Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - Wikipedia

What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the quality and quantity of website traffic to a website or a web page from search engines. SEO targets unpaid search traffic (usually referred to as "organic" results) rather than direct traffic, referral traffic, social media traffic, or paid traffic.

History of SEO

Webmasters and content providers began optimizing websites for search engines in the mid-1990s, as the first search engines were cataloging the early Web. Initially, webmasters submitted the address of a page, or URL, to the various search engines, which would send a web crawler to crawl that page, extract links to other pages from it, and return information found on the page to be indexed.

Methods of SEO

Getting Indexed

Getting indexed is the process of submitting a website to search engines and waiting for them to crawl and index the site.

Preventing Crawling

Preventing crawling is the process of preventing search engines from crawling and indexing certain pages or sections of a website.

Increasing Prominence

Increasing prominence is the process of making a website more visible in search engine results pages (SERPs) by optimizing its content, structure, and link popularity.

White Hat versus Black Hat Techniques

White hat techniques are ethical and transparent SEO methods that focus on creating high-quality content and improving user experience. Black hat techniques are unethical and manipulative SEO methods that aim to trick search engines and deceive users.

International Markets and SEO

International markets and SEO involve optimizing websites for search engines in different languages and regions, taking into account cultural and linguistic differences.

Legal Precedents

There have been several legal precedents in the history of SEO, including lawsuits against search engines and webmasters who have engaged in unethical SEO practices.

References and External Links

A list of references and external links for further reading and research on search engine optimization.