What is SEO? Am I right?

[iTopz]

So, a few years back I briefly read up on the subject. A few months back I read it in some depth - I finally think this is what it is. Is this how one would get people on their site?

1. Content. Good content = repeat visits/more likely to become popular (kind of common sense)

2. Key words. I am not so clued up here. Am I right in thinking one has to use relevant words on their website to gain content? If so, how do you know what is relevant or not?

3. Link building. This has to be natural and ties in to point 1. The more links = more search engines becoming interested.

So, is that it? (In a fairly brief sense?) One big thing I can't understand is this?:
Why do people charge for SEO? I see people offering big ££ to get you more hits. But how is this done? How do they do this?! A few years back I had a website and someone did some free SEO on it. I gained about 10x more hits that month than any other...why did he do? It was purely off-site SEO - but this is what I'm very interested in. He couldn't create lots of links to generate content as it would come up as spam...so what was his secret?!

Anyway - am I correct in assuming the 3 above points are 3 major areas in SEO? Also, is there anything I am missing here? I think I've missed something clear or fundemental...it all seems a bit basic.

Thanks.

(P.s. I would prefer peoples responses in laymans terms, not a simple link. I've read through lots of in-depth articles over the past months and it's all a bit daunting)

 

[vincent80]

In a nutshell SEO consists of on-page, what's on your site and how it's configured and off-page, the number of links and the authority of the websites linking to your website with the kinds of anchor text you would like your site to rank for.

1.) Content - Have good original content and plenty of it (however content alone will never rank your site highly unless it's a very low search term)

2.) Keywords - What are the keywords you want your site to rank for? Try to have that keyword in the url, title, meta tags. If you do not know what is relevant or not then use the Google keyword tool for research to establish what keywords are worth going after and ranking for (the ones that will bring in the most relevant traffic within your time/budget)

3.) Link Building - Probably the most important of the 3. Make it as natural as possible and you will see your rankings improve.

As for why do people charge for SEO, why, do you think people should be doing SEO for you (or anyone else) for free? It's a service which you pay for just like any other service. As for someone who did some free SEO on your site, you really need to ask them why they did it for free, it could have been someone who had just entered the SEO game and to gain clients, offered free SEO for a month in the hope of turning that into an on-going paid contract.

 

[Revolution_Inc]

'Natural Links' do not just happen.

 

[vincent80]

'Natural Links' do not just happen.

Yeah we all know that For the people in the game I mean don't just use one type of link, vary it from all different platforms and the anchor (more so now that ever - well if Matt Cutt's is to be believed).

 

[iTopz]

Thanks guys.

Vincent, I think he did it to build clients, it worked in getting people on my site anyway. This may sound stupid, but what did he do exactly? When you pay someone for SEO what exactly are you paying for?

I'm not doubting they can work wonders, but what are these people actually doing?
Thanks!

 

[vincent80]

He must have had a look at your site and decided on what keywords to rank you for and then built some links, thus pushing you up in the search engines and getting more visitors.

As you said you got 10 times as many visitors when he did some free SEO, so when you pay for SEO you are paying for their knowledge, their expertise, their ability to deliver on what they say. They will formulate a strategy based on your budget, length of the contract and what keywords you would like to rank higher for. They would also give your site a going over and make sure that the on-page SEO is spot on.

In regards to what these people are doing, I'd have to write a book to even attempt to explain the ins and outs of SEO and even then you would probably be none the wiser, unless you had a reasonable level of SEO knowledge and were testing certain theories yourself. In layman’s terms, it about getting links pointing to your site from a variety of sources with your relevant anchor text. Check the number of links your competitors have (using a backlink checker) to determine what you need to do to overtake them. And carry on doing it each month in order to stay ahead of the game (and your competitors).

 

[sigmais]

SEO is to speed up and/or improve your SERP. All the three point mentioned is the basic requirement, it is the natural SEO. However, that's only partial of SEO.

SEO include both onpage SEO and offpage SEO, onpage SEO include title, description, h1h2 tag etc, and offpage SEO include backlink (with and without acnhor text) etc

 

[elida]

So, is that it? (In a fairly brief sense?) One big thing I can't understand is this?:
Why do people charge for SEO? I see people offering big ££ to get you more hits. But how is this done? How do they do this?! A few years back I had a website and someone did some free SEO on it. I gained about 10x more hits that month than any other...why did he do? It was purely off-site SEO - but this is what I'm very interested in. He couldn't create lots of links to generate content as it would come up as spam...so what was his secret?!

