Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the process of altering a web site to increase the page rank in organic crawler-based search engines. So, what does that mean? Well, let's break it down into a few fast and easy steps!
We all know what search engines are; sites that help users find web pages on any given subject. But how do they work? All search engines maintain a directory that is displayed when you search a term. These terms are referred to as keywords or key phrases.
Basically, they are words that are relevant to your web site's topic or purpose. Anything someone might type in when they are trying to find you is a potential keyword. And those directories are made up of web pages that the search engine has crawled or spidered.
In other words, the search engine has made a visit to your site, clicked on all your links and had a good look around, judged you based on what it saw, and indexed you into their directory. So now you too can show up when someone does a search for relevant keywords.
You will show up in the search engine results, but the question is where? Page 10? 12? 40? This is where it gets tricky, and important. Just being indexed by a search engine isn't enough, you need to rank well in the results for your desired keywords, otherwise people will not find you. And by "well", I mean in the top two pages. People look at the first page of results, and maybe the second if you're lucky, and it drastically drops from there.
The general purpose of a web site is to showcase what your business is about and help potential clients, but you can't forget to make sure they can find your web site! So you really need to have your web site optimised so you can be displayed on the first page of a person's search results. There's no purpose to have a website that isn't noticed by anyone!
So, how is a web site optimised?
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First you want to figure out what your keywords and key phrases are. This is possibly one of the most important steps; selecting the wrong keywords can make your optimisation efforts futile. Try to think the way your potential customers are thinking. Ask yourself, what would I type into a search engine if I were looking for ... whatever your company does. Make a list of all your potential keywords and pick the ones you are most likely to gain the most web traffic from.
It's important to remember not to be too broad with your keywords, for example, it will be very difficult to get your site to show up for a topic like "Real Estate"; you should make it more specific like "Residential Real Estate on Long Island", which is a much better key phrase to optimise for.
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Next, take a look at your web site; do you use your newly-selected keywords in your page content? A web site's copy (written content) is critical to its success; search engines love it and want to see lots of it on pages your viewers will be visiting. But it can't just be fluff, it must be relevant to what you do, and your keywords, and it must be informative!
You will most likely have to make some changes, additions, or totally re-write your copy. But that's ok! It's all part of the journey to a more functional and successful web page. After all, when it comes down to it, your web page is really just a big marketing tool.
Be sure to include your keywords! When the search engine's come to visit your site, they want to see that your keywords are in fact relevant to your site and are used in your copy. If you tell a search engine you are a real estate company and have listings of homes for sale, but when they get there you are actually a bakery, they won't be very happy with you! Relevance is key!
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Also, and this can get overlooked; take a look at your links. What do they say and where do they point? The link phrase itself should be in direct relation to the page it is linking to. "Click Here" is a terrible link phrase! "Click Here" surely isn't one of your keywords right? And I doubt it's relevant to the page it's linking to either.
The link phrase should be either the title of the page it's linked to, or a relevant keyword/phrase. And for best results it should be sandwiched into your content as well.
Hint: Search engines like that a lot!
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Now that you have your keywords, you've fixed up your copy and your links are nice and relevant, you want to look at some of the smaller details.
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What shows up in the title bar of each of your pages? You know that little blue bar at the top of your window? Search engines actually pay a great deal of attention to that. You want to make sure it's related to your page; usually you want to use the page title or work in a keyword if possible.
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Avoid using images as links at all costs. Search engines can't see how attractive that picture of the sunset is. But if you really can't avoid it, make sure the title of the image is relevant. (Image123.jpg doesn't tell a search engine very much information.) This is a good habit for any images you display, not just linked ones.
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Flash is also a dangerous feature. It's very visually pleasing, however not very informative to a visiting search engine because it cannot ‘watch' it. You're much better off with regular text content. If you want to show off your company in a short flash movie, that's great! But make sure that's not the only place you put that information.
Now, after reading all that, you are probably thinking "Wow, that's a lot of work and I don't know if I can do it". You're right! It can be a complex path to a totally optimised web site, but it's an imperative one.
There is no point in having the world's best web page if no one can find it! You've probably invested money into your site; don't let that investment go to waste by not following through on the final steps. Don't short change yourself and your company by being afraid of optimisation.