SEO – the basics

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which is the optimization and increase of traffic to a specific website. The process, which directs the traffic, involves the use of search engines and their search results. The website’s ranking will vary depending on the search term used and whether your website makes use of the keyword and how well your website is linked.

Nowadays there are different kinds of searches including image search, music search, local search and vertical searches. In general optimization occurs by keyword research, article submissions, blogging, optimizing the website design to be search engine friendly, using forums, PPC and building links.

SERPS – the basics

SERP stands for search engine results page. This is basically a list of webpages that is returned by the search engine after a query with a certain search term (Keyword or Keyphrases). The listings often occur in the format of the webpage title, the link to the webpage and a description of its contents showing the matching keywords.

Sometimes search engines will make use of query caching for the more popular searches and thus show the cached search results instead of the live search results to improve the search engine’s performance. SERP refreshing may sometimes take up to a few weeks, thus one must always check for any updates in case the information searched for is out of date.

How the two connect

So how are the two similar and how are they different? SEO and SERP have the search result page in common. Since SEO is about increasing web presence, the incorporation of SERP into an SEO campaign is important since SEO boosts the SERPs. Thus, SERP Optimization is one component of an SEO campaign. Consequently, the way in which websites can be optimized for search engines will result in a good SERP ranking. That being said, some searches may make use of other properties such as location instead of page rankings such as mobile maps on iPhones.

So why is a good SERP ranking important? Well, since your company is among the many listed on a SERP it is important to be at the top or near the top of the list to gain the most exposure to traffic. The reason why is because most users will make use of the information on the first few pages (say 5) and if they do not find anything of importance they would type in another search term to increase relevance. Users do not have the time nor the patience to sift through the millions of results. Furthermore they tend to think the further back the results are, the less relevant they are to what they are looking for (sometimes it is indeed the case).

The other way (shorter method) of SERP listing without the use of SEO is via sponsored listing or pay per click usage. However, the downside to this is that the traffic you will be gaining is paid for and not free and not all traffic will buy from you.

Get Involved