What is search engine optimization? (SEO)

Search engine optimization (SEO), Internet marketing, and pay-per-click advertising are methods to increase visibility on the net. More web site visibility can, and should, lead to more sales when done properly. Free SEO tips.

The primary goal of optimization is to increase traffic to your website, but it needs to target the right customers. There is a big difference between one thousand visits and no sales and 100 visits with 25 sales. Another thing to consider is the overall appeal of the site and the message it delivers. You can have the best targeted traffic in the world but you still have to close the deal. Think of your website as your sales person. If she dresses poorly, doesn't wash or comb her hair and doesn't speak your client's language, then you wasted your advertising $$ dollars. We will talk about search engines, keywords, key phrases and pay-per-click but you need to understand that page design and content are just as important.

Lets take a look at the process.

  • The potential customer types in some words in their favorite search engine. The "big 3"—Google, Yahoo, and MSN—account for over 90% of all web searches. Hmm, should we attempt to optimize our pages for 1000 search engines or maybe only 3? You get the point. These words the surfers type in are called keywords or key phrases.
  • The search engine returns a list of website page descriptions and links, in order of relevance to the key words or phrases. They determine the relevance using an algorithm that is based on many factors. Page title, description, content, and both inbound and outbound links to other sites, are just a few of the items used to determine relevance. Each one of the "big 3" search engines uses a different algorithm. That means a page that comes up in the top ten for one phrase may not be in the top 100 in another search engine. Sound complicated? That's why it's becoming big business and the cost keeps going up. It's not something that can be taught 100%, or learned completely by reading a book. It is a full-time job, a talent, an art, and a science all in one. It also changes on a regular basis just like most technology.
  • The description provided by the search engine entices the browser/surfer to click. This in turn brings the potential client to a website. What happened? The page was served up by the search engine because it was considered relevant to what the user typed in the search box. The user was attracted by the description of the website provided by the search engine.
  • The user decides, usually in a matter of seconds, to:
    1. stay and read more
    2. click back and choose another search result
    3. click back and try searching with different terms or phrases.
  • If the user stays then you still only have a short time to convince them that you are the right service choice or you have the products they want at the right price and you can deliver. If you are an information service then you have to show them they can find the info they are seeking with relative ease.

What can we do to get the clicks?

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