SEO is the process of optimizing a website to increase its visibility in unpaid search engine results. The goal is to have the website rank highly and appear frequently in search results by optimizing on-page elements and off-page factors like backlinks. This can help drive more organic traffic to the site from search engines like Google, which can then be converted to customers. SEO has evolved over time as search engines developed new algorithms and began factoring in mobile searches. Effective SEO requires an understanding of how search engines work and what users search for.