Search Engine Optimization, popularly known as SEO, is a methodology for designing and developing a website to rank higher in search engine results. A few benefits of performing SEO are given below;
• Improve the volume and quality of traffic to a website from search engines
• Fine tuning websites according to search algorithms work, and what visitors might search
• Bringing the website at par with industry standards
Those who are planning for SEO, it is essential to know how search engines work in order to fully understand the importance of SEO.
How Does Search Engine Works?
Search engines perform several activities in order to deliver search results. A few such activities according to Google algorithm are listed below;
- Crawling– Process of fetching all the web pages linked to a website. This task is performed by the software, called a crawler or a spider (or Google bot, in case of Google).
- Indexing– Process of creating index for all the fetched web pages and keeping such pages into a giant database from where it can later be retrieved. Essentially, the process of indexing is identifying the words and expressions that best describe a page and assigning the page to related keywords.
- Processing– When a search request comes, the search engine processes it, i.e. it compares the search string in the search request with the indexed pages in the database.
- Calculating Relevancy– It is likely that more than one page contains the search string, so the search engine starts calculating the relevancy of each of the pages in its index to the search string.
- Retrieving Results– The last step in search engine activities is retrieving the best matched results. Basically, it is nothing more than simply displaying them in the browser.
Search engines such as Google and Yahoo! often update the relevancy of algorithm dozens of times per month. Sometimes we experience sudden change in your rankings, most of such changes are due to an algorithmic shift or something else outside of your control. Although the basic principle of operations of all search engines is the same, the minor differences between their relevancy algorithms lead to major changes in results relevancy. This is where we need the services of SEO companies who keep tab on such changes periodically.
What is On-Page and Off-page SEO & Why it is necessary?
Conceptually, there are two ways of optimization, improve the ranking and increase the traffic to the website:
- On-Page SEO– It includes providing good content, good keywords selection, putting keywords on correct places, giving appropriate title to every page, etc.
- Off-Page SEO– It includes link building, increasing link popularity by submitting open directories, search engines, link exchange, etc.
SEO techniques are classified into two broad categories:
- White Hat SEO– Techniques that search engines recommend as part of a good design.
- Black Hat SEO– Techniques that search engines do not approve and attempt to bring result in shorter time which will eventually leads to blacklisting of sites due to violation Webmaster Guidelines. These techniques are also known as spamdexing.
In the world of Search, the future is uncertain, and so is the change. Hence, Search Marketing and Optimization will continue to be a top priority for those individual who wish to stay aggressive on the web. In order to see the results of your site on search engine, a simple logic should be followed:
- In the search engine, websites strive for placement and attention. Those with learning and experience to enhance the website’s ranking will get profits of increased visibility and traffic.
This article is written by Mahesh – Sr. SEO Analyst from AdsOnSearhces. You can reach him at mahesh@adsonsearches.com
