A report on

Search Engine Optimization

Prepare by: Group 8

Members: Nguyen Hoang Dung
Pham Nguyen Anh Duc
Duong Tuan Minh
Prepare for: INS3038
Teacher: Mr. Nguyen Trung Hien
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. BACKGROUND.............................................................................................................2

I. Definition of SEO...........................................................................................................2

II. History of SEO................................................................................................................3

III. SEO factors.....................................................................................................................3

B. WHY IS SEO IMPORTANT?........................................................................................4

C. PROS AND CONS.........................................................................................................4

I. SEO’s Pros......................................................................................................................5

II. SEO’s Cons.....................................................................................................................5

D. TIPS, BEST PRACTICE, EXAMPLES.........................................................................6

I. SEO Best Tips.................................................................................................................6

1. Align Your Content with Search Intent.......................................................................6

2. Write a Compelling Title Tag and Meta Description..................................................8
3. Optimize your images..................................................................................................9
4. Optimize Your Page Speed.......................................................................................10
5. Use Internal Linking..................................................................................................12
6. Improve The User Experience On Website...............................................................12
7. Include Keywords In URL........................................................................................12
8. Focus On Getting More Authorative Backlinks........................................................13
9. Publish Long-form Content.......................................................................................13
II. SEO Best Practice in Vietnam........................................................................................14

E. References.....................................................................................................................16
A. BACKGROUND

I. Definition of SEO

Search Engine Optimisation, also known as SEO, is a process of optimizing the performance
and quantity of website traffic to a site or web page from search engines. SEO aims for free
traffic (known as 'normal' or 'organic' results) rather than direct traffic or paid traffic. Unpaid
traffic can originate from various sources of searches, such as image search, video search,
academic search, news search, and industry-specific vertical search engines.

Effective SEO means that a web site is more likely to be found higher on the Search Engine
Results page (SERP). The most common search engine is Google, but some other search
engines such as Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, also use their own special web page crawl
technologies and display top search results. SEO explores how search engines perform, the
computer-programmed systems that control search engine activity, what audiences are
looking for, the particular search results, keywords or phrases entered in search engines, and
the search engines are chosen by their primary users.

II. History of SEO

After understanding what SEO is and how it works, we will discuss its history. We have to
start in the mid-1990s. First of all, SEO publicly used around 1997. Webmasters realised the
role of high ranking and attention in search engine results, offering the potential for both
white hat and black SEO hat professionals. According to market journalist Danny Sullivan,
the term "search engine optimization" was used in 1997. Sullivan acknowledges Bruce Clay
being one of the first people to publicize the phrase. On May 2, 2007, Jason Gambert
managed to mark the term SEO by persuading the Trademark Office in Arizona that SEO is a
"process" concerning the manipulation of key phrases and not a "marketing service."

Throughout the early stages, the only way to conduct some kind of SEO was via on-page
activities. This would include making sure that the material was decent and significant, that
there was adequate information, the HTML tags were correct, and users had internal and also
external links, among many other aspects. 

By focusing exclusively on variables like relevant keywords, which were solely under the
influence of a webmaster, early search engines experienced misconduct and ranking
manipulation. In order to provide their users with better results, search engines had to adjust
to guarantee that their results pages displayed the most significant search results, rather than
random pages loaded with multiple keywords and phrases by unauthorized website owners.
When the popularity and reputation of a search engine is measured by its capacity to create
the most accurate search results, low quality or irrelevant search results can sometimes lead
the individual to discover other search components. Search engines reacted by creating more
advanced and powerful optimization techniques, having to consider additional variables that
made it harder for website owners to control. An annual conference, AIRWeb (Adversarial
Information Retrieval on the Web), was set up in 2005 to bring together professionals and
researchers interested in search engine optimization and similar topics.

