What is Search Engine Optimization?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a technique used to obtain high rankings in search engines. “High rankings” mean your site comes up as one of the first few results in searches. When you can get a high ranking for keywords and key phrases people will be using when they search for what you offer, it can be a great way to generate new business.
What is a Search Engine?
A search engine is a program designed to locate information on computer systems such as the World Wide Web. They are also used in private networks.
Typically, a search engine allows the user to input words or phrases and will return results based on the given data.
For our purposes, I will be discussing Internet search engines - such as Google, Yahoo and MSN - and how to optimize your Web site’s placement in search results.
How do the search engines find the Web sites?
Search engines have “spiders” that constantly “crawl” the Web indexing pages.
It is unnecessary to submit your site to the search engines and/or pay fees to get listed. All you really need is to have a link to your new site from a site already recognized by the search engines.
This way, the next time the spiders come around to that site they will find yours. It can take a few days or weeks but is quite effective.
Keep in mind:
Spiders cannot read graphics, only text. So any links to your site should be done in plain text. If you can highlight the words on a site they are text. Otherwise, they are part of a graphic.
Give instructions for the text used for the link. Keywords and key phrases relevant to your site in links to your site help your ranking with the search engines.
Can you outsmart the search engines?
There are people who spend their days developing ways to outsmart the search engines. (Some do this to get the best results and most visitors possible without necessarily having the information the searcher wants.)
It is, however, an endless endeavor. The developers of search engines want the user to have the best, most reliable experience possible and, towards that end, refine – and redefine - the parameters of their programs regularly.
Even with the best, most honest efforts, SEO can be an investment of diminishing returns. Search engines constantly update their databases by scanning the Web and re-indexing their listings. They also continually refine their criteria for ranking pages.
Sooo… your site might rank high for keywords related to your site today, but lower tomorrow.
Doing a bit of SEO is always a good idea though. It gets visitors to your site and earns you name recognition. Additionally, some of the things that work for your site’s ranking will also help publicize you and your business and illustrate your expertise.
The amount of time and effort and money put into SEO should be measured relative to how much traffic is driven to your site through searches, what percentage of your business depends on search engines.
You must carefully consider the keywords (and key phrases) you wish to compete for in the search engines. Some are more worthy of your time than others. The really popular search words might be harder to get ranked highly with but when you use them in phrases particular to your region or specialty the results will increase.
Fewer sites will turn up for “brown high-top sneakers with red shoelaces” than “sneakers.” Concentrating your efforts on keywords that turn up millions of results will not get you very far. So, the more specific you can be the better.
There are simple things you can do to get your site included in the search engines and ranked decently.
Go to Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Part Two: Ways to get good rankings
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