
External site optimization
External optimization, on the contrary, is a set of measures that you carry out on external resources. As a rule, this is working with the reference mass and brand awareness.
To get a good reference mass, it is important:
- Writing and publishing articles on external authoritative resources
- Placement of press releases
- Sharing links with reputable resources
- Active posting on specialized resources
- Working with journalists
- Increase brand name awareness, without putting links
SEO optimization methods
As you understand, in any business, along with legal methods, not quite legal or even prohibited ones may appear. And SEO is no exception. The following methods – distinguished here:
White optimization
A completely legitimate method in which the work aimed at improving the quality of the site by improving all the above parameters. This is a huge work, which sometimes requires a lot of knowledge, but the result is worth it.
Gray optimization
A set of methods that, although not directly prohibited by search engines, are still somewhere “on the verge” of what is allowed. For using such methods, you can get under the filter.
Black optimization or ” black-hat SEO”
Using methods that – prohibited by the rules of search engines. Sooner or later, the site will filtered or banned. Such methods include, for example, doorways.
Conclusion
So, we tried to figure out what SEO-site optimization is and why it is needed. But still, you probably still have questions “How to start promoting a” young site ” (for example, a landing page) yourself?”. Here is a list of steps to start with (we will tell you about each of them in detail in the following materials):
- Competitor analysis. An important stage at which you will decide whether it is worth making a website on this topic at all.
- Collecting the semantic core. Your future website should fully cover the entire topic.
- Clustering of the semantic core and development of the site structure. Clustering – often ignored at the site development stage, which then leads to a lot of rework.
- Correction of technical errors, preparation of a competent robots.txt, monitoring the status of the site.
- Preparation of the text based on the semantic core, selection of high-quality photo and video content.
- Study of commercial factors — it is extremely important to provide the user with the functionality of a quick purchase or communication with you
- Analysis and improvement of user behavior. Elimination of difficulties.