III. SEO factors

SEO is a complicated and ever-changing process. There are several factors that decide the
website's ranking. The first one is keyword density, or the rate where a specified word or
phrase shows up in the website content. SEO is boosted by keywords that are being used
correctly. The second one is bounce rate, or how frequently an user reaches and leaves the
platform without browsing any other websites and if the bounce rate is high, it can degrade
SEO. The next factor is metadata, also known as description that sums the website content.
The fourth factor is social media traffic, which mediate tokens that the page encompasses
content that is in elevated request. Moreover, high traffic from social networks is
advantageous to SEO, but lack of social media traffic does not really have a harmful effect.
Next is links, including inbound links, outbound links, and internal links that show legitimacy
and significance in and out of those information on the internet. Google seeks favorably
towards platforms that smartly guide traffic to several other sites. The sixth factor is EAT,
also known as Google's acronym for knowledge, authority, and trustworthiness, which means
that a website has a trustworthy author. Security, as shown by the SSL certificate of the site
used by search engines to confirm that the page has a protected url so that it is comfortable to
exchange private information. Moving on to the next factor is load speed, or how long it will
take a web page to load fully. As we know, slow load speed may be disturbed by SEO. And
the next factor is mobile responsiveness, or how a web page suits various screen sizes. And
finally, user experience or attributes that could boost or reduce a user's engagement with the
online content.

The most important fact about SEO is it refers to organic results. Organic results mean that
we are not going to pay the search engine company for better results position on the SERPs.
Search engines have shifted over the years and SEO techniques have just become
increasingly complex. In a direct way, there are two main factors that affect the placement of
a web page. The first factor is relevance, Google considers a webpage to be valuable when it
correlates correctly to a particular search and when it answers to a question or question being
asked by the user. To enhance the relevance of the website, developers use on-site SEO
techniques like keyword and URL optimization, quicker response times, improved user
experience. And the second factor is authority, a website has legitimacy when it is widely
known, which is calculated by the number of links that point to it. SEO off-site strategies are
used to boost the authority of the website.

B. WHY IS SEO IMPORTANT?

With the popularity of using search engines in businesses, SEO has become the critical
component to the success of online businesses. Since that, SEO is important because first of
all, the majority of search engine users (more than 70%) are more likely to click on one of the
top 5 suggestions in the search engine results pages (SERPS). To take advantage of this and
gain visitors to your website or customers to your online store, your website needs to appear
in one of the top positions. Secondly, SEO is not only about search engines but good SEO
practices improve the user experience and usability of a website. Thirdly, users trust search
engines and having a presence in the top positions for the keywords the user is searching,
increases the website’s trust. Fourthly, SEO is good for the social promotion of your website.
People who find your website by searching Google or Bing are more likely to promote it on
Facebook, Twitter, or other social media channels. Next, SEO is important for the smooth
running of a big web site. Websites with more than one author can benefit from SEO in a
direct and indirect way. Their direct benefit is an increase in organic traffic and their indirect
benefit is having a common framework (checklists) to use before publishing content on the
site. Next up, SEO doesn’t require you to pay for ad space Finally, SEO can put you ahead of
the competition. If two websites are selling the same thing, the search engine optimized
website is more likely to have more customers and make more sales.

C. PROS AND CONS

I. SEO’s Pros

SEO has positive and negative aspects. Although it is known one of the most effective
implements to rank better with Google, there are drawbacks to SEO. But for now, we will
discuss the pros of SEO. First of all, SEO is completely free of cost, and it relies on how
often the user spends studying and using keywords in high-quality content. Second of all,
SEO would help improve traffic. SEO would provide a nice ranking to help draw future users
to a specific website. Organic searches list at the top or near the top so that the company can
have the first clicks readily accessible. Not only SEO would improve traffic, it can also
improve web presence, not only in organic searches, as well as in various applications. The
fourth pros is target visitors, rather than getting a bunch of local traffic that seems to have no
desire to participate in the services or goods of the company. They can attract the right
consumer, who are more likely to use their services or to purchase their goods. The next pros
is greater internet presence, a strong SEO plan can make sure that more customers will visit
the company's website. They may not have been remembering the website instantly, but when
the need emerges, they should recall and look up the company's website. The SEO will help
agencies to have a better conversion rate, this will help companies design their website to
assist users with easier ways to use and search for the information they need. This ac will
make users into potential customers. And from that, we can ensure that companies’ business
will grow very fast. Why? Because more potential customers, companies get more sales. And
more sales will make the business to arise even more. The next pros is about the expert status,
SEO makes the organizations' website an authority on the products and services they provide.
This will build a reputation for the company, if the company can improve the content of the
website, customers will always remember them when using similar products and services.
And finally is customer friendly, potential customers are looking for companies' site because
of SEO. Those who are visiting the website to confirm if the company is legit or not.
Companies are using the newest technology on a safe platform, and users only need to find
the buy button.

