The Basics of SEO

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO is the process of selecting the best ‘targeted keyword phrases’ related to your site, as this ranks your site very highly in search engines. Using this technique will ensure that when someone using the search engine searches for specific phrases it returns your site on or near the top of the results page.

Basically, it involves fine tuning the basic content of your site as well as the HTML and Meta tags, but also involves an appropriate link building process.

The most popular search engines today, are Google, Yahoo, and MSN. These search engines keep their methodology and algorithmic language secret, to get credit for finding the most valuable search-results and to deter unwanted spam pages from hindering those results.

A search engine may use many hundreds of factors while ranking the listings, where the factors themselves and the weight given to each factor may change continually.

The algorithms most search engines use can differ so widely that a webpage that ranks #1 in a particular search engine could rank #200 in another search engine.

Although there are hundreds of websites out there that will ’submit’ your site to the search engines, you do not need to be “submitted” to search engines to be listed. A simple link from a well established site will get the search engines to visit the new site and begin to spider its contents. However, it can take a few days to even several weeks for all the main search engine spiders to commence visiting and indexing the new site using this method.

If you are unable to research and choose keywords and work on your own search engine ranking, you may want to hire someone to work with you on these issues.

There are many search engine marketing and promotion companies that will look at the plan for your site and make recommendations to increase your search engine ranking and website traffic.

If you wish, they will also provide ongoing consultation and reporting to monitor your website and make recommendations for editing and improvements to keep your site traffic flow and your search engine ranking high. Normally your search engine optimization experts work with your web designer to build an integrated plan right away so that all aspects of design are considered at the same time.