Search Engine Optimization

What is Search Engine Optimization?
Simply put, Search Engine Optimization (or SEO) is the ongoing process through which adjustments are made to the content and the code of your Web pages so they have a greater liklihood of achieving a high natural listing among search engines.

When Internet users submit a query to a search engine such as Google, Yahoo!, MSN or others, the results typically fall into one of two categories — sponsored listings and natural listings (also called organic or free listings). There are different means used to display sponsored listings, but in general you will only appear in this group if you pay the site for placement with those listings (called pay for placement or paid inclusion).

SEO, however, enables a business owner to achieve a top free listing for a given keyword or phrase by ensuring that a page within their Web site is properly structured in the eyes of the a search engine. Even some of the most beautifully designed Web sites do little for the business if they are not also built with search engine 'robots' or 'bots' in mind. These are the automated indexing routines that will crawl through your Web site, page by page (the process is called spidering) to determine what your site is all about.

Results based on Keyword Relevance
When presenting query results, most search engines use what are known as Relevancy-based Results. For example, if you use Google to conduct a search for the keyword phrase 'underwater digital camera' — the more relevant Google thinks your site is for this term will determine how highly ranked your Web page will appear among the billions of pages they have indexed.

If your page title is Underwater Digital Camera and your page includes an image with a file name 'underwater_digital_camera.jpg' and 2-5% of the total words on your page are 'underwater digital camera', then you're well on your way to being considered relevant. There are, of course, many more contributing factors that will yield a top 10 page rank, but these are among just a few.

To learn how Search Engine Optimization can help make your Web site more visible, contact Dan Lynch today.