SEO
Definition: Search engine
A search engine is a tool that helps the user to find web pages on a given subject. Generally, search engines collect the information on the different web pages by applying small applications that stroll through the Internet, collect data and feed the search engine databases with material. These small applications are called spiders or robots.
Definition: Search engine optimization (SEO)
A set of procedures the webmaster must execute to make his website and the web pages within it more “lovable” by search engines. The search engine “loves” your website and the web pages within it means that there is a higher probability that a search engine user will find your website and the web pages within it.
The main method for increasing website traffic is to apply Search Engine Optimization techniques. This is due to the fact that most Internet users get to websites via search engines. Search engines have evolved in the past few years, like everything else in the Hi-Tech industry, for three main reasons: (a) The progress of technology; (b) The need to improve search engine service due to competition between search engines; (c) The need for overcoming techniques applied by webmasters to fool the search engines in their favor.
Search engine optimization is a group of actions that should be executed to increase traffic from search engines. These actions can be categorized into two main categories: On-Site optimization and Off-Site optimization.
Definition: On-Site optimization
Procedures that are applied to the website for search engine optimization.
Definition: Off-Site optimization
Procedures that are applied to other websites for search engine optimization.
The procedures are as follows:
- Keyword usage: keywords placement, keyword density, stuffing/spamming.
- Link attributes: Internal link structure, relevance of outbound links, number of inbound link, age of links, anchored text of inbound links, text surrounding inbound links, associations with Spam sites, participation in link schemes (spider traps, web-rings and other schemes).
- Website content: Document quality (content relevance, spelling, grammar, W3C standards), content originality, hierarchy structure, document age, freshness (frequency of update of pages), duplication of content within the website.
- Site attributes: Age of the site, domain extensions (edu, gov, com), historical performance of the site measured by several parameters (time spent, direct visits, bookmarks), accessibility or inaccessibility to search engine spiders and robots, server response time.
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