What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

SEO refers to "optimizing" Web sites and Web pages to rank very high in the results of searches on major search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and MSN. SEO helps structure your web site content so it is easily found and indexed by search engines. SEO is the science of search as it relates to marketing on the web.

In the late 1990's something dramatic happened. Google introduced PageRank, a system of ranking Web pages based on their importance and other factors. Google search spiders crawl through the web following links, indexing and categorizing pages based on their content and relevancy. When the search spiders crawls and finds backlinks to your site along the way, each backlink translates to a positive confidence of vote to your site. It indicates popularity or importance of your website to the search engine which ultimately helps place you in the top of the search results. But this is one of the many factors that Google or other search spiders take into account while ranking sites. In order to allow spiders to understand the site content, web masters needed to follow certain rules like using proper keywords, title tags and content in each web page. At this point search became more of an art than a science. People can no longer expect their sites to appear in the top of the search engine results by simply adding their sites to major directories.

Why is SEO important to you?

The Search Engine market is fragmented, with Google commanding the majority of the market share (over 80%). If there is one search engine that you want to focus on, that would be Google. Microsoft's announced bid for Yahoo on Feb 1st, 2008 might increase Microsoft's share in the search market, but it still won't be able to challenge Google's dominance in the Internet Search market (at least not in the near future).

In late 2007, a survey concluded that over 50% of traffic originated at a search engine. According to a 2007 research report published by eMarketer, over 20% of U.S Internet users use a search engine at least 4-5 times in a day.

According to Internet Measurement firm, Hitwise, Search Engines were the highest sources of traffic during the peak Christmas shopping season, representing 57% of total traffic. Google alone was responsible for 18% of the total traffic, followed by Yahoo with 6%.

Hitwise Retail Index Upstream Traffic
Source:Hitwise.com

Why is your site not in the top search results?

These are the usual culprits why your site is not in the top search results:

Site Content
  • Missing Meta and Page Keywords
  • Missing Keywords in Site content
  • Lack of Meta Description tag
  • Lack of Descriptive File Names
  • Usage of Javascript, Images, Controls and Frames

Links Matter
PageRank is a value that Google gives to a page based on the number of links pointing to your site. So how do you get others to provide links to your site? You can try the following methods:
  • Register with major search engines (Yahoo, OpenDirectory, MSN)
  • Send press releases about your product or idea that generates free links
  • Hire an expert to write something positive about your product and publish in an industry newsletter, magazine or a local newspaper
  • Ask to be a featured or sponsored client in a major portal site
  • Ask employees to mention you and your products
  • Enlist in a local library's site
  • Make reciprocal link requests
  • Mention your site in major Blogging sites, Yahoo Answers and Google Groups
  • Respond to blogs or queries in Yahoo Answers (just don't over-do it)
  • Syndicate your content through external RSS feeds to different sites
  • Use announcement sites like URLwire.com to announce your site
  • Consider ad campaigns through Google AdWords

Some companies take an easier route by hiring optimization firms that use shady techniques to increase search rankings. These optimization firms typically guarantee linking in from 50 or more sites (aka link-spamming). They are linked to doorway pages or parked domains that may work short term, but it is only a matter of time before the search spiders detect and penalize the site. Google even makes a point about this on their SEO support page.

To learn about this and other tips and techniques, please download our latest white paper on SEO - What's in it for you?.

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