Search Engine Optimization is a process whereby websites use various methods to increase their visibility on many of the world's most prominent search engines, such as Google and Yahoo. This is achieved through free techniques that do not require the client to sign up to things such as paid links or paid listings. The most popular ways to boost a site's ranking is to use keywords, to create backlinks and to link pages of the same website in a better way.
Keywords are effective because they are utilized in a way that will match specific queries entered in to a search engine. By targeting specific phrases, it is possible to make a web page appear higher in results when that exact phrase is searched for. Some sites also use a method called "keyword stuffing", whereby the same keyword is included multiple times to massively increase their visibility. This can backfire, though, as the website often looks messy and unprofessional to those that visit it.
Backlinking is another highly popular SEA technique, and occurs when a site creates a link on a different website, thus encouraging users to click on the link. This is vital within the SEO world, as search engine companies use them as a massive indicator of the popularity of a website, as it is perceived to represent the popularity of a specific site.
The final main method used by SEO companies is the linking of webpages from the same site. The more links that the main page receives, the higher a page will appear on search engine results. It also makes it easier for search engine crawlers to retrieve information on a website.
All these techniques - plus some others - are legitimate ways in which an SEO provider can make the ranking of a site climb up the listings of a search engine. Basic research shows that very few people search further than the first page of results, so it is imperative that a site is as high as possible.
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