I know that I spent a long time working online before I really understood what SEO was. I mean, I knew about keyword density and several other aspects of search engine optimization to help improve my ranking for my websites and my articles but I never really delved into what it was all about. I actually wasted a lot of time creating content that was probably never seen by human eyes over the years.

Yes, SEO or search engine optimization is just a way to help search engines find your content and your website. There are simple yet proven ways to help people to find the information and content that you provide.

One way to look at it is to imagine your site as a nondescript plain paper wrapped box. On the outside it looks like nothing special and when compared to other plain paper wrapped boxes or websites you have no idea what’s going on inside, right? So how do you let people and search engines know what you’re all about and what kind of information is contained inside your website or that plain old box? Yes, what we are talking about is SEO and it is the writing on the outside of that box telling everyone what your website is about.

There are actually to different kinds of SEO. One concerns what you do with your website and what is on the outside of that box. This is called on page search engine optimization. Different things we do with a site include header tags that we use, titles of the pages and even the name of the website is very important in your success in ranking a website well when it comes to a certain topic. How many times a certain word is included in your site also plays a key role also.

There are many on site or on page factors that tell a search engine what your website is about. While at one time it was possible to almost trick the search engines into believing that your website had more authority concerning a certain topic, the rules of the game are constantly changing and effective SEO methods need to have a balance of useful information as well as including as many of the signals as possible without making it look like you are trying to game the system.

Now, if on page SEO tells search engines what your site is about by acting as signs on your site, then there should be a way to help your site also by having factors external to your website that tell the world where your site is an what it’s about. These are off page SEO methods and they include article marketing, social bookmarking and general back-linking campaigns. These are basically signs pointing back to your site that tell search engines where you are and what your website is about also.

Again, once upon a time it was possible to game the system and trick people and search engines into believing that your site held some sort of special authority over others concerning a certain topic but without good content and natural appearing SEO, you can actually do damage to your reputation. It would be like hanging a sign that said „free beer“ pointing to your website and then not have any beer at your place. You wind up with a bunch of angry people and perhaps a black eye for your trouble.

While many of these methods are still used today, it is a very clever SEO company that knows how to make your website as natural looking as possible while still letting the world know what you’re all about. Things like natural link building and content freshness can play a big role as well as LSI keywords. As times change and people try harder to game the system, it becomes even more important to have someone that knows what they’re doing on your side when it comes to on page and off page SEO.

Go to our website to learn more about SEO and what it can do for your business. Learn how video marketing and other techniques can bring more customers to your door.