SEO
What is SEO?
SEO is an English acronym that stands for Search Engine Optimization and, translated, means “optimization for search engines”. It differs from Search Engine Marketing (SEM) in that the latter is a broader discipline that includes both the SEO area relating to organic search results and that relating to paid search results (SEA, Search Engine Advertising).
What are the best SEO techniques?
SEO optimization strategies and practices are many and cover different aspects of a website, from HTML structure to link management.
Specifically, the SEO activity is mainly structured in 2 macro-areas:
The On-Page SEO
The Off-Page SEO
On-Page SEO
With the term On-Page SEO we mean the whole set of optimization strategies put into practice within the pages of the site to be positioned in the serp (the page returned by the search engine when a search key is entered inside it) . For example, this macro-category includes the SEO optimization of the HTML code and the optimization of website content.
Analysis keywords
To do SEO in the right way, it is necessary to start from a first strategic phase, focused on analyzing and choosing the best keywords to use.
In order to get a good ranking on Google it is advisable to avoid too generic keywords (with a high volume of searches but also a lot of competition and, therefore, with little chance of success). According to Chris Anderson’s long tail theory, it is preferable to choose many specific keywords, with less search volume but also less competition and, therefore, with a higher conversion rate.
These keywords will be used strategically in some elements, such as Title tags, Meta Description, Heading tags and in the Alt Text of the images.
Title tag & meta description
The Title tag is the code that specifies the title of a particular page to the search engine and, in order for it to be “optimized”, it must be concise and include the keywords.
The Meta Description, that is the introductory phrase that appears in the SERP under each web address returned by the search engine, must be clear and captivating, as well as consistent with the content to which it refers.
Within a page, then, it is advisable to use the Heading tags (titles and subtitles, H1, H2, H3 …), which help clarify the content of the page for both users and the search engine.
Since browsers still cannot understand the content of an image simply by “looking at it”, it is also important to add Alt Text to them, that is, an alternative text to the image that can explain its content.
Optimization of the contents of a website
Another decisive aspect for the good positioning of a website is the optimization of the contents. Generally speaking, they:
They must be unique and original, i.e. not copied from other parts.
They must be useful and interesting.
They need to be updated.
They must (naturally) contain keywords.
Off-Page SEO
Strategies and practices external to it also contribute to the good positioning of a site: we are now referring specifically to the management of incoming links.
Google believes that the most linked web pages are the most deserving and important. This belief, however, is not limited to a mere numerical aspect: the search engine, in fact, also takes into consideration the authoritativeness of the pages of origin of the links. What’s more: Google also considers the spontaneity of links.
The distinction between link building and link earning arises from this last aspect: the first concept refers to the set of practices aimed at obtaining links even in a non-spontaneous way, such as guest blogging and even more artificial (and now systematically penalized by the search engine) such as the exchange of links and spam.
Getting links to your web page in a natural way and, therefore, compliant with Google’s rules is not easy: the advice is to produce quality content, which is appreciated by users and, consequently, linked.
