What is SEO in simple words - types of search engine optimization

What is search engine optimization (search engine optimization) or SEO

In layman's terms, SEO are ways to prove to search engines that your site is better than your neighbor's and should be shown higher in search results than the competition.

By search engine optimization we mean anything, with the main tasks for the SEO specialist looking like this:

Customer site analysis

1. Sanctions or search engine filters

First of all, it is important to understand whether there are sanctions or a ban on the site. That is, we enter the name of the site in the search engines and look:

• Google "site:yoursite.com"

As a result, we can see what pages are present in the search database. If there are no pages or very few, then there are some serious problems.

2. IP neighbors

It is worth carefully studying where the site is hosted and what other sites are hosted on the same server. Doubtful, banned resources or materials with age restrictions - all these are not the best neighbors for the promoted site.

3. Analysis of statistics and reporting in the services of Yandex and Google

Site should be carefully examined in services Yandex-webmaster and Google-analytics. Here we look for sudden drops in attendance, how much traffic and where it comes from, etc.

It is mandatory to look at the errors and restrictions adopted manually.

4. Analysis of the implementation of the site and its characteristics

It is important to check:

• Mobile version. Since 2018, having a mobile form of presentation of the site is mandatory;
• Site content management system (CMS) - it determines the flexibility and ability to customize and refine the site;
• Code validity - if the site code has a lot of code errors, it will obviously underestimate its evaluation by search engines;
• Noindex - what if? If not properly configured for indexing, then parts of the site or the entire site can be ignored by search robots.

All this will be discussed in more detail in subsequent articles.

5. Market and competitor analysis

It is worth paying attention to who the site will have to compete with. If you have a young resource with a similar domain name to a very old and powerful aggregator, this is a reason to consider changing the name. It is necessary, consider all the competitors in the top and explore all possible overlaps between them, and then analyze what actions to take as part of the promotion.

Site optimization

Collecting semantics - it is important to collect the broadest possible semantics of the site and properly cluster it. Without adequate clustering semantics is almost useless. Here it is important to understand that the semantic core, the field - a tool that will not work only you and you need to make everything intuitive for everyone.

Introducing semantics on the site - here begins the most important and interesting. In short, we write title, description, H1...H6, implement active elements, tables of contents, tag clouds, lists and so on.

Varieties of SEO

• White;
• Gray;
• Black.

White SEO is standard and currently working methods of search engine optimization. This is a big and creative work, which includes constant study of search engine algorithm updates. It requires a large investment of time and experience. Unfortunately, clear rules in the work of search engines can not be found. Therefore, many points are revealed in the process of the specialist. 

Gray SEO - allows you to quickly get the site to the top. At the same time there is a chance to get sanctions from search engines or even a ban site. That is, directly, these methods are not prohibited, but there are nuances.

Black SEO - a variety of ways to quickly get to the top, as well as all kinds of clone sites to monopolize the output. Such sites do not live very long, as in 2020, search engine robots and assessors are able to quickly calculate and reward the wily commemorative ban.

In any case, if it is planned for the long-term and high-quality development of a web resource, it is worth working within the limits of permissible and correct methods of promotion. I think you should not expose the site to the risk of falling under sanctions, for the sake of some short-term goals. So don't forget to use a backlink analyzer online.

What is the problem with search engine optimization?

The first and biggest optimization problem is SEO's desire to deceive the search engine, which search engines do not like.

In this regard, search engines roll out updates without warning and try as much as possible to shield optimizers from information about changes in the search algorithm.

Always a harbinger of updates to Google is an update recommendation for assessors, and here it is vitally important to know English or do not forget about the translators.

The second SEO problem is the trend of search engines to "squeeze out" search results with their services and advertisements, leaving a minimum amount of space for organic traffic. And the organic output itself has to compete with aggregators.

The third problem with SEO is the inflexibility of SEO, the inability to keep up with the times, and the use of outdated promotion methods.

The Internet abounds with various recommendations on how to promote your site to the top 3. Unfortunately, this topic is very dynamic and the article, written some time ago, may no longer be relevant. Such articles still urge website owners to put dozens of keywords into their articles, making "SEO texts" and shoving these texts everywhere, or, better yet, to indicate the keys in BOLD, "then the search engine will definitely see the key.

If you plan to engage in SEO professionally, it is worth preparing to study the actual search algorithms and successful competitors from the top.

Many of the sites that are in the first positions of the results have key points that, once you understand them, you can adjust your resource in the right way. At this point in 2020, promotion methods through active elements are still relevant. I recommend reading a good report on commercial promotion in 2020.