Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the most important considerations for any modern website developer. It is SEO that will determine how predominantly your website is displayed in search results listings and will, therefore, have a significant impact on the amount of traffic that you are able to generate. If you are unfamiliar with SEO then don’t worry, it is relatively simple to pick up, and there are innumerable services out there to help you improve your SEO score with a minimal amount of knowledge.
How Does SEO Work?
Search engine providers such as Google use a variety of different data points to determine a websites SEO score and, therefore, what position it should be given in the results list for relevant search terms. For example, one of the most important metrics that is used in determining a page’s relevance is the number of other reputable pages which link to it.
Search engines interpret every link from one page to another as a ‘vote’ for that page’s credibility. As a result, the pages that are most commonly cited or linked to will be given priority in results listings. However, search engines have gotten wise to the tricks that are sometimes used in order to manipulate this data. It is possible to detect when a page is receiving increased traffic and links because of spam, for example, and pages found doing this will instead be penalized.
Why is it Important?
Search engine results account for a phenomenal amount of internet traffic everyday. They provide the main way in which people can discover new websites and find things online without knowing the specific web address. Because of the way that internet searches work, simply putting your website online isn’t enough to have it listed in the rankings. If you want to generate a reasonable amount of traffic from search engines, then you will need to develop an SEO strategy.
Who Needs it?
Everybody! Any website which aspires to appear near the top of search results lists and, therefore, reap the greatest benefits, will need to spend some time refining their SEO. To put this in perspective, consider how many news websites, such as Todays Global News, are competing for traffic. Now consider that the top threewebsites on the search results lists account for around 90% of all the clicks generated from search results and you can see what a massive difference it makes to have your site represented there.
How Can I Raise my SEO Score?
There are numerous guides which cover how to raise your SEO score in detail. There are also a number of businesses who will take on the challenge for you. If you choose to use the services of an external agency, then make sure that they stick with white hat methods, as these are the methods that Google approves of.
Improving your website’s SEO score is one of the most crucial steps on the road to internet dominance. If you want your site to become one of the more popular in its given field, then you will need to put SEO at the heart of your strategy.
