What Is The Definition Of SEO?
How to use search engine optimization to be found (rescued) on the Web.
A few years ago, my good friend Bill B. bought his first sailboat.
He called and told me: "Jon, today - I bought a new sailboat, and it's the happiest day of my life"! I grinned and told him: "I also understand that selling it will be your happiest day of your life". (Turned out I was right)?
What does sailing have to do with SEO and this article?
The story continues: My buddy Bill did end up selling it a few years later (you?ll see why). I taught him how his boat could be found and sold via web search traffic to his website, which we set up together.
Today ? he has a thriving web business, and he has bought and sold many boats and accessories since those early years. He went full-time into the web business, and he understands the power of SEO and ranking high for key search terms.
What is the definition of SEO, and why is it important to your business?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, or as defined by Google: Search Engine Optimizer. SEO is a subset of the umbrella term Search Engine Marketing (SEM).
Properly applied search engine optimization allows your site to be not only seen by the search engines, but when a search term (keywords, phrases) is entered, you can rank very high in the search engine results pages (SERPS). The results pages are typically a combination of natural (sometimes called organic) results, paid inclusions (directories) and pay-per-click (PPC) ads.
The wholly grail for online marketers centers around being found on the first page of Google, currently owning well over half of the market of all searches. If you further optimize in such a way that it brings *quality* traffic, that can be the ultimate return on investment (ROI), assuming you have a solid back office process. If you have optimized well for Google, you will rank good in the other majors (MSN, Yahoo) also.
Interestingly enough, Search Engine Optimization is not optimizing the search engines themselves, (SEO-ers can only make experienced and industry guesses) but rather optimizing the websites, content and related parts (links) so the users can find you easily. It?s all about relevancy. Many folks hire professional consultants to perform SEO, and some attempt to do it themselves, which I will help you with during the months to come.
My sailing buddy was lost at sea.
That third weekend of his boat saga, he told his wife that a trip outside of the safe harbor and into somewhat un-chartered waters would be a fun and challenging experience, and he brought a friend along to assist.
Normally, he would have reviewed the weather forecast, map (lat/long), trip log, flares, emergency contact info and courses outlined, including both physical and radio contact points to coast guards and ports, but he neglected all this by making a stupid mistake: he did not fully prepare and made some bad assumptions.
It was a poor weekend to go out as well. A tranquil beginning, they were relaxing and enjoying the sea. However, the weather turned quickly into one of the fiercest storms and many hours later, they were missing at sea.
The coast guard and others were looking for them (SEO: visitors), his boat and crew had not prepared a strategy (SEO: competitive analysis, know your audience, know where you are (your value proposition), and what keywords to use) and this was a different route than anytime before (SEO: know who your link partners are that can help you get ranking/visibility/popularity via relevant links in your topical, themed community).
The next 24 hours at sea were not good, to say the least. Here they were, way off course, nobody could find them, and they had run out of options. By stroke of luck, one ship happened to cross their path almost 100 nautical miles off course. (SEO: Was this a random ?visitor??)
My friend and his associate were rescued, and what a big lesson it was. They learned that careful preparation, planning and execution, as well as adjusting for bad weather (SEO: competitive analysis, thoughtful planning) are cornerstones to a successful trip. This also means never giving up, (SEO: keep content fresh, adust, and monitor changes in the search engine algorithms), you can survive!
Summary: SEO done right can enable you to be found (in the sea of billions of web pages), and ranked well. You should always provide relevant information that the users are looking for, and you?ll have a steady stream of visitors, 24x7x365.
Make sure to include solid search engine optimization strategy, tactics and operational context for a safer (relevant) trip on the World Wide Web.
SEO is one of the most powerful online marketing mediums there is, and the display of those query results are completely free, and doing it right will elevate your positions.
Jon Rognerud is a recognized authority on the subject of search engine optimization and has spent more than 15 years developing online solutions at companies like Overture and Yahoo! His website, http://www.microsaw.com - provides a wealth of great articles, resources and free courses on SEO & SEM.
