Search Engine Optimization: What Is It?

Search Engine Optimization is the creation of a web page, purposely designed to rank well with the Search Engines.

If you want traffic to your website then you must Optimize your website for the Search Engines.

Search Engine Optimization is a necessity if you want a huge amount of traffic flowing to your website.

Traffic from the Search Engines is one of the best (And most abundant) forms of traffic. Most people use Search Engines to find what they are looking for. I do and I bet you do too.

You simply cannot afford to pass this up. If you do, then your competitors will be way ahead of you, taking customers which you could have had.

However, if you are going to undertake Search Engine Optimization I STRONGLY recommend that you do some extensive research before you start trying to create the "perfect" page for the Search Engines.

If you don't do enough research then you will find bits of Optimization information, but will it be correct or will it heavily penalize your website, or even completely ban it? If you end up doing the wrong thing, this is what can happen.

Examples of bad Optimization techniques:

Previously many of these probably worked. However the Search Engines are now actively looking for websites who may be implementing some of these techniques and penalizing them accordingly.

Cloaking:

What I mean is creating a page for a visitor but when a search engine spider goes to the page, they see something completely different. One way to detect if a website is doing this, is if they appear at the top of search results for a keyword that doesn't even appear on that page. This is a major no no. Sure it probably works incredibly well for a time. But when the Search Engines figure out what your up to, you can bet they will ban you permanently.

Keyword Stuffing:

This is the process of having as many keywords placed into the meta tags or content of the page whether they are relevant or not to the "content" of the page. Not only does this not work, it will work against you. Google for example will penalize you if you have a keyword more than once in a row. This is logical, as having 2 keywords in a row probably would not make sense. For example, for the keyword Golf, Google would penalize you if you wrote Golf Golf.

However, if the title of your page was "Golf", and the sentence beneath it was "golf is great because..." you would probably still be penalized.

Colouring keywords the same colour as their background:

This is quite self explanatory. It's bad because you're purposely hiding things from your website visitors, but still want the Search Engines to see it.

By Stephen Warren, the creator of http://www.marketershandbook.com, the completely FREE guide to marketing online, with useful articles and links.

---

What All Top Google Websites Have in Common

While it is okay to admire and envy all those... Read More

Valid HTML code is crucial to Search Engine Optimization

Why valid HTML code is crucial to your web site's... Read More

Reality Check: A Straightforward Guide to Keywords and Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Web site owners need to have realistic expectations when it... Read More

A Three Day Marketing Plan for Better Google Rankings

If you're reading this article, you've probably discovered that simply... Read More

The Search Doesnt End at Your Homepage

In a recent report for a new client, I wrote:... Read More

Stuck on Keywords

Keywords have turned into big business on the internet. If... Read More

Absolute & Relative Links How Do They Rank?

The question for this article is whether or not you... Read More

Why is Search Engine Optimisation Expensive?

Many of our customers (http://www.internet-marketing-australia.com) find search engine... Read More

Local Customers Know Where to Find Local Businesses... the Internet

Through search engines and directories, the Internet provides a quick... Read More

Google, BackRub, Backlinking, and the Link Hunting Obsession that Takes Its Toll

Google is currently one of the dominant entities on the... Read More

7 Steps to Prepare You for The Local Search Bonanza

At One Time Local Searches were reserved for services like... Read More

10 Minutes to Your Google Sitemap

Google's calling your name...Hi, Google here. We want to index... Read More

Does Javascript Affect Ranking?

Almost all SEO's agree that using too much javascript can... Read More

Spamglish; A Search Engine Comedy With A Language All Its Own

When the movie Spanglish hit the screens in 2004, it... Read More

Link Building in Light of Vision-based Page Segmentation

The days of basing a successful link building strategy on... Read More

Google Bring Deskbar Search To Windows Desktop. Now Any Website Can Take Advantage Of This

Google's premier of desktop search proves that the desktop is... Read More

Search Engines 101 - Search Engines Explained

What Are Search Engines?A search engine is a database system... Read More

The Google Phenomenon: Greatest Hits Collection

As my readers know, I've been one of Google's harshest... Read More

Good Content: The Key To Search Engine Ranking

Good Content: The Key To Search Engine RankingWhat drives visitors... Read More

How To Start An Internet Business ? Meta Tags and Keyword Density

Okay, you have a domain name, layout and content. Now... Read More

The Power of Search Engine Friendly URLs

I recently invested quite some time into generating search engine... Read More

Search Engine Position Report

Since search engines are the first stop for people on... Read More

How to Manage SEO

Whether you launch a search engine optimization program in-house or... Read More

Search Engine Monopoly

Ever wondered how one search engine is dominating the entire... Read More

Beginners - Getting Listed In Search Engines

Once you have your web site complete and ready to... Read More

Search Engine Optimization for Everyone

There are many facets to SEO and the search engines... Read More

Writing SEO Copy ? 8 Steps to Success

We all know that the lion's share of web traffic... Read More

Googles Back Door... Get Your Website Indexed Quicker!

It's the buzz word's going across the internet marketing guru's... Read More

13 Tips For Good Search Engine Placements

When used properly in combination with other basic search engine... Read More

Table Structures For Top Search Engine Positioning

So you have a beautiful website that you paid a... Read More

Top 5 Search Engine Optimization Mistakes

There are a lot of ways to promote your website... Read More

Google Adsense Optimization Tips

There are plenty of tips to help you enhance your... Read More

Search Engine Optimization for Beginners

If you are confused about terms like "search engine optimization"... Read More