On February 17, Baidu publicly responded to reports about a Shanghai police case involving criminals using search engines to solicit prostitution. Baidu stated that after an internal investigation, no illegal paid promotions were found in this case. The preliminary conclusion was that the suspects had pushed their websites or images to top positions in natural search results through SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

Impressive, isn’t it? Everyone knows that search engine advertising on Baidu requires payment, and any content involving sensitive information is strictly prohibited. Yet SEO managed to bypass paid promotion systems and appear prominently on the search results homepage—most importantly, completely free. So who says promotion must cost money? With the right methods, you can rank at the top of search engines without spending a cent.

To achieve this effect, mastering website optimization is the key. While SEO may not always help you outperform competitors for highly competitive industry keywords, it is more than sufficient for optimizing search visibility for your own products and brand website.

Every skyscraper starts from the ground up. Before diving into optimization techniques, it’s essential to understand the most fundamental SEO concepts and three commonly used optimization tools.

Basic SEO Concepts

1) SEO
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, refers to the process of optimizing a website—both internally and externally—based on an understanding of how search engines rank pages naturally. The goal is to improve keyword rankings in search results, obtain more traffic, attract targeted users, and ultimately achieve online marketing and brand-building objectives.

2) Keyword
Keywords are the terms that website administrators assign to specific pages so that users can find them through search engines. They determine which search queries will lead users to your website. Homepage keywords are especially important, as they represent the site’s core theme. Inner pages and category pages typically use keywords closely related to the page topic, reflecting the main content of that page or section.

3) Title
The title is defined in HTML and represents the page headline. It is the most eye-catching text shown in search engine results pages. A good title should clearly communicate the product, service, and its key features.

4) Description
Also known as the “meta description” or “content summary,” the description is a supplement to the title. When searching on Baidu or Google, the text displayed below each result is taken from the description tag, providing users with a concise summary of the page content.