TIPS

An Introduction to Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization is the process of coding and writing content for a website so that it can be easily indexed by the major search engine robots. Currently, the most important search engines are Google, Yahoo and MSN.

Ideally your site should appear in the top 10, or page one, search results for your particular keywords or key phrases. Placement on the second or third page (positions 11-29) may also be acceptable for your particular business. It is very unlikely that anyone searching for a particular keyword or phrase will review results past page 3 of search results.

Having your site ranked on the first or second page of Google results can bring a substantial increase in qualified traffic to your website and yield a significant impact on your business. Many factors determine where your site, and individual pages, will rank in search engine results but the most important are:

Search engines give preference to well written pages and well-structured websites.

You should avoid 'search engine spamming' techniques at all cost. While such tactics may yield favourable rankings in the short term, in the long run your site may be banned from the search engine indexes altogether. Search engine spamming is also termed 'black search engine optimization'.