Search engine optimization is known as a process that improves the visibility of a website and/or web page, through incorporating search engine friendly elements into the structure and style of a website.
Inside SEO
The main purpose of integrating search engine optimization, also known as SEO, into a website involves improving its visibility on the Internet, which in turn, will help a website and/or web page rank better in organic (unpaid) search engine result pages, otherwise known as SERPs.
Some of the best search engine optimization campaigns select specific elements to focus on, all for the purpose of helping a website and/or associated web page rank better in search engines. Successful SEO campaigns, in fact, are known to select relevant keywords that are associated with selected search terms that users may query a search engine about.
These keywords essentially target the search engine’s algorithms, which will in turn, help potentially rank said site in its corresponding SERPs.
In order to successful target all aspects of a website, search engine optimization is generally tackled from two different angles: on-page optimization and off-page optimization.
- On-page optimization involves a website or web page and its associated elements. This can include its underlying HTML code (structural elements), its visual elements (CSS and associated assets) and its content (text and images).
- Off-page optimization mainly refers to elements that ‘support’ a website or web page ‘off site.’ This can include backlinks (links that point to a website or web page that’s optimized from other relevant websites) and other authoritative web partnerships.
On-page search engine optimization is perhaps the most prevalent, as it’s the type of SEO that many people talk about when referring to the subject. It’s also the most basic form of SEO, given that many earlier SEO practices used basic on-page SEO to foster organic search engine results page rankings.
Over time, many search engines – famously, Google – changed their internal algorithms to combat the rampant overuse and malicious use of SEO as a web practice. In recent times, too, the use of off-page SEO has become just as important as using on-page SEO, due to efforts from Google and other search engines and their ongoing encouragement of ‘valuable, authoritative content’ as beneficial to today’s web users.
The conclusive notion of authoritative web content as the most important website parameters, in regards to search engines, didn’t come without search engines and webmasters understanding how to have websites gain exposure on the web.
Although authoritative web content is perhaps the most important aspect of using search engine optimization as of now, the world of SEO is still changing, and will continue to change, as long as search engines keep formulating new ways to promote user content in spite of malicious SEO practices.
The difference faces of SEO
Speaking of SEO practices… there are two different types of SEO practices used on the web. The first – and best known – practice is known as white hat SEO. The second, and the most discouraged, is known as black hat SEO.
White hat SEO
White hat SEO is pretty much the only type of SEO authorized and promoted for use by search engines. This collection of SEO techniques and methods are commonly used to help improve search engine rankings while, at the same time, following the current search engine guidelines imposed by search engines like Google.
The most common white hat SEO techniques include developing high quality content, providing quality HTML optimization and restructuring, and promoting healthier link building campaigns through genuine outreach and research.
White hat SEO is essentially designed around gaining gradual and steady growth in search engine results pages, which lasts for a long time.
Black hat SEO
Black hat SEO is the direct opposite of white hat SEO, in that it’s designed to exploit weaknesses in search engine algorithms for the purpose of gaining high rankings for one or several websites.
This type of SEO practice was prevalent on search engines, notably Google, before they changed their algorithms to specifically combat that. In other words, black hat SEO employs a set of techniques that directly conflict with all search engine guidelines.
Many black hat SEO techniques include keyword stuffing, cloaking, hidden text, hidden links and link spam. These techniques are known to get people fast growth in search engine rankings, though most of the time, this growth would be short-lived and unpredictable in nature. Nowadays, black hat SEO typically fails to produce results, as search engines constantly change to remedy that.
Although it’s simple enough to categorize today’s SEO practices into two different categories, at the same time, SEO isn’t solely the right or the only technique to use when marketing any website, whether it belongs to a website or not.
A growing sentiment across the web, in fact, pins SEO down as an ‘entire long-term process, especially if it’s set to contribute, in a tangible way, to the bottom line of any online marketing effort.’ Ultimately, SEO is a mid-to-long term effort for most businesses, that can be a long term solution for web exposure, but it shouldn’t be treated as the only option.
White hat, black hat, SEO that uses techniques from one or the other… no matter what ethical SEO technique you’re using, the best SEO services are designed around supplementing an already existing campaign. Now, let’s take a look at the best SEO services, shall we?
The best SEO services
Today’s SEO environment is home to many services dedicated to helping websites and webmasters conquer the stringent standards imposed by many search engines. The best SEO services, in fact, provide a wide variety of solutions that suit many purposes and the many goals of websites across the web. The thing is, do we really know what SEO services work for whatever website?
The thing about SEO services is that there’s no true one-size-fits-all solution amongst all of them. Although you can use one or just a few, at the end of the day, it’s the combined efforts of your SEO marketing team and yourself to successfully apply those services to a robust (enough) campaign.
That said, have you ever wondered about what SEO services may exist? In fact, what are the SEO services that all of the most successful small and medium sized businesses use?
Let’s find out.
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