What is SEO 101? An Introduction to Search Engine Optimization

In this chapter, you will learn:

Table of Contents

What is SEO 101?
What is Web Crawling?
What is Organic Search?
Why is SEO Important?
What is WhiteHat SEO?

What is SEO?

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is an art of implementing the best practices for maximizing your website’s visibility in SERP (Search Engine Results Pages).

These techniques help in generating more traffic and direct it to one particular website. When you use the best SEO practices to boost the site’s ranking and visibility, the term ‘optimization’ is used.

SEO is not just limited to the ranking factors; it is, in fact, a broader area that comprises many different tactics. From the website’s structure to page hierarchy, and keyword research to content optimization, SEO covers it all.

One major aim of SEO is to improve the organic search results that a search engine generates for a particular website.

Search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, Yandex, etc.) are ruling the internet and have become an essential part of our daily lives in the digitalized era.

It is a statistically proven fact that the websites that rank higher on the SERP drive more traffic. This is why it’s crucial to appear on the first page of the search engine results lists.

How many times have you scrolled through the second page of the search engines?

Another factor that influences traffic is your appearance on the search engine. The higher the frequency of posts on your blog, the more will be the traffic.

SEO plays a vital role in handling both these aspects and maximizing your website’s visibility to direct more traffic towards it.

When you use the right keywords, develop engaging content, and implement WhiteHat SEO practices, the search engine crawls your website to a higher position.

Now when you have got a clear understanding of ‘what is SEO 101’, let’s move to other related terms.

What is Web Crawling?

Crawling is how the internet bots (web crawlers and web spiders) find the new or updated content on the Web.

The type of content may vary- it could be a blog, an image, a PDF, or a video. Regardless of the type and format, the bots discover new content through links.

For each search query made by the user, the crawlers start by finding the webpages that contain the most relevant content.

The bots then follow the links provided on the webpages to find the new URLs. When the crawlers or spiders are able to discover the new links, they add these links to their index

The index, in technical terms, refers to Caffeine- database of URLs. The bots then browse the new URLs to display information for the most relevant keywords.

In simple terms, an index is a massive database of numerous URLs that the search engine discovers to serve the most pertinent information to the searchers.

What is Organic Search?

Organic search results are the natural results that appear on the SERP for the keywords entered by the searcher. It is the unpaid results that display on the search engine listings when a user enters a keyword.

For example: On typing ‘best headphones for gaming’, here are some organic results that Google displayed.

The organic search results displays on the basis of several SEO factors such as content, backlinks, relevance, domain authority, etc.

Other than organic search, you might have noticed paid search results in the form of display ads, also known as pay-per-click ads.

Now it’s clear ‘what is SEO 101’, let’s move on to understand why it’s important.

Why is SEO Important?

SEO works by explaining to the search engines that the URLs it demonstrates are the best result for the keywords at hand.

Though there are many other ways to generate and direct traffic to websites, the majority of visitors come from search engines.

SEO is vital, as on implementing correctly, it deliberately improves the quality and quantity of organic traffic to the websites.

The primary goal of search engines is to display the most relevant results to the users. But it depends on the search engine that you are optimizing your website for.

White hat SEO practices continue to drive traffic and earn revenue in the long term. It increases your website’s visibility for the right keywords, which will eventually increase traffic multifold.

What is White Hat SEO?

White Hat refers to the SEO techniques, strategies, and practices that play well with Google’s guidelines. These tactics are Google approved and prevents you from penalties in the long run.

I think we have learned quite a lot about SEO and why it is crucial. Now, take a rest and have some coffee.