Knowledge Base

Introduction to Search Engine Optimization

What is SEO (Search Engine Optimization)? SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the name given to the set of technical, content-related, and structural improvements made to make websites more visible to users searching for products, services, or information on search engines.

SEO as a Digital Marketing Strategy SEO is one of the cornerstones of digital marketing. It enables reaching the target audience through natural means, independent of advertising.

Organic Traffic This is the type of traffic that comes from search engines for free. It increases brand awareness and reliability in the long run.

Paid Traffic This is the traffic provided through advertisements paid for using advertising tools such as Google Ads.

SEO Process The SEO process consists of analysis, planning, implementation, and optimization stages.

SEM

What is SEM (Search Engine Marketing)? SEM is the entirety of the processes of attracting traffic to a website with advertisements produced through search engines.

SEM & SEO Difference SEO is an organic traffic strategy, while SEM is a paid one. SEM provides faster results, while SEO provides long-term success.

Google Ads This is Google's advertising platform. Advertisements are published by bidding on keywords.

SEM Production A cost-per-click (CPC) payment system is generally used.

Important Search Engines These are platforms such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, Yandex, DuckDuckGo, and Baidu.

Basic SEO Concepts and Terms

Domain This is the website's address (www.example.com).

Hosting This is the server service that hosts your website's files.

CMS (Content Management System) These are content management systems such as WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal.

On Site (On Page) SEO & Off Site (Off Page) SEO On Page SEO: On-site optimization efforts. Off Page SEO: Backlink and social media efforts coming from outside the site.

Important Google Algorithms

• Panda: Penalizes low-quality content.

• Penguin: Targets spam backlinks.

• Hummingbird: Focuses on search intent.

Basic SEO Concepts and Terms II

SERP Search engine results page.

Meta Tags HTML tags that define the content of the page.

Google Dance Google's making sudden changes in rankings.

Sandbox New sites not being kept in the rankings for a certain period.

White Hat SEO & Black Hat SEO White Hat SEO: Optimization in accordance with the rules. Black Hat SEO: Techniques that violate the rules.

Site Coding Language & Domain and Hosting Selection

Site Software/Coding Language Selection Languages such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and Python can be used.

Important Web Coding Languages HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, Python, Ruby.

Domain Selection Short, memorable, and keyword-containing domains should be preferred.

Hosting Selection A reliable, fast, and uninterrupted hosting service should be selected.

Google PageSpeed Insights This is a Google tool that analyzes site speed and offers improvement suggestions.

SEO Competitor Analysis

Determination of Competitor Sites Competitors that stand out in target keywords are identified.

Keyword Selection High-volume and appropriately competitive keywords are selected.

On Page & Off Page SEO Review The on-site and off-site SEO efforts of competitor sites are analyzed.

Competitors' Status on Social Media Social media assets and interaction rates are examined.

SEO Compatible Content

What is SEO Compatible Content? It is creating user-friendly and readable content by distributing keywords correctly.

How to Create SEO Compatible Content?

• Attention is paid to keyword distribution.

• Readability is prioritized.

• Content headings are optimized.

Keyword Distributions Keyword density should be kept at a rate of 1-2%.

Time Spent on Site This is the time the user spends on the site. It is a positive signal for search engines.

Bounce Rate This is the rate of users who visit only one page and leave. It is preferable for it to be low.

Meta Tags & URL Structure Creation

What is a Meta Tag? These are tags that carry page information in HTML code.

Important Meta Tags

• Title

• Description

• Robots

URL Structure Creation Short, keyword-containing, readable URLs should be preferred.

Elements That Make Up the URL Protocol, domain, directory, file name.

Breadcrumbs This is a navigation tool that allows users to understand their location within the site.

Images and Map

Image Selections Optimized, appropriately sized images should be used.

Optimization for Google Image Searches ALT tags should be used correctly, and image names should contain keywords.

XML Sitemap Provides a site map to search engines.

HTML Sitemap Presents the site structure to users.

Image Sitemap & Video Sitemap These are maps of visual and video content.

Robots.txt & .htaccess

robots.txt Tells search engine bots which pages to crawl.

.htaccess This is a server management file. Various redirects and IP blocks can be made.

www redirection with .htaccess Converts site addresses that do not use it to www or non-www.

IP blocking with .htaccess Makes certain IP addresses unable to access the site.

404 error redirection with .htaccess Redirects pages that cannot be found to another page.

Onpage SEO & Content/Code Ratio

Step-by-Step Onpage SEO These are on-site improvement processes such as title, meta, URL, and visual optimization.

Content/Code Ratio It is preferable for the page's content ratio to be high compared to the code.

Importance of Content/Code Ratio for Google Panda Algorithm Penalizes pages with low content.

Link Building

What is Link Building? These are backlinks received from other sites and internal site links.

Internal Site Linking It is creating links between pages within the site.

External Site Linking It is getting backlinks from other sites.

Things to Consider in Link Building High-quality, relevant, and natural-looking backlinks should be obtained.

Value of Links It is directly related to the authority of the source site.

Backlink Analysis A strategy is determined by analyzing competitor backlink profiles.

Nofollow Backlink & Dofollow Backlink Nofollow: Does not transfer authority. Dofollow: Transfers authority.

Link Diversification Getting different types of links from different sources provides naturalness.

Backlink Analysis Done with tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush.

SEO Analysis Tools Ahrefs, SEMrush, Moz, Google Search Console.

Harmful Backlink Detection and Blocking Done using the Google Disavow Tool.

Social Networks

What is Social Media? These are digital platforms where users share content.

Google and Social Networks Social signals indirectly affect SEO.

Facebook The world's largest social network.

Twitter An effective platform for news and current information.

Google Data Center Partner Social Networks Some social networks can be used in Google's data analysis.

Trends in SEO & General Evaluation

• The importance of voice searches is increasing.

• Mobile compatibility is a must.

• AI-powered content generation is becoming widespread.

• User experience (UX) is a critical factor.

Thus, we have learned the fundamentals of achieving success in the world of SEO in a complete way.