Short but sweet post this time…

Sitepoint’s forums recently featured this interesting discussion where the original poster explains that in a sense, HTML already covers the basics of search engine optimization. SEO is just another facet of good HTML practices, and this topic would be more appropriate in a site like HTML Dog than in WhateverMoneyBlog #18472. In other words, if you are good with HTML, SEO should be your bread and butter. Correct use of meta tags, page titles and headings, alt text in images and links, these are all scanned by search engine spiders.

Now, that could be considered SEO, and not much more. SEO might be considered a part of marketing, but it is a very small, indirect form of marketing. First and foremost, good SEO should already happen on its own if you write good code. But it still means squat for getting traffic if your website has little to no good content to back it up.

Other points that summarize the discussion:

• SEO is the end result of accessibility, usability, and good content of a website. Accessibility to a search engine is different than it is to a person.
• All that stuff people talk about claiming to be SEO? 95% of it isn’t. That’s just called- wait for it -online marketing practices. No buzzwords needed to describe this.
• Keyword research is about the only non-coding related aspect of SEO.

With this said, I agree with the idea that being a marketing genius is irrelevant to knowing SEO. Your experience as an HTML coder is what counts. What would you say?