What is SEO or Search Engine Optimization?  We will keep this simple as we know, if you are asking this question, the jargon, acronyms and the tech language will not help you.  I will explain SEO using analogies to real-life. I will try to help you develop an understanding. What is SEO?

SEO is simply the process of making a website “findable” by the search engines, like Google or Yahoo.

What Makes Your Website Findable?

Think attractive and readable first.  If your website is about “apples”, it should talk about apples and use the word frequently including images of apples.  You do not need any special skill to verify this – Attractive and Readable.  The website is relevant to what the reader searched – Apples.  That’s the task side of your requirements – making sure your happy and it is correct.

Title Tags and Description Tags

Your website developer should have completed some basic tasks to describe what the website is about.  In the code, usually not visible, are tags, called <meta tags>, which identify specifics of the website.  Think of them as a clothing tag.  A couple of very important tags are the Title Tags and Description Tags; they are as they sound, a title (for that page) and a description (for that page). The search engines, like Google, use these to tags to describe your website to the searcher.  A title tag for your apple site may read “California Apples Used in the Best Apple Pies”.  The Description may read “Recipes for Apple Pies using the Best Ingredients from California”.  There are many other tags your web developer should have defined.  The better and more finite you define these tags, the more likely that the search engines deliver the reader you want.  That’s the task side of your web developer’s requirements.

Relevance and Authority

There is the an ongoing process to SEO – Building relevance and authority. How relevant your website is to people talking about Apples.  People who are relevant, get talked about.  Websites that are relevant get linked to.  Equate “Talked About” and “Linked to” as synonymous.  If you want your website to appear high on the search engines (seen by more), encourage links from related websites, write a blog linking back to your website and participate in social media and forums which relate to your site – Apples.

This is not meant to be technical nor a how-to, but just a “what is”.

That’s SEO. Now, get your website found.

Robert (Bob) Leonard