Related Articles:
Increase Your Search Engine Ranking With Non-Reciprocal Link Building
You don?t need to be taught over and over that one of the most effective and powerful ways of obtaining the best position in search engines is through link building Because of this, there are already a lot of webmasters that would either send you an e-mail or drop you a call, requesting for a link exchange with you
Link Building: To Link, or Not to Link, That is the Question
Lately, there have been a lot of heated discussions regarding link building. Is it ethical to create a link building campaign? Does Google or any other search engine penalize for "link farms" (a bunch of non-related links created for the SOLE purpose of increasing search engine ratings)? Is the "link building era" over?Link FarmsMany webmasters claim that Google penalizes websites for link farms.
Boost Your Search Engine Ranking And Generate Free Traffic With Reciprocal Links
Reciprocal links are an important step in your overall plan to get site visitors.What are they? Reciprocal links are mutual links you and some other web site owner agree to post on your respective sites.
Link Building To Improve Search Engine Rank
As the competition increasing every day so when you are planning to make business online then you need to optimize your site For this Search Engine Optimization or SEO is getting popular every day
Build Links, Increase Page Rank, Increase Traffic
Search Engines in the last couple of years are giving more weight to one way links with a similar theme, these links are a vote of trust and confidence for your website, they are so important that they help your site in the rankings of search engines. One search engine in particular uses link popularity, that search engine is Google. When you improve your link popularity it will eventually move your site up in the serps, this is the goals of every webmaster.
Rock Your Rank With a Dynamite Text Link - Yahoo Directory Explodes Rankings
Last week a client called me excitedly exclaiming that their
Google PageRank had jumped a notch and their targeted keyword
term now ranked #23 (up from #45) for their competitive search
phrase. I asked the client if he'd been notified by Yahoo that
his site was now included in the index after we had submitted
it three weeks ago.
25 Common Link Exchange & Search Engine Terms
In today's world of website promotion and traffic building, a whole new set of terms and definitions have developed. To be a successful webmaster and/or website owner, it is important to know the meanings of some of the most popular link exchange and search engine terms.
Traffic One Way Links And Reciprocal Link Exchange
While reciprocal links are still valid and help you gain link popularity and page rank, many SEO experts agree that one way links are more valuable. One way links are also known as non-reciprocal links. Acquiring one way links are much more difficult than reciprocal links. One way links are a tool that can be quite beneficial to the webmaster. The very best one way links are those that are included in the content of another website, directing visitors to your website. One way links are those where you point to a site, or a site points to you without a link being returned. One way links are the best way to increase the link popularity of the site and get theme based links for natural search engine optimization.
15 Proven Ways For Link Building To Improve Search Engine Rank
Almost all webmasters know that incoming links are food for website. The website will rank high in the search engine result pages as long as they have great quality incoming links with related anchor text.
Link Survey Version 1.6: Improve Search Engine Ranking by Learning About Competitors
AntsSoft today announced the release of Link Survey version 1.6, the first software in the world which can check link popularity of multiple relative websites, make comprehensive analysis, and generate a detailed report.
Using Back Links to Get Top Search Engine Ranking
There are no hidden secrets on how to rank high with the major search engines. All that is needed is a basic understanding of how search engines work and a bit of know how.
Reciprocal Link Exchange Rampup - Winning the Link Popularity Contest
Getting links to your website all over the Internet is one of your best methods to get a higher ranking in the search engines. The reason for this is the more links you have, the more popular you are in the eyes of the search engines, and as a result you will be rewarded with a higher relevancy ranking than other websites with fewer links.
Is Exchanging Links Better Than One Way Links
When establishing links and exchanging links this helps your rankings with the search engines and builds on connecting with other business owners. When exchanging links with other webmasters you will need to give them your code and you will need to use their code on your site.
Google Grants Links to SEMcares.com to Help Non-Profits with Volunteer Search Engine Marketing
The Official Google Grants Blog tells non-profits about SEMcares.com, the not-for-profit database that connects non-profits and volunteer search engine marketing providers.
Link Building and Link Strategy for Increased Web Traffic
Toronto, ON November 26, 2007 ? There are millions of websites in cyberspace. The challenge becomes how to ensure that your website is found on search engines and is seen by potential customers.
