What's The Big Deal Over SEO
What's The Big Deal Over SEO
by: Alexandria Marx
Search engine optimization refers to any practice related to the end
goal of improving your web site's position in the search engine 'free
found listing.' The reason you want all of your web pages, or at least
your most important web pages, search engine optimized zeros in on what
nearly every website owner wants: More new business contacts generated
from Web traffic!
According to current search engine ranking requirements, keywords and
content on the same page must match a particular set of criteria.
Basically, this means - for example - that for every 500 words on a
page, you might only be able to write the same keyword 5 or 6 times to
maintain the balance required by search engines. But simply adding the
keyword to the body of the page is not the only factor. The page title
and description (among others) are also factors. It's obvious that
every keyword you have for your site can't be positioned accurately in
each relevant place on one page. Each keyword, keyword phrase, or
keyword set needs its own page to effectively return web traffic to
your site.
Keyword stuffing is a big ouch! Repeating your keyword 30 or 40 times
in the content is called keyword stuffing, and it gets your web page
penalized or banned altogether from search results. It's just common
sense not to engage in keyword stuffing. Limit the number of keywords
on each of your web pages, and develop individual web pages for each of
your most important keywords.
Requirements and standards change rapidly. At this writing, if the web
page is unique and if crawlers determine that the page offers viewers
substantive content, it passes the first test for ranking.
It goes something like this. The number of words the public sees on a
page is analyzed by search engine robots to determine if there are
enough words to be valuable to a web visitor who reads the page. If
there are enough words on the visible part of the web page, then the
robot evaluates the hidden text (called the source code). It looks for
key words, descriptions, web page titles, link content and image
descriptions just for starters. If the data qualifies, this invisible
web page crawler then compares the overall page content with your
entire website to look for a consistent theme. In other words, you
can't publish a page about your cat on a site that sells chess sets
without breaking the consistent theme rule. Every website must have a
consistent theme weaved in and out every web page.
If the web pages pass this evaluation, the robot zips on to calculate
all the data in various formats. For example, are there too many
keywords on the page as compared to the total number of words on the
web page? A comparison of image descriptions and link content also
plays a roll. Once all of the various calculations are complete - and
this all happens in seconds - the calculated percent of substance is
compared to all the other website pages on the Internet asking for the
same keyword status. Then the robot determines web page ranking
position to be displayed in the search engine 'free found listing' when
that one key word is used by a web searcher.
It is easy to see why search engine optimizing web pages is a complex,
labor-intensive task that requires up-to-date knowledge of search
engine standards and requirements, skill in applying the words to
comply as closely as possible with top ranking position, and common
sense so as to not go overboard (keyword stuffing a page) getting that
web page penalized or banned altogether.
Pages that use acceptable standards applicable for each search engine
are rewarded in time with a valuable ranking. A top ranking has many
benefits for your business, from visibility, free clicks and web
traffic to increased sales revenue.
The bottom line is to publish web pages that meet search requirements
so visitors can find your page. If it is too time consuming for you to
successfully optimize the content on your web site, or if your search
engine ranking appears buried on page 99 of the free found listing, you
may want to consider a professional SEO service provider. Start by
asking an experienced search optimization writer to review 3 or 4 of
your existing web pages. Listen to her suggestions and apply them. If
budget is limited, engage her services to only optimize your most
important web pages. Track results over the following 90 - 120 days.
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