What is SEO? - Explanation & Meaning
Learn what SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is, how on-page, off-page, and technical SEO work, and why Core Web Vitals are crucial for modern SEO in 2026.
Definition
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the set of techniques and strategies to improve the visibility of a website in organic search results of search engines like Google.
Technical explanation
SEO consists of three pillars: on-page, off-page, and technical SEO. On-page SEO involves optimizing content, title tags, meta descriptions, heading structure (H1-H6), internal links, and image optimization with alt text. Keyword research forms the foundation, with search intent (informational, transactional, navigational) driving content strategy. Off-page SEO focuses on acquiring quality backlinks, brand authority, and social signals. Technical SEO ensures search engines can efficiently crawl and index the site via a correct robots.txt, XML sitemaps, canonical URLs, hreflang tags for multilingual sites, and structured data (Schema.org). Core Web Vitals—Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), Interaction to Next Paint (INP), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)—are direct ranking signals in Google. In 2026, AI overviews and Search Generative Experience (SGE) play a growing role, making structured, authoritative content even more important. JavaScript rendering, mobile-first indexing, and page speed are critical for modern SEO. E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) determines how Google assesses content quality.
How MG Software applies this
MG Software integrates SEO into every web project from the architecture phase. We build technically optimized Next.js sites with structured data, perfect Core Web Vitals, and multilingual hreflang configuration. Our pSEO approach generates hundreds of optimized pages at scale that consistently rank highly in search results.
Practical examples
- A local service provider reaching the top 3 for relevant search terms in their region via targeted local SEO strategy with Google Business Profile, local backlinks, and city-specific landing pages.
- A B2B software company quadrupling organic traffic through an extensive knowledge base with in-depth glossary articles by ranking on informational search terms in their niche.
- An e-commerce site implementing structured data (Product, Review, FAQ schema) and displaying rich snippets in Google, increasing click-through rate by 35%.
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
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