II. SEO’s Cons

Besides the pros, SEO also contains a lot of cons that affect the businesses in the worst way,
here are some cons to notice. Firstly, SEO is a long term promotion method. Meaning the
results you want are not instantaneous. Getting articles on your business website to appear at
the top of the search table takes time. It could even take months. So, with SEO, businesses
need to have patience. And this method will not be suitable for business people who need fast
advertising. Secondly, SEO will take a lot of time to get a return of investment. Similar to the
result that requires your company a lot of time to generate, the return of investment also takes
a long time to achieve. Thirdly, SEO methods depend heavily on the search engines. Any
industry has objective factors that dominate, but for SEO, it is really dominated by Search
Engine. Search engines change algorithms from time to time, and they don't publish these
changes, so SEOs have a hard time learning and learning again. Furthermore, if that change
causes a major drop in the position of the client's site leading to ranking lost, the SEOs are the
one who is responsible first. Fourthly is targeted by competitors. Meaning the effective and
successful SEO will rank you high, which competitors will target that site in order to possess
a slice of SEO pie. Next cons will be costs to spend in SEO is expensive, especially in proper
SEO strategies, which are not affordable for every company to follow. So SEO is not a good
strategy for a company that doesn’t have a big investment. Lastly, SEO contains too many
unknowns, when it comes to problems that arise with a website or the strategy, you and your
company may not have enough knowledge to handle every situation that can occur.
Furthermore, SEO has no guarantee that your website will land on the first page of SERPS
using the keywords you are targeting for.

D. TIPS, BEST PRACTICE, EXAMPLES

I. SEO Best Tips

Here is the cruel truth, on the off chance that companies are not positioning in Google's
main 10 outcomes for your keyword, the site should be imperceptible on Google.
According to [Link]. 75% of searchers never go past the first page of search results.
There are plenty of strategies and techniques that users can follow to rank higher on
Google, but if users don't follow the basics, chances ranking top on google would be
minimal.

With the following tips for SEO, we will be laying the groundwork for the company site to
increase its visibility in search. Once the site has laid the groundwork, our report will
move on to more advanced keyword research and link building strategies.

Our report will be sharing the 9 SEO best practices that you should follow to get higher
search rankings in 2020.

1. Align Your Content with Search Intent

Search intent (Which is called ‘’user intent") is the purpose behind every search customer
made to be ranking on google. Google's ultimate priority is to understand the intent of the
user. Pages that rank on the first page of Google have all passed Google's test on search
intent.

For instance, take a look at the search results for ‘‘Cách nấu ăn.’’
The top search results are blog posts or videos, not eCommerce pages selling oatmeal
cookies. Google understands that people who are giving this specific search are looking to
learn, not for purchase.

On the other hand, top search results for a query like "mua đồ ăn sẵn" are eCommerce pages.
Because in this case, Google understands that people are in buy mode. Therefore, the top
results don't include links to food recipes

Therefore, if you would like to rank your pages on page 1 of Google in 2020, you need to
understand the concept of search intent and create content that aligns with user intent.

Here are four common types of search intent:

  Informational: A search falls under informational intent when the user is looking for
specific information. It can be a simple search like "what's the weather today?" that
provides instant results or something complex like "best SEO strategies" that requires
a more in-depth explanation.

 Navigational: In this case, the searcher is looking for a specific website or app.
Common examples of navigational searches include "Facebook Login," "Vingroup,"
and ‘’Tiki."

 Commercial: The intent behind a search is commercial when the user is looking for a
specific product but hasn't made the final decision yet. For example, searches such as
"best SEO tools" and "Best University" are all commercial searches.

 Transactional: The searcher has already made a decision to buy a specific product or
tool. Examples include searches such as "buy Food," "buy Toys," and "buy Camera."

