What is search engine optimization?

Search engines are the primary entry point with which most of us reach the web. Whenever we want something on the internet, we go straight to Google, Bing, Yahoo or one of many other search engines to find what we are looking for. Search engine optimization is a series of marketing and technical techniques employed by webmasters or SEO (search engine optimization) professionals to improve their rankings and theirby increase their traffic from search engines.

There are myrad factors that go into seeing an increase in rankings for any business. Some of these include…

Increasing Pagerank: increase the number of links (backlinks) to your website from other websites to improve results. An HTML link is essentially a vote.
Improving Design: An aesthetic, usable design may increase rankings for pages and also help users – the people and customers you serve – spend more time on your site.
Improving Social Signals: Getting Facebook Likes or a Share or mention on twitter
Improving On-Site HTML: Updating meta tags, using better keywords, properly mark up media and writing better articles can all help.

Ultimately, search engine optimization seeks to ensure that one sites content is retrieved and displayed by the search engines over another. If you are interested in getting a guide or improving your search rankings results, there are plenty of options.

First, you can attend conferences of professionals such as SMX, Pubcon, SES (Search Engine Strategies), MozCon, LinkLove and SearchLove, and others across the globe.

Second, you can hire search engine professionals who can assist with improving ranking for pages across your site, although beware of those who claim to be able to guarantee rankings which is unlikely. Be aware of the risks of hiring a white hat vs. a black hat SEO who may be optimizing your site with paid links or other techniques of which Google does not approve.

Finally, read and experiment yourself. You can visit sites like Search Engine land, Search Engine Journal and Search Engine Watch to learn more. Whether you are looking at keyword usage, link building, on site or off site factors, you can make a difference in your search rankings.