It feels so good to see how technology has made things so creative yet so simple for us. The world is progressing in numerous ways and technology plays such a significant role in it. No wonder when the box shaped computers were introduced, it felt like our world has drastically changed. And, today that phenomenon has been further improvised and revolutionized to a much higher level. When we adapt to these new inventions, there are certain rules and paths we are required to follow, in order to fully utilize what we have. Similarly, when WWW – World Wide Web was made a part of our professional lives, it came with guidelines that were to be availed and utilized.
We are going to discuss SEO, which happens to be a significant aspect of World Wide Web.
What is SEO?
SEO – Search Engine Optimization is the practice of adding value to your website simply by increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website via search engine results.
Aspects covered by SEO
- Quality of traffic: Your website can be accessible to anyone from anywhere in the world, but when only the people who are looking for what you offer and are interested in your USP are directed to you, then that is the kind of traffic you need and cater to, on your website.
- Quantity of traffic: Once the filtered traffic is getting through, using the search engine result pages (SERPs) then the more the merrier.
- Organic results: Organic traffic is what you get without paying anything. This does not involve any paid ads that are only meant for advertisement and not provide the useful search results to the visitors.
How does SEO work?
What we, as an internet surfer do is type something in the search bar of our desired search engine and expect a long list of ‘relevant’ links as a result. But have we ever wondered, how they are listed before our eyes in an instant?
Here’s what happens. The Search engine that we use takes up our search criteria (words, phrases etc.) and then looks up for content containing that required detail all over internet. Then the 1s and 0s in the word searched for are brought back to our search engine to build up an index. Then that index is fed through an algorithm and that filters the data further by matching it with your requirements and there, you are presented with a list of links that could be useful for you.
Types of SEO – Search Engine Optimization
There are four major types of SEO practices. White Hat, Black Hat, Grey Hat and Negative Hat.
Black Hat
With SEO ranking criteria, black hat implies the dark side of it. This one has more risk than the rest. This will get you where you want to see your website real fast, as it involves shortcuts to the top by not abiding by the Google Webmaster Guidelines. It also adapts certain ways that are specifically not accepted by the guidelines.
Black Hat has the potential of putting your website or content into the unsafe zone and can be banned from the search results or demoted the next time Google updates its ranking algorithm. This can actually be a big deal as the algorithm is updated 500 to 600 times a year. Black Hat SEO will add value quickly as it takes up shortcuts but there is no guarantee of this value being able to sustain.
White Hat
White Hat SEO adhere to the Google Webmaster Guidelines. They take quite a long time and the procedure is costly. But the good thing is that White Hat SEO is not risky, it’s a safe zone for the websites. It also brings out value which tends to last for long. A well-known SEO company in Dubai ensures that all the websites they work for, fall under this category. Some respected SEO and content marketing companies like Moz, Search Engine Journal, Search Engine Watch, Search Engine Land and many more use White Hat SEO tools and techniques.
Grey Hat SEO
Grey Hat falls in the middle of White Hat SEO and Black Hat SEO, based on tactics from both. These techniques are not actually a part of Google Webmaster Guidelines. In a literal sense, the grey area is the one that does not have a clear picture of a yes or a no. Similarly, the Grey Hat SEO uses means to implement tactics from White Hat and Black Hat SEO, but does not have its own set of authentic rules and hence it is absolutely an unsafe zone. Grey Hat method also involves purchasing of links and that act is completely against the law. You could get a penalty for doing so and also be left bankrupt.
Negative SEO
Negative SEO is about causing harm to the website of others, mostly the competitors. In this you apply black or grey hat SEO techniques so that you can make room for your own website to move up. This is absolutely unethical. This includes building undesirable links to a competitor’s website, stealing their content, posting unwanted and negative reviews or hacking the site with the intention of making unpleasant changes in the content that can ruin their image and productivity.
On-Page SEO
This practice can involve any of the black, grey and white hat SEO techniques. The aim is to make sure that your website is easily found on the search engines and the content is easily understood. This practice helps the search engines and the visitors in deciding whether your content has the potential of being useful or not. The examples include Meta tags, Meta description, headings, URLs, title tags, images, internal and outgoing links.
Off-Page SEO
This focuses on external ranking links like backlinks and unlinked mentions of your business or website, online. The examples include hyperlinks from an external website or an unlinked mention of your business on social media, a website forum, an online directory or a Q&A site.
