Search Engine Optimisation
Search engine optimisation (SEO) this is the procedure of organising and editing the content on a webpage and should include the whole of a website to increase its relevance to specific keywords on certain search engines and most important ensuring that external links to the site are correctly titled and placed. This is done with the aim of achieving a higher organic search listing and increasing the volume of targeted traffic from search engines.
One of the keys to success is SEO Web Marketing which can target different kinds of searches. SEO considers what people search for and how the search engines work. Optimising a website mainly involves editing its content and coding to both increase its relevance to specific keywords. Sometimes a sites structure must be altered too. Because of this it is, from a clients perspective, it can be better to incorporate Search Engine Optimisation when a website is being developed than to try and apply it later but this can still be done effectively.
The term search engine friendly refers to a website that has been search optimised.
The most commonly used search engines, Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft, use crawlers to search for pages for their algorithmic search results. Pages that are linked from other search engine indexed pages do not need to be submitted because they are found automatically. A few search engines, mainly Yahoo!, operate a paid submission service that guarantee crawling for either a set fee or cost per click. Such programs usually guarantee inclusion in the database, but do not guarantee specific ranking within the search results. Yahoos paid inclusion program has drawn criticism from advertisers and competitors. Two major directories, the Yahoo Directory and the Open Directory Project both require manual submission and human editorial review. Google offers Google Webmaster Tools, for which an XML Sitemap feed can be created and submitted for free to ensure that all pages are found, especially pages that are not discoverable by automatically following links.
Search engine crawlers look at a number of different factors. Not all pages are indexed by the search engines. Distance of pages from the root directory of a site is also a factor in whether or not pages get crawled.
Eye tracking studies have shown that searchers scan a search results page from top to bottom and left to right, looking for a relevant result. Placement at or near the top of the rankings therefore increases the number of searchers who will visit a site. However, more search engine referrals does not guarantee more sales. SEO is not necessarily an appropriate strategy for every website, and other Internet marketing strategies can be much more effective, depending on the site operator’s targets. A successful Internet marketing campaign may drive organic traffic to web pages, but it also may involve the use of paid advertising on search engines and other pages, building high quality web pages to engage and persuade, addressing technical issues that may keep search engines from crawling and indexing those sites, setting up analytics programs to enable site owners to measure their successes, and improving a sites conversion rate.
Anthony Johnson (CIM)
www.seo-go.co.uk
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