Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of improving a website so it ranks higher in search engine results for relevant queries.
SEO spans technical work (speed, crawlability, structured data), content (matching what people search for), and authority (earning credible links and mentions). Its goal is visibility in the ranked list of results, measured in positions, impressions, and clicks.
SEO and GEO share fundamentals but optimise for different moments — a ranked link versus a cited answer.
How it works
Search engines crawl pages by following links, decide which to index, and rank indexed pages for each query by relevance, quality and usefulness, drawing on the page's content, its structure, how it performs for visitors, and signals from the rest of the web such as links and mentions. SEO works on each stage: making sure the right pages can be crawled and indexed, that each answers a real search intent well, and that the site earns credible references.
Results compound slowly, because engines need time to recrawl and reassess a site after it changes.
Example
Troiana consolidated its own AI tool guides after finding that 18 of 25 sentences were identical between sibling pages, the pattern search systems treat as scaled content. 1,349 URLs became 403, and duplication fell from 72% to 28%.
Common mistakes
- Publishing many near-identical pages to target keyword variations.
- Redesigning or migrating a site without redirecting the old URLs.
- Judging SEO by rankings alone instead of qualified visits and enquiries.
