"SEO" redirects here. For other uses, see SEO Part of a series on Internet marketing Search engine optimization Local search engine optimisation Social media marketing Email marketing Referral marketing Content marketing Native advertising Search engine marketing Pay-per-click Cost per impression Search analytics Web analytics Display advertising Ad blocking Contextual advertising Behavioral targeting Affiliate marketing Cost per action Revenue sharing Mobile advertising vte

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.[1] SEO targets unpaid traffic (known as "natural" or "organic" results) rather than direct traffic or paid traffic. Unpaid traffic may originate from different kinds of searches, including image search, video search, academic search,[2] news search, and industry-specific vertical search engines.

As an Internet marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engines work, the computer-programmed algorithms that dictate search engine behavior, what people search for, the actual search terms or keywords typed into search engines, and which search engines are preferred by their targeted audience. SEO is performed because a website will receive more visitors from a search engine when websites rank higher on the search engine results page (SERP). These visitors can then potentially be converted into customers.[3]