An SEO best practice is to always keep the search intent in top of mind of the customer while
creating more content for your website. For instance, if you would like to rank for the
keywords "best Global University to learn in Vietnam," you need to realize that the search
intent here is commercial, not transactional. The user is still undecided on which school to
choose. There is no point in optimizing your University landing page with those specific
keywords. Google understands what users want when the search query is "best University in
Vietnam." They are looking for options. They are looking for a blog post or video which lists
down the best School, not a school landing page.

2. Write a Compelling Title Tag and Meta Description

Your page title and meta description are two of the most important meta tags on your page.
Let's cover title tags first. Title Tags according to Google: "Titles are critical to giving users
a quick insight into the content of a result and why it’s relevant to their query. It's often the
primary piece of information used to decide which result to click on, so it's important to use
high-quality titles on your web pages."

Search engines like Google typically display the first 50-60 characters of a title. Google will
display the full title to your page as long as you keep your title tag under 60 characters.

[Link] are some other best practices to keep in mind while creating title tags:

 Include your target keywords.

 Write a title that matches search intent.

 Avoid creating duplicate title tags.

 Avoid keyword stuffing.

 Keep it descriptive but concise.

 2.2. Meta Descriptions

The second most important meta tag on a page is the meta description. A meta
description is a brief summary of a page in SERPs displayed below the title tag.

Meta descriptions do not directly impact search rankings, but they can influence click-
through rates Google explains it best:

"A meta description tag should generally inform and interest users with a short,
relevant summary of what a particular page is about. They are like a pitch that
convinces the user that the page is exactly what they're looking for."

Google typically truncates meta descriptions to 155–160 characters, so make sure you
provide an accurate summary of your content while keeping it under 160 characters

[Link] are some best practices to follow while writing your meta descriptions:

 Write unique meta descriptions for each page.

 Use action-oriented copy.

 Include your target keywords.

 Match search intent.

 Provide an accurate summary.

3. Optimize your images

3.1 Choose the Best File Format

Site speed is an important ranking signal, and images are often the largest contributor
to overall page size. As a result, you need to optimize images for speed in order to
improve the overall performance of your site. The first step involved in optimizing
images is picking the best file format, so let's look at JPEG vs. PNG. vs. WebP.
 The most commonly used image formats on the web are JPEG and PNG. Both of
these formats use different compression techniques, which is why the file sizes
between these two can be dramatically different.

While JPEGs look great for photographs (as seen in the Panda image above), PNGs
are best suited for images that contain text, line drawings, etc

WebP is another option, which Google breaks down here. They state, "WebP is a
modern image format that provides superior lossless and lossy compression for
images on the web...

 WebP lossless images are 26% smaller in size compared to PNGs.

 WebP lossy images are 25-34% smaller than comparable JPEG images at
equivalent SSIM quality index

3.2 Compress Your Image

The larger your image file size, the longer it takes the web page to load, which is why
it is imperative that you compress your images before uploading them on your site.
Here is several tools to use to utilize your image:

 TinyPNG

 ImageOptim

 ShortPixel

3.3 Provide Alt Text for Images

Despite advances in Google’s abilities to understand images, adding alt text to images
is still a necessary step. Adding alt text to images improves web accessibility and
helps browsers better, google bot understand the images on your site.

"When choosing alt text, focus on creating useful, information-rich content that uses
keywords appropriately and is in context of the content of the page. Avoid filling alt
attributes with keywords (keyword stuffing) as it results in a negative user experience
and may cause your site to be seen as spam." - Google

When writing alt text for images, be concise in the description and avoid stuffing
target keywords.

4. Optimize Your Page Speed

There are several free tools that can help check your page speed, including Google's
PageSpeed Insights:
GTMetrix is a free tool that provides insights on your page speed and gives
recommendations on the steps to improve time.

Now you can view all the performance issues on your site that are preventing it from
loading faster and take steps to fix them.

In addition to image compression, here are some other things you can do to help your
pages load faster:

 Enable browser caching.

  Delete unnecessary plugins.

 Reduce server response time.

 Reduce the number of redirects.

