An Introduction to SEO

What is SEO?
It is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via "natural" ("organic" or "algorithmic") search results for targeted keywords.

Also
The person which performs such process is known as Search Engine Optimizer
It is an essential part of Internet Marketing and web Marketing.

Types of SEO
There are two types of SEO’s

White Hat SEO:
Those SEO’s who play by the rule and follow the all techniques that are recommended and approved by search engines.

Black Hat SEO:
Those SEO’s who do not play by the rule and do not follow the approved techniques by search engines. Instead of it they use every dirty trick and unfair means to get higher ranking in search engines. As a result search engines sooner or later ban, penalize all sites optimized by using Black Hat method and eliminate their listings from their databases altogether. This turns into a horrible dream and costs a great business loss for clients or customers who have paid enough money for the optimization
Some famous Black Hat SEO techniques are:
Cloaking
Spamming
Hidden text

Note: Before hiring a Search engine optimizer, make sure he uses white hat SEO methods.

Why SEO Is Important?

Following few benefits of SEO will tell you why?

Targeted Traffic

SEO can increase the number of visitors who are actively searching for your service or product.

Promotion that doesn't sleep

Imagine having your own marketing and promotions company working exclusively just for you! One that works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days every year. That's the benefit of SEO!

Increase brand visibility

SEO can give your brand a high international profile - and for a comparatively low outlay.

High ROI

Pound for pound, dollar for dollar, SEO brings you a higher Return On your Investment than any comparable form of marketing.

Higher Sales

SEO can mean increased sales of your product or service.

Faster, smaller pages

Properly validated and optimized files will be smaller and leaner, meaning less server requests/overheads and quicker download times.

Long term positioning

Once in place, a properly designed and optimized site should stay long term in the rankings compared to PPC where costs and outlay are ongoing and unpredictable.

Cost-effective

SEO is among the most cost-effective ways of marketing.

Accessibility

Observing sensible optimization procedures can make your site more accessible to all users.

Cross-browser compatibility

A properly optimized site will be as near as possible validated to high standards. This means that it should work in all W3C-compliant browsers, meaning your site may be viewed by the greatest potential number of visitors.

Navigable by the engines

All links should function correctly and all pages should be accessible to the engines, thus making your site easy for the engines to index and properly categories.

Usability

Observing basic optimization guidelines should mean that visitors have a more pleasant user experience.