Understanding SEO; What exactly is SEO?

Understanding SEO and implementing it is not complicated if the concept is clear. After all it is about making your presence on the internet effective and optimized.

I am hearing the below-mentioned so often these days that I wonder if that is what most people think and know of SEO these days.

SEO is not  something you need to understand or know… if you have a ready to use SEO friendly template, and some SEO tools, they are good to go

I do not completely disagree, it certainly is a very good starting point, but is that all SEO is all about?

In my opinion SEO is much-much more. It is not about running a script and executing a program. It is most definitely NOT something that can be automated and forgotten about. SEO is all about optimization; it is all about optimizing the written text, images, graphs, navigations, anchor texts, headlines…etc, wherever there is visible content, SEO can be applied, it is not just limited to websites and search engines, the final objective is to be found on searching…and SEO focuses on that.

It is true that there are various SEO friendly fixtures available today, and some of those really help but to really unleash the power of SEO, and make the most of it, we need to focus on some of the basic stuff that unfortunately cannot be automated 🙁

I call the below my SEO Zen principles: Understanding SEO is easy with these key points:

1. SEO is about applying best practices so that your content is optimized, available, and accessible to people who are looking for it. It is not driven by tools or mathematical programs; all it requires is a clear understanding of the business objective and then applying the optimization best practices.

2. Every business is different with different objectives and USPs. A website’s design and strategy will differ from another because of different businesses objectives. There is no right or wrong there,  just different strategies.

3. Following the best practices and applying them in a strategic way is what will bring in the visitors.

4. Knowledge of the SEO and understanding of SEO elements and their impact is essential for successfully optimizing a page.

It is this knowledge and understanding SEO  that gives way to awareness and an acute instinct, and that in turn helps internet marketers in optimizing and marketing their products and services.

5. Linking to good, resourceful, and relevant websites is extremely helpful. Providing useful links will help visitors with more information and they will be grateful for the help. The essence of internet is to grow by linking to relevant sites, and helping people find what they are looking for.

6. By doing away with the unproductive ways or techniques that may actually be doing more harm than good, it is best to stay focused on the critical elements of SEO, in order to bring in the desired results

SEO is not something that happens instantly, it requires an immense amount of patience combined with the ability to understand and apply practices that are suitable for a particular business. SEO is a combination of understanding, applying, and implementing what we consider the best practices.

I would recommend this page on SEO from Google, it provides a very good overview about SEO for anyone who wishes to learn and implement SEO techniques.