SEO: definition and meaning
SEO is the set of strategies and practices aimed at increasing the visibility of a website by improving its position in the rankings of search engines, in the unpaid results, called “pure” or “organic” results. S.E.O. is an English acronym (acronym) that stands for Search Engine Optimization, literally: “optimization for search engines“. Let’s go through an overview explaining what exactly this SEO is.
These practices are many and concern different aspects of a website: the optimization of the structure of the site, the HTML code, the textual content, the management of incoming links (or that from other sites pointing to your site, called inbound links or, more commonly, backlinks) and outbounds (which point to others from your site).
Since Google is by far the most used search engine in the world, most of the SEO activities concern the study of the Google algorithm and its periodic updates, and the related actions to make the sites more “welcome” to this algorithm.
SEO explained to a 6 year old child
When we search for something on search engines, we expect to find the best results first, that is, those most relevant to our search. For example, if I search for “3-star hotel in Bologna”, I don’t want to find the site of a bed and breakfast in Naples. And I also want to find a lot of information about that hotel, like what the rooms are like, how much it costs, where it is, etc. SEO therefore means first of all writing rich and relevant content with the words we want to be found with.
The links are the “roads” of the web, ie the paths we use to move from one site to another. A site with many links leading to it is like a very busy intersection, therefore very important. And – just like in cities:
“The more important the site that links to us is and similar to ours in content, the more comfortable the road that leads to us will be.”
For this, doing SEO also means trying to get a good number of links from sites that are as relevant and relevant as possible, in order to launch your site and your business.
SEM
SEM stands for Seach Engine Marketing and is the broader discipline that incorporates SEO. SEM includes both paid search results (where you can appear using tools such as Google Adwords or Bing Ads, formerly known as Microsoft adCenter) and organic search results (thumbnail lists of web pages that appear as a result of search engine algorithm, and they are not paid).
A complete SEM strategy uses both paid advertising and the implementation of SEO techniques. A keyword analysis is done for both SEO and SEM, but not necessarily at the same time. SEM and SEO must both be monitored and updated frequently to adapt to evolving best practices.
In some contexts, the term SEM is used exclusively to indicate pay per click advertising, but it would be more correct to call the latter SEA, or Search Engine Advertising.
In this article I would like to explain the meaning of SEO in a clear and simple way for all those who have decided to create a website or create a blog, but do not yet know how to move to gain positions.
How SEO differs from SEM
SEO encompasses many aspects, and if you want to create a successful blog or website, it’s important to first understand what it is. In fact, understanding what SEO is and how it works will also allow you to study it more easily and apply it correctly.
After understanding what it is, you might think about enrolling in an SEO course and delving into all aspects of this extraordinary sector.
How To Do SEO
Doing SEO and then optimizing your site for search engines is an activity that concerns many aspects. The best known one concerns the correct use of keywords, but it is not limited only to this. In fact, we can distinguish three areas within the SEO. Each area of SEO focuses on a different sector.
The 3 Main SEO Aspects
Now let’s see together which are the main sectors that united form a good SEO campaign.
1) On-Site SEO
On-site SEO is the set of practices concerning the optimization of the site in its general aspects, that is, valid for any page.
This area includes the characteristics relating to the speed and performance of the site, security, its usability even from mobile devices, etc. As you can see, therefore, on-site SEO is closely linked to rather technical aspects, such as the hosting on which the site is hosted or the CMS used to create it.
In fact, the characteristics of the server made available to hosting and its settings greatly influence factors such as page loading speed, security and performance. This is precisely why we always recommend SiteGround, because it is a reliable service that guarantees to greatly improve the SEO of a website.
Instead, choosing the right CMS can determine that your site has a clean and tidy code, and therefore correctly interpreted by search engines, and that its layout is responsive, thus guaranteeing a good user experience for those who consult it from smartphones or Tablet.
2) On-Page SEO
On-page SEO, or part of it, is the best known and is sometimes confused with the whole SEO. In fact, it is about the optimization of individual pages and its most important aspect concerns the correct use of keywords.
The main objective of SEO is that the words typed by the user in his search match as closely as possible the keywords of his site. Optimizing your texts will therefore mean finding out which are the right keywords in your sector and using them to create quality content.
The keywords, in fact, will be used in specific points of the page, such as in the titles, to be identified first by search engines and to help the reader understand better the topic and the structure of the speech.
But on-page SEO does not end there, because it also takes care of other aspects, including, for example, optimizing the images to make the file as light as possible and therefore increase the page loading speed.
3) Off-Site SEO
Finally, off-site SEO refers to all activities carried out outside the website, such as in social networks or blogs that deal with topics similar to yours. Its purpose is to attract visitors from outside and gain popularity and authority on the web.
In fact, authority is a determining factor for positioning and there are several techniques to increase it, including the presence of links to your site within sites that already have a certain position on Google.
Conclusion
Therefore, it is clear what SEO is. I have also explained to you the meaning of on-site, on-page and off-site SEO in order to be clearer that it is a vast and articulated topic.
On the site and in our Facebook Page you will find suggestions and indications on the various aspects to consider to take the first steps in the world of SEO.
Are you ready to study SEO to improve the positioning of your website?
If you still have doubts, something is not clear to you, or you just want to ask us for advice, we invite you to write to us in the group.
