Introduction to SEO

When you explore aspects of managing websites, in addition to web design and user experience patterns, you come across the concept of search engine optimization ( SEO): the science of improving a website’s visibility across results from various search engines. If a website is not prominently visible in search results, it defeats the purpose of having a website in the first place. Therefore, it is extremely important to ensure that your website is easy for search engines to access. Search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, and Bing help users find the content they are looking for. So, it is imperative that your website is visible on the search engine results page (SERP). For example, if you have a plumbing business offering services in Toronto, your site should rank high in the search engine rankings when users search for plumbers in Toronto on Google or any other search engine. Studies related to SEO suggest that more traffic usually results in more sales; therefore, traffic is one of the key components that determines revenue. In addition to increasing revenue, SEO can help with other goals such as reaching out to a larger audience or helping people access crucial information for a greater good. Before delving into SEO methodology, you need to have a basic understanding of the following topics:

• What is SEO?
• Benefits of SEO
• Challenges in SEO
• Black-hat SEO vs. White-hat SEO
• On-page and Off-page SEO