SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) Terms You Should Know

As Search Engine Optimisation is quite “techie”, there are a number of technical terms terms used that appear frequently whenever it’s discussed. Here are some of the most commonly used terms below, starting with SEO/SEM (and the difference between them).

SEO/SEM
SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimisation.” These are techniques used by SEO Consultants to improve your website’s rankings in the search engines for a particular set of keywords, or keyword phrases. (more on this topic in a bit)
SEM stands for “Search Engine Marketing” and is being used more and more by search engine professionals. In addition to the standard SEO techniques, SEM Consultants also specialize in:
Creating Pay-Per-Click Campaigns on the search engine of your choice… primarily Google, Yahoo and Bing.  These are the ads on the right hand side of Google’s reults page.  Although, being an expensive option, it is better to concentrate on the “organic listings”.  These are the results running down the middle of the page.
Buying paid “inclusions” from the search engines. This is paying a search engine company for a guarantee that your website will be included in their search results.

SERPs
SERPs stands for “Search Engine Results Pages.” It’s the page that is returned whenever someone conducts a search through a search engine.
SEO techniques are used to improve your web page’s ranking amongst the other “organic” listings in the SERPs with the ultimate goal of increasing targeted website traffic.

Keyword Phrase
It’s extremely important that you grasp the concept of the “keyword phrase” as it is the backbone of SEO. A keyword, or keyword phrase, is the word(s) entered into the search box by an internet user.
As the search engines return the web pages they believe to be most relevant for the keyword phrase entered, it’s vital that you understand the concept and do your best to optimize your pages for the keyword phrases you want to be found for.

Backlinks
Last, but not least, is the subject of backlinks. Most SEO Consultants agree that the creation of backlinks (aka links, link building, one-way links, etc.) that point to your pages should be your primary objective.
You need to build quality links, that contain your targeted keyword phrases and you need to do this on an ongoing basis. SEO is not a “once and done” type of activity, it requires continual improvement/management to be truly effective.

Regarding the ongoing marketing of a website, this is as I said above, an ongoing task.  This is why there’s a small maintenance fee involved.
When you think about it, a new website can only appear amongst the top ten results if someone elses site is pushed off onto page two.  It seems harsh, but it’s the way of the world.  The business of prime importance to you is, of course, your’s so let’s push the competition onto page two!