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. SEO targets unpaid search traffic (usually referred to as "organic" results) rather than direct traffic, referral traffic, social media traffic, or paid traffic.

Organic search engine traffic originates from a variety of searches, including image search, video search, academic search, news search, industry-specific vertical search engines, and large language models.

As an Internet marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engines work, the algorithms that dictate search engine results, what people search for, the actual search queries or keywords typed into search engines, and which search engines are preferred by a target audience. SEO helps websites attract more visitors from a search engine and rank higher within a search engine results page (SERP), aiming to either convert the visitors or build brand awareness.

On-Page SEO (Search Engine Optimization) refers to all the techniques you apply directly on your website to improve its visibility and ranking on search engines like Google. It focuses on optimizing individual web pages so they can rank higher and attract more relevant traffic.

Off-Page SEO refers to all the actions you take outside your website to improve its visibility, authority, and ranking on search engines like Google. While On-Page SEO focuses on optimizing your own website, Off-Page SEO builds your reputation and trustworthiness across the internet.

Technical SEO is the process of optimizing your website’s backend structure and foundation so search engines can easily crawl, index, and rank it. It ensures your website runs smoothly, loads fast, and is easily understood by Google and other search engines.

White-hat SEO means using tactics that follow search-engine guidelines and focus on giving real value to users. It’s slower than “black hat,” but it builds long-term authority, steady traffic, and keeps your site safe from penalties.

Black Hat SEO refers to tactics that try to game search engine ranking algorithms by violating their guidelines. They can produce quick short-term gains, but they’re risky: they often lead to manual penalties or de-indexing (long-term traffic loss). In short — fast win, big downside.

Grey-hat SEO sits between white-hat (allowed, user-first) and black-hat (disallowed, manipulative). It uses tactics that aren’t explicitly banned by search engines but push the limits of their guidelines — so they may work faster than strict white-hat techniques but carry a moderate risk of penalty if the algorithm or manual reviewer decides the tactics are abusive.