GETTING LISTED ON THE SEARCH ENGINES

Search engine optimization, also known as SEO, is the concept of planning, writing, and coding each page of a given website so that it will be seen correctly by the search engines for the keywords that were chosen. Once it's being seen, or indexed, by the search engines, the next step is to build credibility for the website by building credible links to it from a variety of sources.

An SEO strategy should begin for every page on every website before it's even written.  This includes the proper choice of keywords, the correct meta-tag coding, and the right keyword density. The content of each page should be written for the exact topic of the page and be related to the chosen keywords.  Each page should also have a proper interlinking plan so all the pages of the site each have the opportunity to gain credibility from the other pages.  It's important to also add a sitemap to the site and submit website on Google using their webmaster tools.  This will help them know the topic of each page on the website.

Once the website and pages have been properly built and coded, the question is how to be on the top of a google search for your chosen keywords? It's a good strategy to start building links back to it using varying methods, such as social bookmarking, participating on forums related to the niche, article submissions, and more.  The best strategies for doing this link building involve a long-term commitment so the website appears to be gradually building credibility rather than just showing up overnight.  Taking a consistent approach will make it seem as if the website is gradually gaining credibility and the links are organically building over time.  If thousands of backlinks quickly show up for a website that hasn't already gained any online traction, it could quickly end up being labeled as a spammer or even banned.

The idea of search engine optimization seems pretty daunting when you consider that there are literally thousands of different search engines out there and almost all of them use different criteria for ranking websites.  However, a recent study shows that Google, Bing, and Yahoo account for over 95% of all the search queries out there.  So, focusing on these three sites should be sufficient.

As long as the steps above are followed correctly and the content on the website is informative, credible, and current, the website will gradually gain enough credibility in the eyes of ALL the search engines.  The content should be written for the reader, not for a search engine spider or robot.  It's not quite a 'build it and they will come' type situation, but more of a 'plan it correctly, built it right, and keep it fresh, and they will come' deal.  Once they start coming, the content and quality of the website will hopefully keep them coming back.

For more information on the benefits of search engine optimization and how to make the most of it, please click here. Additionally, our SEO services article and our search optimization page contain even more important information.