What is SEO

SEO

What is SEO

A lot of information (mostly of an advertising nature) will come out in search engines for the query “what is SEO”. Some resources, answering this question, quote each other, some give their own definitions of SEO, but this does not add clarity to the question.

What is especially interesting: some resources do not even write “SEO” in English, but “SEO” in Russian, introducing some confusion in understanding the issue. This abbreviation is not deciphered in any way, since it is written in Russian letters of the English letter combination, accordingly it does not carry any meaning.

Wikipedia defines SEO as follows:
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a set of measures for internal and external optimization, to raise the site’s position in the results of search engines for certain user requests, in order to increase traffic (for information resources) and potential customers (for commercial resources) and the subsequent monetization of this traffic.

I agree with this definition. But for an unprepared user, information from Wikipedia can seem a little complicated and confusing.

Here is the definition that I give when I explain this question to my clients:

  1. SEO is any action aimed at bringing your site or any other resource of yours to the top positions of search engines to attract visitors.
  2. Here I am expanding on SEO. This is not only direct promotion of your site, but also indirectly attracting visitors to your site by posting your materials on other Internet resources.

So, I distinguish two types of SEO:

  • Direct SEO is the direct promotion of your own site, when a search engine gives a link to this site in the results at the request of a visitor.
  • Indirect SEO is the promotion of your company by posting your materials on other Internet resources in order to subsequently attract visitors to your site. In this case, the result of search results does not lead to your own site, but to someone else’s, from where visitors, if they are interested in the information, can go to you.

If the way direct SEO works is clear enough – the search engines themselves write about this, direct SEO services are offered by various specialists and companies, then additional explanations are needed regarding indirect SEO.

How Indirect SEO Works:

  • You post an informational article (specifically informational, not advertising) related to the product of your activity on any relevant Internet resource (forum, community, Internet publication).
  • Your article can reach the top positions of the search results for certain queries.
  • A user visits this resource, reads your article.
  • If a visitor is interested in your information and you, he can become a visitor to your site (follow the link from the article to your site, if the Internet resource allows you to place links, either by the name of the company, or by the name and surname).

A living example is my article “What are CRM systems and how to choose them correctly”, which I posted on Habrahabr. It ranks second after Wikipedia in Google search results for the query “What is CRM” or simply “CRM”. Many of my clients found me precisely because of this and other articles posted on Habrahabr, went to my site and contacted me personally. It’s indirect SEO, but it’s still SEO. I get search engine visitors, although not directly through my site.

Nowhere without history

In order to better understand what SEO is and how the current situation has developed, we need to dive into the history of the issue. When search engines first appeared (from the Russian ones, they were Rambler, Mail, Yandex), the influence of sites on the search results was great, since there were not so many sites themselves as now, and the search engines themselves were not yet so developed.

What time was it? It was a time of experimentation. The Internet (in its modern sense) was only in its infancy at that time. Accordingly, many practices have not yet been developed. Search engines were then one of the sources of information. They were not so highly developed and had not yet dictated their terms to the market.

I still found such a time when sites were called by ear, or transmitted direct links, and their names were entered directly into the address bar. Today, even if the name of the site is known, as a rule, it is still entered into a search engine. Some today do not even know what an address bar is, and in almost all browsers it is no longer just an address bar, but a search bar.

How was SERP ranking before? The search engines took into account the following data:

  • page structure (so-called meta tags, headings, keywords);
  • the number of links leading to the site.

The more links led to the site and the more technically correct the page was designed, the more likely the site was to be in the top positions of the search results.

Why did it matter before? Because search engines didn’t have the same power as they do now, and such sophisticated ranking algorithms haven’t been invented. For example, Yandex search as of 98th year worked on only three computers.
Search engines were forced to “trust” the site creators to some extent.
And it was then that speculation and manipulation of search results began. Various “gray” and “black” promotion methods appeared (link exchanges and various tools for meta tags, etc.) You could buy thousands of links on thousands of sites and be in the top of the search results.
Then search engines began to actively develop. And now the algorithms for ranking these search engines have improved so much that we can say that the number of links and page structures are not as important to them as they used to be.
Google and Yandex in their recommendations say that you do not need to be puzzled by the internal structure of the site and how the page looks for search engines, you must first of all think about how visitors will read it. Search engines have started to look at sites from the point of view of the visitor and increasingly come closer to the human understanding of content.
I want to clarify a few points. The fact that the structure of the page is not so important for search engines right now does not mean that there is no need to fill in titles, descriptions, etc. This must be done, but not from the point of view of the search engine, but from the point of view of the visitor. Search engines display exactly site names and meta descriptions as search results, so they must be present on every page.
I would also like to draw your attention to one nuance. Yes, meta tags are not that important for search engines right now, but you shouldn”t confuse meta tags with other information descriptions. In addition to text, there are various elements on the page: photos, videos, etc. These are more complex formats for indexing. Search engines cannot figure out yet what is contained in a video or photo. They can only figure this out if we create a textual description for this kind of content. Therefore, such descriptions must be added to the site (using alt-text). This helps search engines better understand what images and videos are on your site, which in turn makes them more likely to appear in image and video search results.
Just like the structure of the page and the number of links, it doesn”t matter for search engines which engine the site is built on. Some sources claim that the platform on which the site is built (whether it is a CMS platform or a builder) is “SEO friendly”. Of course, these are the marketing moves of the CMS themselves and the designers who say that a site created on their basis will be better ranked by search engines than sites written on other systems. This is not true. The site engine has practically no effect on site promotion. Why? Because the search engine is not interested in what the site is written on, it may not even know it.

What is really most important in a site platform from a search engine perspective:

  • The speed of the site and page opening. The platform must provide a high speed of work. The faster the site opens, the better for the user in the first place. And if you achieved speed faster from some bulky CMS than from some publicized framework, then the platform does not matter.
  • Mobile version of the site. We must not forget that mobile versions are gaining momentum now. Your site engine must either support a mobile version or use a responsive design.
Returning to the history of the issue, I will summarize: the principles of ranking that were in effect before are no longer so effective. SEO now has to be seen as part of a marketing strategy. Now, paradoxically, digital life is getting closer to reality. Whereas earlier sites had to communicate their content (using meta tags, etc.), now search engines have learned to do this themselves. They took on a lot of work. This is why meta tags are no longer so important to search engines. And if earlier information about oneself was placed in a magazine, book, catalog – now the same is happening with regard to Internet resources – it is necessary that the site content be visually pleasing and informative, like in a real magazine. This is part of the marketing strategy.