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We understand that your
comprehension of how we work is as important to an optimization
campaign as the actual html coding. This document should be used
as a tool to familiarize you with some of the intricacies of our
optimization process and of search engine optimization in
general.
There are as many ways to optimize a website as there are people
and companies on the web who offer the service. There are
however certain elements that should be included in any
comprehensive optimization service.
Essentially the true aim of optimization, other than driving
more traffic to a site, is to make a website as relevant as
possible for the key terms that define the business’s market.
This is accomplished in part by having a large body of actual
textual body content within the site, coupled with efficient
programming of the html code that can be easily read by search
engine spiders.
Spiders
A spider is what a search engine uses to analyze and include
your website within its search. Spiders run through the html of
your website at light speed picking up different tidbits from
various pages. This information is then used by the search
engines in determining your placement in someone’s search
results. Different search engines use different spiders.
Different spiders, in turn, analyze your HTML coding
differently. Spiders continually roam the Internet picking up
new websites.
Meta Tags
Part of the header of a page, Meta Tags contain a user- defined
list of terms which are the key phrases for what the site is all
about. It used to be that web designers would simply dump a vast
number of words into the Meta tags on every page and be ranked
for all of them. As the search engine programs have become more
sophisticated this is no longer the case, the importance given
to Meta tags by the search engines has dramatically decreased.
Meta tag coding should still be considered part of any proper SEO work, however.
Title, Image and Link Tags
All images, page titles and links have tags attached to them.
Most designers never program for them, as they have generally
been viewed as unnecessary for enhancing the look and feel of a
website. Performing the right coding for these tags is now an
essential method of allowing the engine spiders to correctly
view a site and adds to the overall relevancy of each page.
Content Pages
One of the most obvious, and often overlooked, aspects of making
sure a site is placed well in search results is simply how much
actual text and content is on the site itself. Well written text
and information that abounds within a website will add greatly
to a spider’s assessment of a site. If you plan on hiring a firm
to perform an optimization routine, it is important to know
whether or not they can develop well written content that you
would want added to your site.
Reciprocal linking
An increasingly significant means of rating the worth of a
website that the spiders look for is how many other websites out
there are linking to you. A site like the New York Times online
(nytimes.com) has very high online visibility due to the sheer
amount of content available on the site, as well as the enormous
number of inbound links from other websites.
Gaining more inbound links for a site should therefore be a high
priority for an SEO firm, as these links will help your overall
rating and visibility across the board, and increase your
popularity. Keep in mind, however, that only high quality links
should be attained, as having a mass amount of irrelevant links
is not effective, is deemed to be an unethical practice and can
penalize your site.
Unethical SEO practices
Just as there are a variety of methods to develop a site into a
healthy, robust site that rests proudly on the first results of
searches because of its clean, professional coding and relevant
content, there are ways to attempt to “trick” the engines into
placing a site higher than it should be.
Some of these methods include “cloaking”, commonly known as
spamming. This consists of constructing html pages filled with
key words and phrases repeated endlessly that would not readily
be seen by any visitor.
Another way to trick the spiders is hidden text. Parts of pages
will have certain words repeated over and over again, written in
a background font color, making them invisible to web surfers.
Other unethical practices include improper use of doorway pages
and link farms, both ways to make a site appear to have great
popularity and relevance, when in fact they are little more than
programming tricks when to fool the search engines and have no
useful impact for internet users.
Some companies use these practices in an effort to satisfy very
short terms goals, but the end result of this sort of engine
tricking is always that the client’s site will be permanently
banned from the search engines.
Submission
Once the pages of a website have optimized with the initial
changes, they must all be submitted to the various search
engines and directories. The most important aspect of submitting
pages is that it be done manually. There are programs available
that proclaim to submit every page to all the search engines
when necessary, but the truth is that such automated software is
very ineffective at properly submitting pages. Also, some
engines and directories have various pay for inclusion options.
Hiring a firm that knows the benefits and effectiveness of the
multitude of engines and directories and can properly suggest to
you which are important at the right times is essential.
Reporting
When hiring a SEO firm, you as a client should be aware of where
exactly your money is going and how well your search results
improve over time. Detailed reporting that is comprehensive, yet
easy to read will help you understand how well the optimization
campaign is being performed for you. It’s also worthwhile to
know whether real time tracking software will be installed on
your site, so you can view at anytime what sort of traffic you
are receiving.
Conclusion
SEO campaigns continue to prove themselves to be one of the best
methods of increasing visibility, popularity, and revenue. Many
fortune 1000 companies are using SEO to gain secure footholds
for their online industries. There are many bad apples out there
however when it comes to choosing an appropriate SEO firm;
whether they grossly overcharge for minimal service or use
illicit techniques which may get you banned altogether. You want
to find a company that provides a professional service, which
provides long-term benefits at a reasonable price, and is
adaptable to any site.
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Search Engine Programs
