Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a process implemented to increase a
sites visibility. It involves minor alterations to your website,
selecting keywords that will generate targeted traffic, continually
researching search engine algorithms and policies, and most importantly
understanding the customer’s goals. There are a wide range of companies
offering SEO services, each employing strategies that may be
significantly different from one another, hence producing varying
results. Understanding these different strategies is the most important
factor in choosing your SEO company.
Need for optimization
It is critical for any company to take into consideration how well its
Web site will rank in the most important search engines and
directories. There are many steps that a company must take in order to
maximize a web site’s success in search engines and directories. Many
companies underestimate the importance of search engines and fail to
understand the ranking process. They end up ignoring what may be the
most crucial ingredient of Internet marketing strategy.
Classification of Search Engines
One of the first things to understand is the difference between search engines and directories.
Crawler
based search engines rely on automated software agents called spiders.
These spiders grab information like page titles, meta data, and textual
content to be included in the search engines index or database. Search
engines determine relevancy by applying a set of rules known as an
algorithm. The algorithm determines whether to include a specific page
in the results based on the items captured by the spider. Google is an
example of this type of search engine.
The other types of search engines are those that have a directory
component. The main distinguishing factor here is the human element.
Directories are organized by human editors who actually visit the
submitted website. They play a large role in the categorization of the
web site and the wording of the titles and descriptions that will be
the basis by which searchers will find the web site. LookSmart is an
example of human powered directory.
Search engines like Yahoo and MSN, present both crawler based and human
powered results. These are known as hybrid search engines.
How does SEO work?
While the algorithm of each search engine may be different, they all look for the similar things:
Location of keywords:
Search engines first check title tags, headlines, and the first two
paragraphs for keyword matches. Keywords are the cornerstone of every
SEO campaign.
Frequency of keywords:
For the search engine to relate relevancy of a keyword to your website,
it is important that the frequency of the keyword should be maintained.
This frequency varies for different sites depending on several external
factors.
Link popularity:
Increase in the relevant, external, qualified inbound links to other websites
An SEO campaign can be broken down into 7 basic functions as shown in the table below:
1.
Keyword Identification
The right keywords have to be identified first. These are words related
to the site and ‘USED’ by surfers while finding your service or
product.
2.
Competition Analysis
Here
the websites ranking high for the keywords selected are reviewed for
their link structure optimization method and incoming links. .
3.
Page optimization
In this stage the website is thoroughly optimized with meta tags, body text, internal links.
4.
Link building
Qualified incoming links are generated in this step.
5.
Submissions
The web pages are systematically submitted to various search engines and directories.
6.
Analysis & Tweaking
The results are observed over a period of time depending on the rankings and traffic analysis. The website is further tuned.
7.
Reporting
Throughout the course of the optimization, web stats are observed and tactics are altered based on traffic analysis.
Facts about SEO:
Web site optimization aims at a moving target, and therefore, must be an ongoing process rather than a finite project
Merely submitting the website is a small part of the larger process of
Web site optimization. Website optimization consists of site design and
layout, scientific research, determination of the best keyword phrases,
monitoring rankings, algorithmic and industry changes and much more
It is always advisable to work with a firm that specializes in Search
Engine Optimization rather than a general services web firm
Benefits of SEO:
Long term visibility
Banner ads or paid search engine placement works for a while but once
the market budget is depleted, the site disappears. Also consumers are
often more likely to purchase from a site ranked high in the search
engine results rather than from a paid advertisement.
Familiarity with the company
A highly ranked website means more people see the name of the company
and become familiar with the company and its products, even if they
haven’t made a purchase. A survey by NPD shows that consumers are twice
as likely to recognize businesses ranked in the top three in search
engine results than those appearing in banner ads.
Affordability
In comparison to pay per click or banner ads, which cost between $500 to $5000 a month, an SEO plan costs much less.
SEO provides a higher ROI for most companies than any other advertising medium.
Web site maintenance:
A web site should always be thought of as a work in progress.
Optimization work continues long after the optimized site is launched.
This is because search engines frequently change their algorithms and
the competitive landscape changes. The most effective strategy is to
change and adapt the site in response to changes in search engine
ranking criteria. The activities carried out in an SEO maintenance
program are:
Continuous monitoring of ranking and traffic trends
Altering and Tuning Webpages to maintain and improve rankings
Comprehensive ranking reports provide to clients
Search Engine Submission
Below link will take you directly to Yahoo search engine submission page $299 charge. http://www.yahoo.com
submit your site free
Search engines like Google, Altavista and AlltheWeb search the Internet and find your web site through links from other web
sites. This is another reason to build a strong network of quality
sites linking to yours.
free add url search engines list
You can also submit your site free, when you add your url to a search engine requesting to be indexed. Below is an easy one stop search engines list of some of the top search engines where you can submit your site free.
If your web site is linked to from other sites there may be no need to submit. If your web site has no links use the submit site free pages here only once, then check your listing in 45 to 60 days. CAUTION: submitting again before 45 days will not help, and may hurt your ranking chances if considered abuse by the search engine.
Software that automatically submits your website should be avoided. Only submit manually to the top search engines, that is where 80 to 90% of your traffic will come from.