What Is Search Engine Optimization?
Ask ten different people what Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is and you may receive ten different answers. For the purposes of this guide, SEO will be defined as the process of making changes to your site to make it more accessible to search engines and the people that arrive at your site from the search engines.
Search engine optimization is not about tricking the search engines. It is about understanding what elements search engines look for on a page to help determine the relevance of the page to a search term. By understanding what page elements the search engines take into consideration, and making adjustments to better present your page, you can improve your rank for a search term.
Search engines use programs called "spiders" or "crawlers" that visit the pages of your Web site and index the information on those pages. This includes the content that your visitors see when viewing your page and some of code used to build your page.
Taking search engine optimization into consideration before you build your site is the best approach. Fortunately, search engine optimization can also be performed after a site is built, but it will require making changes to your site.
It is important to understand that it will likely take more than a month before you see the results of your work. This is due to the fact that it takes time for the search engines to update their databases.
A basic overview of the content and basic code that the spiders or crawlers will look for on a page is covered here. The information provided is not specifically geared toward one search engine. Instead it takes a more general approach that will work well with most, if not all, search engines. Each section starts with a brief description of the page element covered. You will then be provided with sources for further information including:
• Recommended Articles
These are articles that do a good job explaining the key concepts of the topic discussed. Each articles is linked with the option to open it in a new window.
• Check the Article Archives
Search Engine Guide provides a directory of thousands of search engine articles from experts across the Internet. This section will provide a link to the relevant category covering the page element being covered. The articles are arranged by date with the newest articles first. This will allow you to get the most up to date information and then do further research on older articles.
• Recommended Forum Threads
These are pointers to specific threads in search engine discussion forums that cover the page element being discussed.
• Books and Reports
In some case, there are books and reports that are available that cover the page element being discussed. For those that wish to have further research material, we provide links to sources that provide the books and reports.
• Domain Names
Having keywords in your domain is not a major consideration. For example, having a domain such as www.keyword-keyword-keyword.com isn't going to do much, if anything. If keywords in your domain naturally make sense and would make it more memorable to your visitors, then don't be afraid to use keywords in your domain name. If you already have a domain name, don't worry about switching just because it isn't packed with keywords.
Don't purchase multiple domains with the idea of having multiple copies of your Web site to get multiple listings in the search engines. This will likely result in a penalty from the search engines.
Written By John Jackson SEO Consultant from http://www.k2dynamics.co.uk
John Jackson has dedicated over 10 years SEO management and technology concentrating on information security and privacy.http://www.k2dynamics.co.uk
Source: www.articlecity.com
