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Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via "natural" ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results for targeted keywords. Usually, the earlier a site is presented in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS) or the higher it "ranks", the more searchers will visit that site. SEO can also target different kinds of searches, including image search, local search, and industry-specific vertical search engines. Rankings are determined by various factors such as: 1) On page SEO factors –
Such as composition, keyword density (the number of times a keyword is used divided by the total number of words). Succinct titles (65 characters) description tags with no more than 185 characters. The use of h1 tags, bold and italics sparingly to emphasize keywords and the links and the text in the link (anchor text) is a summation of the most common on page SEO factors. 2) Link Popularity –
Who links to you, what is in the text in the link (anchor text), the age of the link and if it has link juice (meaning a do-follow link vs. a no-follow link). 3) Age of the domain –
Despite speculation of a sandbox that quarantines your site, until it reaches a specific age, the fact remains that as your site ages, it gains more trust. Trust is a ranking factor that can trump page rank or links, as a trusted domain can get spidered and indexed (scanned and added to the search engine) in minutes after a page is introduced and literally hit the top 10 in an hour, vs weeks or months for less trusted sites. 4) The domain name and what keywords are in it –
Domain names that have your main keywords in the name can save you thousands of dollars in advertising and SEO. The reason is, anytime you use absolute links (the entire domain name) you are essentially building a link for those terms in search engines. So just through natural promotion or hardly any SEO at all, you can rank for variations of the domain name for this reason. 5) Authority links –
Authority links are typically a result of writing great content or having something that is editorially link worthy. As a result an industry authority such as a trade publication a national magazine or syndicated news source may link to you as a result. In this case, your entire gets a pat on the back from search engines as a result of elevated trust.
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