What is GitHub and what exactly is it for?
GitHub is a project and code version management system and social media platform built for developers. But what is GitHub used for? Well, among other things, it allows you to work collaboratively with other people around the world, plan your projects and keep track of your work.
GitHub is also one of the largest online collaboration repositories around the world.
What is Git?
Before we move on, we need to understand what Git is. It’s like the heart of GitHub. Git is a version control system developed by Linus Torvalds (the man who created Linux).
What is a version control system?
When developers create a new project, they always keep updating the code. Even after projects are launched, they still need to update versions, fix bugs, add new features, etc.
A version control system helps keep track of changes made to the code base. Moreover, it records who made the changes and can recover the erased or modified code.
There are no overwritten codes because Git keeps multiple copies in the repository. If you are interested in Git, you can learn more about Git here.
What is Hub?
If Git is the heart of GitHub, then the Hub is its soul. The hub at GitHub is what turns a command line like Git into the biggest social network for developers.
In addition to participating in a specific project, GitHub allows users to connect with like-minded people. You can follow people and see what they are doing or who they are talking to.
repository
A repository or repository is a directory where your project files are stored. It can be located in a GitHub repository or in a local repository on your computer. You can store code files, images, audio, or anything related to a project in the repository.
Branch
A branch is a copy of your repository. You can use a branch when you want to do development in isolation.
Working with a branch will not affect the central repository or other branches. If you’ve made this work, you can merge your branch with other branches and the central repository using a pull request.
pull request
A pull request means that you tell others that you’ve pushed the changes you made on the branch to the master repository. Repository collaborators can accept or reject a pull request. After opening it, you can discuss and analyze your work with co-authors.
Follow the instructions below to create a pull request on GitHub:
Go to the repository and find the menu branch
From the menu, select the branch that contains your commit
Click the New Pull Request button next to the branch menu
Insert a title and description for your request.
Click the Create Pull Request button
Repository Forking
Forking a repository means that you create a new project based on an existing repository. In simple terms, forking a repository means that you copy an existing repository, make some necessary changes, save the new version as a new repository, and call it your own project.
This is a great feature that speeds up project development. Since this is a brand new project, the central repository will not be affected. If the “master” repository is updated, you can also apply that update to your current fork.
Follow the instructions below to create a repository on GitHub:
Find the repository you want to fork
Click the fork button
GitHub is not limited to just developers
GitHub is a great platform that is changing how developers work. However, anyone who wants to effectively manage their project and collaborate can also learn what GitHub is and how to use it.
If your team is working on a project that needs constant updates and wants to keep track of changes made, GitHub is exactly what you need. There are other alternatives, such as GitLab, BitBucket, but it’s better to first understand what GitHub is and learn how to use it.
What is SEO?
If you’re looking for a simple explanation of what SEO is, then you’ve come to the right place. Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is the practice of optimizing a website to increase its position on the search engine results page (SERP).
SEO is also a reliable and inexpensive marketing strategy that helps drive traffic to your website and increase your conversion rate.
To better understand what SEO is, this article will introduce you to the search engine and SEO basics. Explains how search algorithms work and what factors influence your site’s ranking.
At the end of the article, you will also find SEO best practices and a list of resources to help you expand your SEO knowledge.
SEO and SEM: what’s the difference?
Search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) are marketing strategies that are used to reach an audience through search engine results.
The main difference is that SEO focuses on optimizing pages to increase their rankings and thus attract organic traffic. Organic traffic (free) is website visitors coming from search engines such as Google or Bing.
SEM, in turn, uses paid strategies to increase the visibility of the site in search engines. Visitors come to the site through advertisements created in Google Ads or other platforms.
While SEO takes time, SEM offers almost instant results. You’ll quickly see how many clicks and conversions your ads are generating on search engines.
Despite their differences, SEO and SEM work best together. To successfully implement an SEM strategy, a good SEO foundation is essential.
Optimizing your landing pages with keywords can improve Google’s Quality Score and increase your site’s visibility in the search engine.
What factors affect SEO and are the most important?
As a popular search engine, Google handles over 6.5 billion searches per day. Thus, the higher the site in the Google search results, the more significant its traffic.
That is why it is so important to pay attention to the factors that influence the position of the site in Google. However, these factors are constantly changing, as are search algorithms. They help find the most relevant content for the best experience for each user.
Here are the most important ranking factors you need to be aware of, from page load time to website security:
Page speed. The search engine takes into account the amount of time it takes to load a web page. A fast loading page can increase your site’s ranking in search results. Monitor the performance of your site regularly. Use speed analysis tools like PageSpeed Insights and Pingdom Speed Test to get an idea of how well your site is performing.
Mobile optimization. Responsive design automatically adjusts site elements to fit different screen sizes, providing an optimal user experience across devices. Responsive, mobile-friendly site pages will show up higher in search results. Use the Google Mobile-Friendly Test to evaluate the usability of your site.
Quality content. Post only relevant and useful information that answers specific search queries. Google evaluates length, structure, relevant keywords, and information in general. Always create unique and original content to attract more visitors and increase your site’s visibility.
Backlinks (backlinks). Also called inbound or outbound links, these are links to a website hosted on other websites that serve as an indicator of authority. When a web page links to your site, it will automatically mark you as a relevant source. Pages with quality backlinks from trusted sites can rank higher on search engine results pages.
User experience. Google evaluates user experience with several signals, including bounce rate and time on site. If visitors land on a site and leave soon after, Google will deem that site as irrelevant. Therefore, if visitors stay for a while, it signals that the site contains valuable information.
Site security. Includes all actions to protect the site and its visitors from cyber attacks. Google prioritizes sites secured with HTTPS. All other sites are marked as unsafe. Since security is a priority for every web user, it is important to add an SSL certificate to your website.
How Does SEO Work?
Google and other search engines, in response to user requests, collect, organize and display information. To deliver relevant information, they go through three main processes, including:
Scanning. Search engines use search robots, also known as web spiders or simply bots, to find fresh content on the internet. Web crawlers help to discover and collect the information needed to index a page. Bots go from page to page, from link to link, to crawl all the information.
Indexing. The process by which search engines organize and store collected web pages. Once search engines find information on the site, such as keywords and fresh content, they add the web page to the search index. When users search for certain information, the search engine selects the appropriate indexed site.
Rating. Next, a ranking of results will be generated depending on relevance – pages that, in the opinion of the search engine, best fit the search query will be shown first.
SEO improves your online presence by making your site more attractive to search engines. In other words, search engine optimization determines how successful your site will go through the entire process – from crawling to ranking.
For example, well-structured internal links on your pages make it easier for crawlers to navigate from one page to another. This allows them to explore the resource in detail and index more content.
Search engine algorithms also take into account other ranking factors such as relevant keywords, the quality of inbound links, and the relevance of the content (how long ago it was updated).
Thus, optimizing the content of the site, taking into account these factors, can significantly improve its position in the search.