You probably see the term "SEO" just about everywhere you look if you have spent much time on the Internet or reading about all-things-Internet. Many people have come to use the term rather loosely without really having a solid understanding of what it means. If you have ever asked yourself, "What does SEO stand for?", the following information can help illuminate the meaning of the term for you.



What SEO Stands For

"SEO" stands for Search Engine Optimization - quite a mouthful of a phrase (and hence the popularity of the acronym). Let's explore the term "Search Engine Optimization" in order to get a handle on what it means to you and your website.

How Search Engines Work

Most people know what search engines are but are not exactly sure how they work. A search engine is a technology whose functional goal is to make available to searchers of information that information which is most relevant to the search terms they use. The phrase "most relevant" here is key, and this is what separates one search engine from another: how each one determines the relevance and importance of the content they serve up to information searchers can vary widely.

Commonly-known search engine sites are Google and Yahoo!, who together dominate about 90% of all Internet searches today. Search engines are basically made up of three main components. The first is a set of autonomous agents called bots that basically act as virtual librarians, constantly scouring the Internet's billions of pages and recording what they find. The second component is an indexing engine that stores key information about each page found by the bots during their regular searches. The bots then apply special algorithms to determine how to prioritize or rank these pages when someone performs a search for a given term. The third component is the search site itself where people go to perform a search and then view the results.

Defining "Optimization"

The algorithms mentioned above are really the "special sauce" for any given search engine. There is no pre-ordained way to rank content based upon relevance, so search engine companies are always competing to come up with better algorithms that allow them to better classify and rank the content found by their bots. This is where optimization comes in: by optimizing your site for certain search terms or keywords, you are basically slanting the odds in your favor that your site will come up higher than do websites competing for traffic from the same search terms.

Important footnote: Search Engine Optimization refers only to efforts to improve the natural or organic ranking of your site; it does not refer to the practice of paying to drive traffic to your site, which is known instead as Search Engine Marketing, or SEM.

What SEO Means to You

SEO is both an art and a science. It is a science because so many of the elements that make up a search engine optimization campaign can be quantified and analyzed numerically. That's the wonderful thing about the Internet: online activity is eminently measurable. On the other hand, it is an art because there is no one, single formula for achieving strong rankings. Rather, someone engaging in this practice must take a savvy approach, combining common-sense tactics with their own creativity in order to compete with other sites for the best possible rankings.

In general, SEO involves a combination of two things. First, you must optimize your website itself by paying attention to the visible content, invisible content (meta tags), site structure, formatting and other items. Second, you must work to build as many backlinks from other relevant, high-profile websites as possible. Search engine indexing agents take all of this into account when determining how to rank your site for a give search.

How important is ranking well for relevant search terms? Well, it can literally translate to money in your pocket if your website represents a business or is an e-commerce site offering online transactions. A smart SEO strategy starts with an SEO Audit: a thorough analysis of your website to analyze key elements such as: for which keywords is your site currently optimized? Are there issues with the programming code or structure of your site that could impede search bots from reviewing your site?, and What is the quantity and quality of backlinks to your site?

Start any SEO campaign an audit to make sure you are embarking on your journey well-equipped and that you are headed off in the right direction.