SEO is short for “Search Engine Optimization.” It’s a collection of tactics designed to help your web pages rank better for the keyword phrases you’re targeting.

The main difference between SEO and say, Pay-Per-Click advertising, is that the visitors you receive from your listings will not cost you anything. These free listings are also called “organic listings” and there are usually ten such listings per page.

Your listings are triggered whenever someone searches for a particular term (aka keyword phrase) using a search engine. The search engine does its best to return the most relevant web pages for the search performed.

Your goal, then, is to help the search engines understand what your web page content is most relevant for. The clearer you communicate your relevance, the more likely it is that you’ll receive good search engine rankings.

Generally speaking, there are two main SEO techniques to perform to each page of your site. They are:

On Page SEO

On page optimization includes anything that is done to your actual web page. As each page is under your control, you can ensure that it is optimized for the keyword phrases you believe are most relevant to your content.

Off Page SEO

Off page SEO is more challenging as you can only control so much. Any webmaster can link where they please and if they’ve linked to your site using an undesirable bit of text, you may suffer the consequences.

However, you can control the majority of the off-page work to be done and it’s important you do. Linkbuilding is generally considered to be the most important “off page” factor and ignoring it will hamper your ability to rank well for the terms you are targeting.

Every successful SEO Plan is designed around the keyword phrases that will be targeted.

Do this right and you’ll likely get the results you are looking for… improved rankings for the terms you’ve optimized for and an increase in targeted traffic.

Do this wrong, however, and you will have wasted a whole lot of time (and possibly money too!)

Keyword research is what separates novice SEOs from true professionals. Most anyone can find keywords using a tool like that provided by Google but few know how to sift through the junk to find the treasure.

It would be impossible for me to teach you the intricacies of keyword research in this short blog post but I will give you a “top level” explanation of the three main aspects.

Search Volume

Behind each keyword phrase, there is an associated “search volume.” The search volume is an approximation of how many times the keyword phrase is searched upon in an average month.

So, if you optimize a page around a term that has a listed search volume of 100 searches per month, you can’t expect a first page ranking to bring you much traffic. After all, you should never expect your site to receive all of the available “clicks.”

Keyword Intentionality

When choosing keywords it’s important that you try to get inside the mind of the person doing the search. You may think that the keyword phrase clearly conveys what the searcher is looking for but this is not always the case.

There are many sophisticated techniques used to determine the “intentionality” of each keyword phrase but here’s a simple tip… enter the keyword phrase into the search engine you care most about and look at all of the results.

Are there a number of sponsored ads on the page? This can indicate that the keyword phrase has a “commercial intent.”

Are the organic listings what you expected to see? If most of the listings are relevant to your business, you’re on the right track. If they’re not, you probably don’t really understand the intentionality of the keyword phrase.

If you search Google.com for the keyword phrase, “how to save a life,” you might expect to see listings on first aid, CPR, the Heimlich Maneuver, etc. Instead, however, you will find information on the song, “How To Save A Life,” by The Fray.

Determining Your Competition

This may sound a bit harsh, but it’s true if you want to rank on the first page for a particular keyword phrase you are going to have to kick one of the current listings off!

Because of this, it’s important you know what it is going to take to accomplish this before deciding to optimize for the term. In some cases, you will find that the work will be easy and in others, near impossible.

There are many factors that come into play when determining your competition. It’s not just about the strength of the competitor’s website/web page, but also your strength in comparison.

This topic is a lengthy one but here are some of the questions you must ask:

• What is the domain age of my competitor and how does that relate to mine?
• How well optimized is their page and how does that relate to mine?
• How many links does their page have and how does that relate to mine?

While there is more to it, the answer to these three questions will give you a general idea as to whether you can compete or not and what you must do to improve your chances.

Search Engine Optimization Terms 101

As Search Engine Optimization is highly technical, there are many specialized terms used when discussing this topic. I’ll list some of the most commonly misunderstood terms below, starting with SEO/SEM (and the difference between them).

1.     SEO/SEM

SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization.” It’s a set of techniques used by a SEO Consultant to improve your website’s rankings in the search engines for a particular set of keywords, or keyword phrases. (more on this topic in a bit)

SEM stands for “Search Engine Marketing” and is being used more and more by search engine professionals. In addition to the standard SEO techniques, SEM Consultants also specialize in:

• Creating Pay-Per-Click Campaigns on the search engine of your choice… primarily Google, Yahoo and Bing.
• Buying paid “inclusions” from the search engines. This is paying a search engine company for a guarantee that your website will be included in their search results.

2.     SERPs

SERPs stands for “Search Engine Results Pages.” It’s the page that is returned whenever someone conducts a search through a search engine.

SEO techniques are used to improve your web page’s ranking amongst the other “organic” listings in the SERPs with the ultimate goal of increasing targeted website traffic.

3.     Keyword Phrase

It’s extremely important that you grasp the concept of the “keyword phrase” as it is the backbone of SEO. A keyword, or keyword phrase, is the word(s) entered into the search box by an internet user.

As the search engines return the web pages they believe to be most relevant for the keyword phrase entered, it’s vital that you understand the concept and do your best to optimize your pages for the keyword phrases you want to be found for.

4.     Backlinks

Last, but not least, is the subject of backlinks. Most SEO Consultants agree that the creation of backlinks (aka links, link building, one-way links, etc.) that point to your pages should be your primary objective.

You need to build quality links, that contain your targeted keyword phrases and you need to do this on an ongoing basis. SEO is not a “once and done” type of activity, it requires continual improvement/management to be truly effective.

Three SEO Myths You Should Know

The subject of Search Engine Optimization (aka SEO) is one of much debate. Some of the information found on the web is valid, other pieces were valid in the past but are no longer valid and still other information was never true to begin with.

Here are three common SEO myths:

1.    It’s impossible to outrank a web page with a Google PageRank higher than your own.

As “PageRank” is specific only to Google, it won’t affect your search engine rankings at Yahoo or Bing. Even on Google, the PageRank indicator only plays a minor role in determining search engine placement and is certainly not a critical factor.

If you do a few searches on Google you will find this to be true. Within a few minutes you’ll likely find a page, with a lower Google PR, outranking a page with a higher one.

That should put this myth to rest.

2.    SEO is a one-time activity… you simply “set it and forget it!”

It would be great if this were true but it’s not. Effective Search Engine Optimization requires ongoing work (and maintenance) and if you discontinue your efforts, you’ll find your rankings slip over time.

This is especially true when it comes to link building. The search engines monitor your inbound links and if they come to a sudden halt, they assume your page is losing its relevance.

3.    Each page should have a keyword density of 3-5%
This may have been true in the past but it’s not any more. You should see that your targeted keyword phrases appear somewhere on your page but you don’t need a calculator.

Instead, you should concentrate on writing content that will be found valuable by your visitors. After all, the search engine robots aren’t likely to buy any of the products/services you have to offer.