What is search engine optimisation?

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the process of increasing the likelihood of a document being returned high up the list of matched documents determined by search engine relevacy algorithms. Search engine optimisation is an ongoing, reactive process of re-engineering a document or group of documents to keep up with developments in search relevancy algorithms. On a basic level this will involve ensuring that the keywords and phrases you wish to be ranked for are found in the documents you are optimising. On a higher level SEO requires an in-depth knowledge of how the various search engine algorithms work and how documents can be engineered to provide as close to a perfect match as the algorthim can extract from its index.

Although the principles, processes and techniques involved with SEO are generally the same there are conflicting views amoungst search engine optimisers (SEOs) about what the phrase covers.

There are two principle schools of thought on SEO. On one side search engine optimisation is considered to be the process of making websites search engine friendly, with keyword themes running throughout the title, meta and body content of the site pages. On the other side you have the view that search engine optimisation is about creating the optimum page for a given search algorithm. Where all elements of the document are the best they can be (the optimum), so that the page is considered a perfect match against its target phrase and will out-rank all lesser optimised documents in a search index.

The level of search engine optimisation required for any given website will be determined by the market in which it is competing. For example, for highly competitive search phrases simple search engine friendly optimisation is unlikely to be enough to increase the likelihood of your site ranking highly against the targeted phrase. Seasoned SEOs can identify very quickly how much work is required to achieve high rankings and what kind of timescales are involved.

Related Information