Why Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is Essential for Your Website
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of optimizing (modifying--for those who don't speak Internet) a website so that it is considered to be search friendly by search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc...). The aim of Search Engine Optimization is to design your website in a way that it will appear higher in search engine rankings. When that happens, your website becomes more visible to browsers (people searching on the Internet) when they use keywords and keyword phrases to find the information they are looking for.
SEO is a Process
Search Engine Optimization is a process. This is very important to understand. This type of optimization does not pay dividends for your traffic results over night. It takes time and searching by the Internet public to affect this change if your SEO has been done properly. Time can be weeks, more realistically-Months. But if you don't do it, you'll be severely handicapping your capability for searching traffic to find you, and ultimately grow your online business or service. So, SEO is a process for improving the ranking of your website in the natural (the left side of the page that is not shaded in Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc...) search engine rankings to increase the amount of qualified visitor traffic to your website over time.
It is not something that a typical business owner is expected to know how to do and almost without exception, doesn't have in-house IT staff that is sufficiently versed in (no ill reflection on the IT Staff intended).
Search Engine Optimization typically includes:
Keyword Research and Development,
The Optimization of:
- Meta tags
- Meta descriptions
- Title tags and
- Anchor text.
It can also include:
- Linking strategy and implementation
- Website submission and
- Results reporting and tracking.
(I'll cover these in detail in future posts, or you can contact me directly at: dcslistguy@greatmailinglists.com for further explanation at anytime.
Various eMarketing market research studies conclude that as many as 70% or more of those who search using Google (the 800 Pound Guerilla of Search Engine traffic) only click on the natural or "organic" listings and the overwhelming majority of those don't search past the first page of results.
Your goal should be to secure a first page ranking in Google, the leading search engine, for competitive keyword phrases. But getting there may not be quite so easy. If you compete in a competitive marketplace like I do, then selecting the keyword phrases to be optimized should be done with a realistic set of expectations. What do I mean? Don't expect to rank on page one for a term that is highly competitive like say "Widgets" Consider a longer term like "Blue Widgets" or "Buy Widgets", these terms will have less search traffic, but the trade-off is that there is most likely less competition for these word and therefore, you stand a better chance of eventually ranking highly for that term.
Nearly 90 percent of people find websites through Search Engines. With natural or organic search engine optimization, you can ensure a high return on investment by achieving maximum visibility within major search engines including Google, MSN & Yahoo.
Search engine optimization takes planning and preparation. It is all about fine-tuning your web site so that it displays prominently within a search engine's results page.
The best time to SEO optimize your site is when it is being built. But don't worry, if you have an existing non-optimized or poorly optimized site, there are steps that can be taken to improve your websites searchability performance. But getting your website SEO optimized really isn't a case of just improving your results, but of survival! Proper SEO can have a huge impact on a particular client base finding you or not.
Search engine marketing shouldn't be taken lightly. Effective search engine marketing is a complex affair and yields the greatest benefit if handled by experienced professionals.