Search Engine Optimization

What is Search Engine Optimization?

Search Engine Optimization is the process of setting up your website to increase the number of visitors and business you obtain from your website. This is an ongoing and time consuming process which is why many companies hire Search Engine Marketing experts to perform this task. A Search Engine Marketing firm frees you up to focus on your business.

Search Engine Optimization includes:

Creating professional, easy to read, keyword-rich content Proper coding of the Title tags of each page (H1, H2, H3) Proper coding of the Meta content of each page (Keyword, Description, Title) Proper use of alt tags for images Proper use of link building (one way inbound links) Proper use of page names, titles, & content specific pages Submission to the internet search engines Inclusions into business related directories for strong in-bound links (Dmoz) Your Content plays a large role!

Search Engine Optimization starts and ends with the content within your website. Creating unique content which is correctly written is one of the best ways to increase your ranking. Search engines crawl billions of web pages every month, and from those billions of web pages they need to determine, through their complex algorithms, which sites are going to rank near the top. While there are a number of factors that play into this, content is the most important part. After writing the targeted content, there is a need to perform the other optimization steps to achieve a top ranking. This includes properly coded Page Title & META tags, inclusion into quality directories, submissions to search engines, and a sensible keyword optimization will help your website increase rankings.

Pitfalls of Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization is important to your your website, but remember that it is not the only thing to care about. Your website must still be able to communicate a strong message, and should not confuse viewers for the sake of gaining a few ranking spots. Visitors these days are smart; they see that type of a website more as spam than a knowledgeable source of information. Have you ever noticed that there are some websites around the internet that have high ranking, but the second you visit the website you have a strong desire to click away? Some of these sites are known as "over-optimized". Beware of going down this path. You may obtain nice search engine rankings, but no one will bother reading your site or contacting you, because you have successfully made an incredibly confusing, yet high-ranking site. If you receive a lot of traffic, but few leads, this is could be what is happening to you. It can't be said enough, content is king on the internet.