Search Engine Optimization or "SEO" is the process of optimizing a website for high search engine rankings for a particular search term or set of search terms. OK, now that we have the dictionary definition, what does that really mean?
When you go to Google and do a search you expect to find something relevant to the "search term" you entered, right?
If you look for apples you want to find something about either those red shiny fruits or perhaps a computer. So how does Google know where to look? Its spiders (computer programs that scour the internet) look for pages that are relevant to the term you entered. Actually, this has been done beforehand so google can get your results likity-split.
These pages are "indexed". Your mission as an astute webmaster is to construct you pages so the search engines index you pages quickly and accurately. This way, the search engine is happy because they deliver a relevant page to its "customer", the searcher. the searcher is happy because they found what they were looking for. As a webmaster, you are happy because the search engine delivered a targeted searcher to your site. Win, win, win.
It boils down to one word. Relevance. You see, search engine optimization is no longer about "tricking" search engines into thinking that your site is relevant. If you are familiar with the changes at the various search engines you may have heard about the horror stories of sites that were ranked high one day and then not at all the next. These sites usually relied on underhanded methods to get indexed.
If your site is truly relevant and delivers what is "expected" you will most likely climb in the rankings.
Search Engine Optimization is more than just creating a few meta tags and submitting your URL to a few search engines.
in fact, SEO goes even beyond the definition we started with above. There are a number of strategies that currently work to provide a better chance at getting listed higher in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS). Besides having the page optimized with relevant words and terms, outside factors can actually play a large part. Sometimes these factors are the MOST important.
Among the other factors that play a vital part in your sites rankings are: incoming links and the rank of the sites that provide the links, listings by relevant directories, and of course the quality of the content of your own site.Let's face it: Search Engine Optimization is vital to a successful site. While it may not be simple, it doesn't have to be overly complicated either. There are plenty of resources on the internet that will help you optimize your site for optimization.
In keeping with our mission to point you toward the very best tools we have listed a few of those here.
http://www.seo2020.com
http://www.seochat.com
http://www.seotoday.com
http://www.seroundtable.com
http://www.searchengineforums.com
