Search Engine Optimization
Increase your search engine rankings by optimizing your site
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is both the art and science of optimizing your site so that it ranks well in the search engines. No matter how well-designed and informative your website is, if users don't know about it, no one will ever see it. Most users query a search engine (usually Google) to find information on the Internet. They type in a keyword or keyword phrase, and choose from the results displayed. If you aren't in the top results, you've lost a huge amount of traffic to your site.
There are a few basics involved in SEO, which include keyword analysis, on-page optimization, and off-page optimization.
Keyword analysis is the first step in the plan. What keywords do users type into a search engine to find what they are looking for? Is your page optimized for those keywords or not? Let's say your company is called XYZ Incorporated and you sell fine leather shoes. Unless XYZ Incorporated is a well-known brand name, most users won't be searching for XYZ Incorporated. They are most likely going to be searching for "leather shoes". They may also be searching for many other terms related to leather shoes. Do you know what terms they are searching for? Are your pages optimized for those pages? On-page optimization then, is making sure your pages are highly optimized for the keywords that will bring the most users to your site. Off-page optimization involves the ability to get other sites to link to your site using the keywords you prefer in the link text. The details involved in successfully optimizing your site can take many months of study and work.
If you want to optimize your site on your own, I suggest SEO News at SEO Scoop for all the latest search engine optimization news and seo tips.