People now a days are asking payment for SEO because its a service you want to entail with your site. It is your choice to want people to work with you and pay them for the services. SEO is not quite simple job-> ofcourse you know about this why. I wish you ask that person what did he do with your website on how to do that. Guessing is that he just gave you good content.

 

[TimS]

1. Content. Good content = repeat visits/more likely to become popular (kind of common sense)

Regularly updated/new content = repeat visits. People aren't going to keep coming back if they see the same stuff all the time.

2. Key words. I am not so clued up here. Am I right in thinking one has to use relevant words on their website to gain content? If so, how do you know what is relevant or not?

Relevant Keywords, or more appropriately key phrases, are those that people are actually using in the search engines to find information. For instance, if you run a dog training business in London, you don't want to be ranking for "dog training", because if you did, you'd get a lot of useless traffic from people who are not living locally. You want to rank for "dog training in London", or "dog training in hackney" or similar phrases, that's where the Google keyword tool comes in handy.

3. Link building. This has to be natural and ties in to point 1. The more links = more search engines becoming interested.

Yes and no. It depends on the quality of the website that the link is coming from. A link from an authority website, BBC for instance, is worth alot more than a link from a general directory!

Also, contextual links (links that are in a narrative) carry more weight than a simple link on a page.

Why do people charge for SEO? I see people offering big ££ to get you more hits. But how is this done? How do they do this?! A few years back I had a website and someone did some free SEO on it. I gained about 10x more hits that month than any other...why did he do? It was purely off-site SEO - but this is what I'm very interested in. He couldn't create lots of links to generate content as it would come up as spam...so what was his secret?!

A few years ago SEO was a lot easier than it is today. Search engines have become much more sophisticated and their algorithms are changed regularly. Recent Google updates have shown that; many big websites that carry lots of relevant information and are updated regularly took a big hit in their rankings.

SEO is time consuming and an ever changing world, which is why you will find a good SEO company charging good money.

However, it all comes down to ROI, if you spend £1 on SEO and make £3 back, then it's worth the investment. But that comes back to good relevant and compelling content on your website!

Anyway - am I correct in assuming the 3 above points are 3 major areas in SEO? Also, is there anything I am missing here? I think I've missed something clear or fundemental...it all seems a bit basic.

(P.s. I would prefer peoples responses in laymans terms, not a simple link. I've read through lots of in-depth articles over the past months and it's all a bit daunting)

The fundamental is having a website that has regularly updated, interesting and compelling (to your audience) content, without that, SEO is pretty worthless.

Hope this helps

Tim

 

[Renewable Energy]

Thank you for useful information

 

[TimS]

Forgot to mention, SEO is not a one-off process, if your website gets well ranked and SEO does not continue, it will eventually start slipping down the rankings, not because of your website, but because of the efforts of competing website owners.

 

[terryuk]

'Natural Links' do not just happen.

That's ridiculous, you link out to Facebook, Twitter & Linkedin!? So how can you say that??? :|:|:|:|

 

[Revolution_Inc]

That's ridiculous, you link out to Facebook, Twitter & Linkedin!? So how can you say that??? :|:|:|:|

Are you joking? Your statement is as ridiculous as you took mine to be.

Ok then, Natural Links to a sensible level don't just happen. Get them through content? Absolutely. A good SEO using that tactic will know exactly the right article to write, not just for the clients site, but for a high ranking website to feature on their blog/articles. That takes research and good copy. And hours and hours of effort.

Assuming then that, although content might pull you the links you need over a year/ year and a half, you need some links for the meantime. What do you do? You have to go out and obtain links on relevant, good, DA/PA websites, with good anchor text. And I'm not talking about directories or link farms. I mean respected sites. So an SEO will have the relationships/build the relationships or know how best to leverage links from these websites. Broken linkbuilding is an interesting way of doing this. Along with many, many more just as creative routes.

But then whist we are doing this (and waiting for our links via content to come in) we need to make sure our link profile is balanced. Google doesn't like all 'follow' links. That in itself is un-natural. So the SEO has to make sure that the link profile remains balanced.

Remember Terry, however you look at it, the most important factor is the Search Engines. And no matter how you get the links as long as it looks natural to them (and there is no way on earth why it won't, now or in the future) then your all good.

They do not just 'happen'.

 

[Revolution_Inc]

But then again maybe you were joking.

 

[terryuk]

Are you joking? Your statement is as ridiculous as you took mine to be.

