SEO is an abbreviation for "Search Engine Optimization."
And all that means is "any strategy undertaken in an attempt to influence a website's search engine rankings for specific search queries." So, if I sell green widgets, I want my site to come up as close to the top of the search results as possible whenever somebody who might be a customer types "green widgets" into Google.
There are as many tactics and techniques designed to acheive better search rankings as there are stars in the sky. Well, okay. Not quite that many, but a whole lot.
For more information, try Googling "SEO." You'll get way more information than you want. Or, there's a short article here: What Is SEO?
In a nutshell, these are some of the more common SEO strategies, all more-or-less acceptable practices (unless taken to the extreme):
And here are some more that are less acceptable—falling into the category of "Black Hat SEO." Black Hats will do whatever it takes to get higher rankings, even if it risks drastic penalties.
And lots, lots more. At Speed of Light, we don't do black hat. We feel that the risks are too great and that a clean, white hat approach will reap much better long-term benefit. If you want to try somebody who does that sort of thing, just look around: they are not too hard to find.
Here's a pretty throrough PowerPoint:
We're an internet marketing consulting agency operating out of Eugene, Oregon since 2009. We specialize in search optimization (SEO), but can help you with all your internet marketing needs: paid placement advertising, email marketing, SEO-friendly design & navigation, link-building, content creation—if it's internet marketing, we can do it!