SEO & Website Optimisation FAQs
Is your head hurting with all the jargon? Are you confused by all the terminology? Hopefully our handy faqs, definitions and glossary will help you.What is SEO?
SEO is short for “Search Engine Optimisation” or “optimization” if you’re from the USA. It’s the process of getting your website at the top of search engines for your chosen keywords or keyphrases. There are two types of SEO – on-page SEO and off-page SEO.
What is a keyword?
A key word is a single word used in a search to find a website, a brand, a product or a service etc. Typical keywords could be…laptops, shoes, apple, plumber. Single keywords are often described as trophy words or prime keywords and are generally high competition.
What is a keyphrase?
A key phrase is s series of keywords. For example…pentium laptops, black leather shoes, apple computers, on call plumbers. Keyphrases are often more descriptive and result in better results whenever you search.
What is on-page SEO?
On page SEO is the process of placing keywords in the page titles, meta tags, anchor text links and body text of a web page..
What is off-page SEO?
Off page SEO is the process of obtaining and pointing links to your website. This is also known as link building using a mixture of one way links, reciprocal links or three way links.
What are page titles?
Page title are the visible short descriptions displayed in the top bar your your internet browserBrowsers such as Firefox and Internet Explorer. The page title of this page says “Free SEO & Website Optimisation FAQs”.
What are meta tags?
Meta tags are blocks of text embedded in the code of a web page. They are hidden from view from the visitor and were used to help pages rank in search engines. They are not of high importance nowadays and only certain search engines value them. Google does not use them to rank web pages.
What are anchor text links.
Anchor text links are basically any form of link. However in SEO terms they are used to describe the subject of the page that it links to. For example click here is a link but a SEO company Edinburgh is a descriptive anchor text link.
What are one way links?
One way links are links from another website that point back to your website. These are also known as inbound links or backlinks.
What are reciprocal links?
Reciprocal links are where two websites link to each other by mutual agreement.
What are three way links?
Site A -> Site B -> Site C or any permutation.
What is link building?
Link building is the process of obtaining links to your website. Linkbuilding cane be very boring, very interesting, very skillfull and or very easy depending on the method you use. Regardless, linkbuilding is the most successful way of promoting a website. There are numerous methods of linkbuilding such as;
- Article link building
- Press releases
- Directory submission
- Content attraction
- Link baiting
- Direct requests
- Social Media
- Blog posts
- Blog Comments
- Forum signatures and posts
There are many more ways of linkbuilding that are very inventive and ingenius. SEO companies often devise very clever ways of obtaining links which in turn can bring lots of traffic and obtain very good positions on search engines.
Article link building
This involves writing an article on the subject of your website, products, services etc. You place a link in the body of the article then submit it to an article website (commonly known as an article directory). If your article gets published then you obtain a new link back to your website.
Press Releases
Similar to article link building. This time you submit press releases about your company, products or services to a new website such as a newspaper, TV website or a website that specialises in news stories. If your press release gets published then you obtain a new link back to your website.
Directory submissions
Submit your website to a web directory. Web directories are websites that list millions of websites based on category, geographical location etc. You submit your website by filling in their form. If accepted you have a link back to your website. Some directories are free and some require you to pay for a listing. Yahoo is a directory website that requires you to pay for a listing.
Content attraction
If your web pages have great content then you will attract natural links back to your website. For example if your website has great content and information on say stamp collecting, then if another website owner finds your website valuable they may link back to your website.
Link baiting
Link baiting attracts links by way of writing spoof content, parodies and hoaxes. For example, a hoax article can cause great interest or an equally great stir and subsequently attract hundreds if not thousands of links back to your website. Linkbaiting is a somewhat contentious practice and can also attract bad publicity as well as good publicity. So it has to be considered very carefully.
Direct requests
Simply asking another website owner to link back to your website. This can either be one way, reciprocal or three way link requests.
Social Media
Social media websites such as facebook, twitter etc. Such sites are very popular with search engines and any links from thse can be valuable. Registered users on these sites write small articles, posts or bookmark your website providing a link back.
Blog posts
Write blog posts with a link back to your website.
Blog comments
Commenting on a blog posts – you can in some cases place a link within the post.
Forum signatures and posts
If you are registered on an internet forum you can place a link in the signature area of your account. Equally, if permitted you can place a link on a forum post.