What is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and is defined as (in my own words):"The process of finding out the best keywords for a web site and by the use of optimizing the web site along with other off-page work making that web site attain a higher position in the search engine result pages (SERPs) for those selected words."Although the exact calculations used by the search engines are kept secret, there is lot of knowledge and observations in this field from thousands of webmasters worldwide.It could be said to be a branch of online marketing. In general terms you can say that it means to make a web site more visible and make it look important in the eyes of search engines.

What is the Future of SEO?

Not being familiar with SEO and not applying it compared to actually doing the right things can make a huge difference in terms of visitors to your web site.Trust level: Theory, assumption or speculationThe future of SEO is undoubtedly one where:

• reciprocal linking continue to decline
  
• the 'shotgun' approach to link buying declines
  
• mass email link requests decline
  
• free directory submission declines
  
• niche directory submission increases
  
• article PR (article submission) increases
  
• article submission sites (e.g. EzineArticles, GoArticles, and ArticleBlast play a much bigger
  and more important role in helping online publishers locate quality articles (due to the increasing article volume)
  
• user popularity is just as important as link popularity, which means
• the quality of article PR improves in order to increase site traffic, credibility, and loyalty
  
• the quality of website content improves in order to convert traffic and encourage repeat visits
  
• Clearly, the choices for SEOs will be pretty much limited to paying for links at niche sites and/or engaging in article PR. Being
  

I may be a little biased, but for me, article PR is the hands-down winner in this comparison:

• doing so, their site becomes more useful to visitors, and their business gains credibility and authority.
  
• It generates hundreds of free links quickly enough to make it worth your while, but not so quickly as to raise red flags at
  Google (in the form of link dampening).
  
• Links are permanent and you don't have to pay to keep them there.
  
• You get a lot of qualified referred traffic who already trust you and your expertise. This satisfies Google's visitor
  popularity criteria, while at the same time bringing you a lot of extra customers.