Search engine optimization has always involved a delicate balance between helping search engines understand a page and creating a good experience for real human visitors. Every page on a website sends signals about what it is, who it is for, and why it deserves attention. Some of those signals are visible in the page content […]
The Seven Deadly Sins of SEO: #2 “Cloaking”
All major search engines compete to make their results as relevant, current, and useful as possible. For a search engine to be seen as effective—and to keep attracting users—it depends on its reputation for returning the right information for any given search term. That assumption makes sense. Imagine you were looking for tips on how […]
Increasing Your Search Engine Ranking
The methods used to improve your search engine rankings may seem like rocket science, which is probably why you have avoided dealing with them. But the time has come to face your website. A strong search engine ranking is so important that, if you want your business to succeed online, you cannot keep putting this […]
Should You Outsource Your SEO Work?
Search engine optimization is one of those unusual new-millennium skills that appeared at a time when the average internet user could start teaching themselves almost anything. Yes, SEO takes study, but much of the basic mechanics can be learned through forums, guides, and online resources. Still, plenty of companies offer SEO services and manage to […]
Heavenly SEO Practices: Unique Content
The idea of unique content is closely tied to the problem of duplicate content. Even the most inexperienced internet marketers know that duplicate content is something to avoid, even if the exact rules—and what actually counts as duplicate content—can be a little unclear. Because of that, “unique content” is often treated as the solution. But […]
Algorithms-The Foundation of Search Engine Optimization
In the ninth century, Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, a Persian mathematician, introduced algebraic concepts and Arabic numerals while working in Baghdad, which was then an international center for scientific study. His method for performing arithmetic with Arabic numerals was called algorism. By the eighteenth century, the term had evolved into algorithm. Algorithms are […]
The Seven Deadly Sins of SEO: #7 “Avoid Black Hat Techniques”
Every so often, they show up on internet marketing forums: people claiming they’ve discovered a foolproof “black hat” search engine optimization technique. For a price, they say their method will push your website to the top of the search engine results—and, of course, they promise you’ll never get caught. But think about it. We’d all […]
Monitoring Search Engine Positions
Search engines are often the first place people go online when they are looking for goods or services, so where your website appears in the results matters. If your URL is buried far down the list, the chances that a potential customer will never find you increase. Once you earn a strong search engine position, […]
What Is SEO?
“SEO” stands for “search engine optimization.” As the name suggests, it’s about setting up and improving your website so search engines can find, understand, and rank it more easily. When someone looks for a website, they usually type a few key words into their preferred search engine. For example, if they’re looking for a restaurant […]
What Is Robots.txt?
Search engines keep their listings current and show the most accurate results by performing an action known as a “crawl.” This means sending out a “bot” — sometimes called a “spider” — to move through the internet and look for new pages, updated pages, or pages the search engine did not previously know existed. After […]