 Minify CSS and JavaScript files.

5. Use Internal Linking

Internal links are important to help Google get a deeper understanding of the content
on your page. Internal links can significantly boost rankings when used the right way.

6. Improve The User Experience On Website

Google keeps a close eye on how users behave with content. As such, user experience
is one of the key factors in improving search rankings. Follow these free tips helps the
user get a better understanding.

 Use subheadings: Proper use of subheadings (H1, H2, H3) helps Google
understand the content better and makes the text more accessible to readers.
 Make content visually appealing: Several studies indicate that visuals help
people understand your content better. Use relevant images, videos, and
screenshots to illustrate website points.
 Avoid using intrusive pop-ups: Popups are not just bad from an SEO
perspective, but they also end up annoying your visitors. Since 2017, Google has
been penalizing sites that use intrusive pop-ups. So use popups sparingly. If it is
absolutely necessary for you to use them to grow your email list, use exit-intent
popups, or display them to users who have spent at least 5 minutes on your site.
 Use white space: White space is a fundamental aspect of good design. According
to Crazy Egg, white space between paragraphs and in the left and right margins
increases comprehension by 20%. So consider using white space to make content
more legible and grab user attention.

7. Include Keywords In URL

URL structure is an often overlooked aspect of SEO. A good URL structure provides
both users and search engines with an idea of what the destination page is all about.

Google explains it best: "A site's URL structure should be as simple as possible.
Consider organizing your content so that URLs are constructed logically and in a
manner that is most intelligible to humans (when possible, readable words rather than
long ID numbers)."
With that in mind, here is how we can create a well-structured URL:

 Use short URLs: A study conducted by Backlinko found that short URLs tend to
outperform long URLs in SERPs.
 Use keyword-rich URLs: Always include your target keywords in the URL to
increase your chances of ranking better in search results.
 Remove unnecessary stop words: To make your URL look clean and succinct,
consider removing stop words.

8. Focus On Getting More Authorative Backlinks

Despite several changes to Google's search algorithm and ranking system, Google still
considers backlinks to be a key ranking signal. Google recognizes backlinks as votes
of confidence. If your web pages have a high number of backlinks, it increases your
chances of ranking higher in search results. As a result, it is important that you focus
on building backlinks for your website.

Which lead to all backlinks are not created equal. Some backlinks can boost your
ranking for specific search queries exponentially, while others can derail your
rankings, which is why we should prioritize authoritative backlinks over other types of
backlinks.

We should focus all your efforts on building high-quality backlinks that can improve
your chances of ranking higher for your target keywords. One of the most effective
ways to obtain authoritative backlinks is by replicating your competitors' link building
strategies.

9. Publish Long-form Content

Google truth: Long-form content ranks better on Google. This claim is backed by
several studies. A key finding in the research suggested that long-form articles (posts
with 3000+ words) get 3x more traffic, 4x more shares, and 3.5x more backlinks than
articles of average length (901-1200 words).
II. SEO Best Practice in Vietnam

The SEO best practices outlined above are a great starting point to achieve higher
search rankings. The competition for the coveted first page on Google is intense,
regardless of the niche you operate in. Once these best practices are in place, make sure
you are sufficiently up to speed with the latest SEO trends and follow other SEO
techniques from time to time to stay ahead of the game.

The case we would like to mention is Mr Mai Xuân Đạt case - a google search engine
agency whose business model was run on SEO.

From ranking the score to track ads performance and brand health
To be listed down on top ranking on Google when searching for an SEO agency. This
Agency is 8-year-olds now and it has been playing as a market leader for digital
agencies in Hanoi.

Besides that, SEO can also classify as a resource for monetizing, the variant from
teaching SEO practice to outsource for MNCs brand, SMEs company
 In Conclusion, SEO has created a new market for businesses to enter and grow. In this
digital era, companies that have control of the SEO ranking control the P&L of the
company and revenue sales which that company can achieve.

E. References
[1] [Link]

[2] [Link]

[3] [Link]

[4] [Link]

[5] [Link]

[6] [Link]

[7][Link]

[8] [Link]

[9] [Link]

[10] [Link]