Ok then, Natural Links to a sensible level don't just happen. Get them through content? Absolutely. A good SEO using that tactic will know exactly the right article to write, not just for the clients site, but for a high ranking website to feature on their blog/articles. That takes research and good copy. And hours and hours of effort.

Assuming then that, although content might pull you the links you need over a year/ year and a half, you need some links for the meantime. What do you do? You have to go out and obtain links on relevant, good, DA/PA websites, with good anchor text. And I'm not talking about directories or link farms. I mean respected sites. So an SEO will have the relationships/build the relationships or know how best to leverage links from these websites. Broken linkbuilding is an interesting way of doing this. Along with many, many more just as creative routes.

But then whist we are doing this (and waiting for our links via content to come in) we need to make sure our link profile is balanced. Google doesn't like all 'follow' links. That in itself is un-natural. So the SEO has to make sure that the link profile remains balanced.

Remember Terry, however you look at it, the most important factor is the Search Engines. And no matter how you get the links as long as it looks natural to them (and there is no way on earth why it won't, now or in the future) then your all good.

They do not just 'happen'.

Note you added the word 'sensible'.. I must have misunderstand your statement.

And thanks for the low down on link building.. much appreciated

 

[Revolution_Inc]

I'm sure you already knew everything I wrote Terry.

It was more to answer (well attempt to) the question initially as to why do SEO's get paid.

 

[terryuk]

I'm sure you already knew everything I wrote Terry.

It was more to answer (well attempt to) the question initially as to why do SEO's get paid.

Websites get attention via other forms than organic SEO. But I know what you mean & heading!

 

[nightvisionsuk]

As you said you got 10 periods as many guests when he did some no cost SEO, so when you pay for SEO you are shelling out for their understanding, their experience, their capability to produce on what they say. They will produce a technique according to your funds, duration of the agreement and what key terms you would like to achieve greater rankings for. They would also provide your website a going over and create sure that the on-page SEO is identify on.

 

[WickITServices]

Sometimes we get so tied up in SEO and ranking in search engines, we forget why we're doing it which, usually, is to convert readers into buying customers. So, the quality and content of your website is the second most important part of the equation. The most important thing is your product!

It is very frustrating to find the front page of Google (other search engines are available) stuffed with fantastically optimised sites offering lousy product or information!

So SEO is important but needs to know its place in the hierarchy of marketing. It becomes more important, not to say vital, when you have a brilliant product in a difficult or competitive market.

 

[anothermug1]

The problem is the number of companies claiming to do SEO work, but will take the money (and more if possible) to do nothing that helps you at all.

 

[Brightpearl]

SEO consists of three main areas: keyword selection, on-page and off-page optimisation.

Keyword selection: choose relevant keywords with a good search volume to competition ratio.

On-page optimisation: placement of keywords in HTML tags (title, heading, alt, anchor etc), site speed, eliminating broken links/404 errors, removal of duplicate content (or correct use of 301 redirects/canonicalisation tag), internal linking, document level file names etc

Off-page: links in to your site from relevant and authoritative domains. Ideally you are looking for links to your site from a webpage with a high mozrank and domain age (SEOmoz's toolbar will tell you this) that have your targetted keyword as the anchor text.

Off page links will have the biggest impact on your site's placement in the search engine results however you need to have defined a keyword and optimised your pages to indicate what pages you want to them to list for what search terms. I have written a fairly comprehensive whitepaper on the subject if you want to find out more: http://www.brightpearl.co.uk/about-...ss-seo-guide-get-more-traffic-make-more-sales

 

[cody44]

SEO consists of three main areas: keyword selection, on-page and off-page optimisation.





I have written a fairly comprehensive whitepaper on the subject if you want to find out more: http://www.brightpearl.co.uk/about-...ss-seo-guide-get-more-traffic-make-more-sales

Thats A nice little article you have written Brightpearl. I am building up backlings thru natural selection and not cheap paid for backlinks for a client. However, only recently I have read an article about Matt Cutts who is warning web masters that the new Panda Algorithms are going to ignore the Page Authority from backlinks and in some cases penalise the websites!!!! I hope not and hope I have not started SEO Strategies at the wrong time!!! Does anyone have any updates on this?

 

[roshan123]

Search engine optimization is the process of getting traffic from search engine, and helps search engines find and rank your site higher than the millions of other sites in response to a search query.

 

[chrismartin4u]

SEO is all about three things
1. Visit
2. Revisit
3. ROI(Return of investment)

 

[adam20johnson12]

SEO is a technique which helps search engines find and rank your site higher than the millions of other sites in response to a search query. SEO thus helps you get traffic from search engines.