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Search engine
optimization (SEO) is the practice of guiding the development of a Web
site so that it will naturally attract visitors by winning top ranking
on the major search engines for selected keyword phrases. That's a long
and rather complicated sentence, and yet it hardly begins to define
search engine optimization.
It doesn't address the fact that most often, search engine
optimization consultants (SEOs) are not invited to participate in a
project until after the Web site is completed and launched, and are
therefore not "guiding the development" of the Web site. Rather, SEOs
most often are called upon to rehabilitate an existing Web site,
usually after it is determined that a competitor is ranking higher in
search engine results.
This paper will discuss the evolution of the Internet as a business
and marketing medium, the parties involved in promoting the use of the
Internet as a business and marketing medium, and the role of search
engine optimization experts in the building of successful online
marketing campaigns. Particular focus will be given to the difference
between winning on the search engines and buying top placement in the
search engines' sponsored results.
While the public generally refers to all Internet searching tools as “search engines, there are actually three different types:
- Search engines -Inktomi, AltaVista, Google, Teoma, AllTheWeb, MSN, and others
- Directories - Open Directory, Yahoo, LookSmart, and others
- Portals - AOL, Netscape, iWon, Lycos, HotBot, Excite, WebCrawler, and others
Search engines and directories take the following variables into
consideration when determining your site’s ranking in the results for a
specific search:
- Quality - The quality of your Web site affects the
directory editor's evaluation of your submission. "Quality" refers to
utility or usefulness and comprehensiveness. Terrific Web sites are
favorably reviewed and may even get "extra credit" in the rankings by
being selected as "editor's choice." The quality will also influence
other Web masters’ decisions to link to your site, which affects
“popularity” (see below).
- Title - The title is one of the most important
factors in your site's eventual search engine ranking. Because
directory search engines such as Yahoo! only search through the title,
description, and URL you submit, having important keywords in your
title is critical.
- Description - The meta description tag must speak convincingly to the search engine user and must include key words and phrases.
- Content - For search engines that index your page
using an automated process, such as AltaVista, Inktomi, AllTheWeb,
Teoma, and Google, the content is critical. The ultimate example of a
Web page with good content would be a page from an encyclopedia. The
content must be brief, focused, and internally consistent.
- Popularity - Popularity is a term used to describe
search engines' measurement of your site's importance to the Web
community. It factors in the number, quality, and type of Web pages
that include links back to your page. Google has a branded version of
popularity it calls PageRank. Links to your Web site increase your
“popularity” and offer search engine spiders or bots more opportunities
to index your page.
- Optimization - Optimization fine-tuning the code on your page to help you win for specific searches.
Search engines, directories and portals use the elements above in
various combinations to determine the ranking of search results.
Portals actually deliver the search results from one of the other
search engines or directories, so the key to winning on searches at a
portal is to win in the search engine or directory that they use as a
source. AOL, Netscape, CompuServe, iWon, and many more get results from
Google. Lycos gets its results from AllTheWeb. AskJeeves gets its
results from Teoma. HotBot, Excite, and WebCrawler get results from
Overture, the pay-per-click search engine.
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