The Basics About SERPs

SERPs refer to the search engine results pages.  If you want your website to receive a lot of traffic you will need to do your best to climb higher in the SERPs.  The higher you are, the more likely it will be for people to click on your particular listing.

The SERPs are based on keywords.  When people type in these keywords they are presented with a list of the top ten most relevant pages.  You definitely want to be on the first page since sites on the first page receive much more traffic than those on subsequent pages.

Choosing the right keywords to try to rank for is very important when it comes to ranking in the SERPs.  If you choose incorrectly in the beginning you will likely regret it for a long time to come.  Certain keywords will be very hard to rank well for because of stiff competition from authority sites.

This does not mean you should target keywords with little competition though.  Many of them will receive little traffic which is the reason not many other sites will be targeting them.  You need to find the best combination of keywords with a lot of searches and low competition.

The methods you can use to move up in the SERPs are collectively known as search engine optimization.  There are many different methods you can consider using.  On-page optimization refers to things like having a Meta description for each page, appropriate keyword density, and high-quality content.

Off-page optimization mainly refers to getting links to your website.  Each link is basically viewed as a vote for your site on the SERPs.  Just like with an election, the more votes you get, the better it will be for your website.

You should therefore try to get as many votes or links as you can.  It is best to focus on obtaining high-quality links since they will offer you more link juice.  Pages which are popular and relevant to your chosen niche will weigh more heavily.

Article marketing is one of the main ways people go about moving up in the SERPs.  You simply need to write high-quality content and upload them to article directories and submission sites complete with a few links to your site at the bottom of each article.  Other webmasters in your niche may like your article enough to upload the articles to their own site which will provide you with even more links.

Moving up in the SERPs is one of the best ways to gain traffic to your site.  Combine as many different methods as you can to move up and reap the benefits.