The concept of SEO or Search Engine Optimization is one of improving the quality and or the volume of traffic that a website receives through organic search engine results. This is a difference concept when compared to marketing as organic results are free and one does not have to pay for the traffic other then the traditional costs associated with maintaining the website.

The concept of SEO or Search Engine Optimization is one of improving the quality and or the volume of traffic that a website receives through organic search engine results. This is a difference concept when compared to marketing as organic results are free and one does not have to pay for the traffic other then the traditional costs associated with maintaining the website.

The technique of SEO can be a broad concept encompassing the targeting of specific web visitors. One can focus in solely on visitors from a particular region as well as those who are looking for a particular product or idea. Because there are many different search engines today running their own algorithms, Search Engine Optimization can be a daunting task for any beginner.

For the most part, Search Engine Optimization should be kept separate from the other forms of marketing as it is in most cases considered to be an unpaid form of marketing. It is however, still a form of marketing which will help you to target specific groups of people to your website.

At the same time, there are people in the industry who have become adept to Search Engine Optimization and as such, they choose to offer their services to other webmasters in order to help them improve their organic search engine rankings. This does not change the fact that SEO is still considered to be unpaid as you are paying for the service, and not paying the search engine for improved listings.

To do Search Engine Optimization, there are a plethora of aspects that one needs to look at. This can include the modification of a page's content to help the search engines better classify your website as well as the modification of the actual HTML code of the website.

One can divide SEO techniques into 3 groups which consist of the white, gray and black hat techniques. Those which are considered to be natural and honest qualify as white hat but those which are considered to be dishonest or deceiving can be classified as black hat techniques. In the middle with a little bit of both is the gray hat form of Search Engine Optimization.

In 2005 a group known as AIRWeb, or the Adversarial Information Retrieval on the Web, was established to help set standards for what are acceptable SEO practices. As a result, many aggressive techniques being utilized today are also being sought out and as a result, their traffic through the search engines is being banned until they improve their website honestly.