If you spend a little time on the Internet, especially if you have a website or blog, there’s an acronym you hear quite often. SEO seems to be everywhere online and for good reason. SEO stands for search engine optimization and it is a set of techniques that allows websites to be more visible to search engines and to show up higher in search engine results. If you want people to be able find your content, proper SEO is essential.
Search engines work by constantly scouring the Internet for new content. Once the search engine finds your site, it will analyze the site’s content and rate it based off several factors. It will also categorize the content so that it can assign search results based off the words and phrases people use to search the web. SEO techniques tailor your site to make sure it ranks high in the results when people search for content relating to your website. Without good search engine optimization, regardless of how wonderful your site is, no one will ever see it.
The first step in determining your SEO plan is to identify your target market/audience. This will allow you to tailor the site so these people are likely to see it in their search results. In order to attract the people most likely to like your site, you must have a good understanding of what they are searching for. To do this we use keyword analysis. If your site is about puppy care, you need to determine how people might search for that online. Possible keywords might be puppy problems, sick puppy, puppy health, taking care of puppies, etc. The more of these terms you incorporate into your site the more likely it is that the search engine will highlight your page when those terms are used.
SEO is a process that involves many things, some of which are complicated and best left to experts. However, the first step in ensuring your site is noticed by the major search engines is to fill your site with useful, relevant high-quality content. Years ago it was possible to pad your site with pseudo content to make it appear more appealing to search engines. Those days are gone and now your site will be penalized for doing so.
One of the ways search engines value a site is by analyzing the number of other high-quality sites that link to it. If a respected site decides to link to content on your site, your site gains respect. This takes time and work, but there are ways to speed up the process and develop backlinks that the search engines respect.
Text content is still the king of the SEO game. By saturating the Internet with quality articles that link to your page, you are increasing both your site’s visibility and its clout.
If we are honest, we must admit that Google determines the direction the Internet goes. If your site cannot be found using Google, you will have few visitors. With proper SEO you can avoid this and ensure your site is among the top results on any given Google search. SEO is an ongoing process that takes time so it’s important to start as soon as possible.
