This is Part 2 of our SEO 101 article series.  In SEO 101: Part 1, we explore fundamental SEO principles, learn how search engines work, and understand how web pages are ranked in search results.  In this article, we cover keyword research, on-site SEO and off site ranking factors.

Keyword Research

Keyword research is an important skill to master if you are interested in realizing significant traffic from search engines. The important aspects of keyword research can be broken down into four components:

1. Volume – Identifying keywords that have sufficient enough search volume to make them worth your while
2. Competition – Evaluating the competition for the keyword to understand if you have the ability to rank
3. Intent – You should seek keywords that have the right intent associated with them. If you are an e-commerce site, you are looking for phrases that may contain purchase intent keywords such as “buy”, “review”, “best” etc.
4. Content – The best keywords to optimize for are the ones that you are ready, willing and able to commit to developing significant content for. Your keywords/content should be chosen for their longevity. [Read more…]

SEO 101 is intended to provide you with a basic (and updated) understanding of the various components of SEO. In part 1 of the article, we cover how search engines work and how they determine your rankings. In the second part of the article, we cover keyword research, on site SEO factors and off site SEO factors.

Before we get started, let’s make sure we are talking about the same thing:

“Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a web site or a web page in search engines via the “natural” or un-paid (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results.” – Wikipedia

SEO is a term that is extensively used but not widely understood. The practice of Search Engine Optimization is intended to improve your rankings on the various search engines which will lead to increased traffic to your site. SEO is important because search engines are important. Most websites, especially newer ones without an established audience, will receive 50% or more of their traffic from search engines. Even established websites with a large audience of repeat visitors covet search engine traffic because it brings in new customers. [Read more…]